Medical sociologist Arthur Frank argues in his foundational The Wounded Storyteller that an ideal illness narrative accepts contingency and acknowledges that “the human body, for all its resilience, is fragile” (49). About her own illness experience, Audre Lorde famously argues that our greatest strength stems - paradoxically, perhaps - from our greatest vulnerability (Cancer Journals 14). Both of these perspectives suggest that resilience is finite, and that recognizing as much can be itself empowering. This panel therefore wonders: what potential does fragility have in a world rife with environmental disasters, personal and structural traumas and other catastrophes that all seem to demand resilience?

NeMLA's 54th Annual Convention 

Niagara Falls, NY March 23-26, 2023

Creative Writing Panel - "Voices in Diaspora"

The term diaspora refers to the dispersion of a people from their native land; and often, there is a subjective emotional attachment whereas such feelings are determined by cultural identity. We see this illustrated in works by writers such as Elizabeth Nunez, V.S. Naipaul, Yaa Gyasi, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and Jhumpa Lahiri as they examine themes such as nostalgia, alienation, displacement, and resilience in the face of adversity. This creative panel will consist of emerging writers who use their works of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry to illustrate the various experiences connected to living in diaspora.

Over the past twenty years, refugee studies has turned toward a critical encounter with the legal studies framework that had previously dominated it. Scholars such as those in the Critical Refugee Studies Collective have emphasized the position of refugee as one that creates new forms of relationship across spaces and times unbound (but not unmarked) by the state.

Narratives of Pregnancy, Birth, and Postpartum - NeMLA Conference 2023

Adaptation studies has contended with the question of hierarchies since it first emerged. Adaptation as a process similarly so: the problem of the source and the ‘original’ has established certain values and positions of texts. This has been challenged most notably through the debate in the field around fidelity, wherein the question of being ‘true’ to the source has been variously deemed fallacious, unhelpful, or both. Despite some recent proponents for it, what emerges from this is the challenging of the hierarchies that the fidelity debate espouses. Broadly, this has been main way in which these hierarchies have been challenged in adaptations, primarily due to the seemingly inescapable status fidelity has in the field.

We are pleased to announce we are accepting abstracts for chapters for our tentatively titled book, Teaching Black American Speculative Fiction & Beyond: Equity, Justice, and Antiracism. This proposed collection is based on our popular 2021 NCTE Assembly on American Literature (AAL) session, which focused on American speculative fiction and issues of social justice. The collection will focus on equity, justice, and antiracism within different genres/modes of speculative fiction (e.g., science fiction, fantasy, horror) and various formats (e.g., short and long fiction, film, graphic novels, comics, and plays).

I am in need of ONE essay for a collection called Outlander as Crime Fiction, pre-approved to be published by McFarland. A Ph.D. is preferred but please feel free to send your proposal even if you are a doctoral student. Email me if you would like to discuss an idea before submitting a proposal. At this point, I only need one paragraph describing your general topic/idea. The completed essay due date is flexible but I'm looking at probably Sept/Oct. 2022 at the latest. Most of the collection has already been written. 

Topic: Crimes of the British Empire in Diana Gabaldon's Lord John (and Outlander) Series

Archives of Indian Cinema: Methodologies, Creativities and Urgencies

De Montfort University (UK), Savitribai Phule Pune University (India), Loughborough University (UK),

21st and 22nd October 2022

Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS
Fictional persons and characters

International Online Workshop
October 12, 2022

It is tempting to think of fictional characters as if they were fictional persons. The inhabitants of a fictional world, where they live and engage in meaningful interactions as we do in the real world. However, this conception is problematic. First, because the concept of “person” is far from being clear. Are persons to be defined in physical or mental terms? And even if we restrict ourselves to a Lockean framework where persons are defined in mental terms, regardless of their physical features, could other entities besides human beings achieve full personhood?

Call for Papers

Queering Camelot: LGBTQQA+ Readings, Representations, and Retellings of Arthuriana 

Fantastika Special Issue

Guest Editors: Rebecca Jones and Sebastian F.K. Svegaard

This is an open call for papers for a special issue of Fantastika continuing on from its Queering Fantastika issue, which will explore the queer side of Arthurian tales, adaptations, and fanworks. It seeks to include any and all media, whether directly adapting or only alluding to Camelot and Grail narratives. This issue will present a multivalent approach and is seeking both critical and critical practice-based research on this subject. 

The Mid-Atlantic Popular and American Culture Association is accepting proposals until June 30 for their 2022 conference, Nov 10 - 12, in Princeton, NJ. General guidelines can be found at mapaca.net.

Third Cinema films successfully manages to depict the socio-political issues of the world. These issues include the effects of colonization, oppression, and conflict between classes or nations. These films are especially pivotal for the political issues of the Third World. In this sense, films play a fundamental role in the struggle for justice for marginalized communities. Third Cinema is a tool through which debate, activism, and discussion are evoked in society. These films expose the realities of the world and have gained recognition in terms of art, politics, and humanity. Indeed, the Third Cinema is revolutionary for society in every convincible way. 

WHITE SUPREMACIST REVISIONS OF THE AMERICAN NARRATIVE

Now Seeking Submissions! The Moonwake Journal of Creative Writing is a creative writing journal that celebrates the creative artistic ability in all of us and the way we are able to articulate the beauty around us in nature and daily life. Submissions are open for poetry of any style (haiku, prose poems, free style, concrete) and short stories. Short stories no more than 8,000 words.