Call for Papers

At the Crossroads of New Horizons: Speculative=20
Cultural Productions of Women of Color
Ritch Calvin and Angela Cotten

The face of science fiction has undergone=20
significant changes in the past thirty years as=20
women writers and writers of color have moved=20
into speculative fiction in increasing numbers=20
since 1970. Yet, criticism of the works of women=20
and people of color has not kept pace with their=20
prolific output and has continued focusing mainly=20
on the speculative productions of white men.=20
Still less is criticism on the speculative=20
fiction of women of color. Most of the criticism=20
on women of color has been published in=20
periodicals and books with foci on other literary=20
topics. Sandra Grayson's recently published=20
anthology, Visions of the Third Millennium: Black=20
Science Fiction Novelists Write the Future,=20
brings together some of these essays and begins=20
filling this void in the critical discourse on=20
writers of color.

Many women of color writers of speculative=20
fiction have changed how science fiction is read=20
and talked about in both the academy and popular=20
culture since the 1960s. They have helped broaden=20
the range of metaphors, narrative forms and=20
signifying structures, historical references, and=20
thematic foci in the genre of speculative=20
writing. We are seeking contributions that=20
examine the speculative cultural productions of=20
women of color for our anthology, At the=20
Crossroads of New Horizons: Speculative Cultural=20
Production by Women of Color. We want this=20
collection to open up the medium of speculative=20
expression beyond literature and poetry to=20
include theatre, music, film, dance/choreography,=20
the visual arts like painting, photography, and=20
sculpture by women of color artists. We would=20
like essays that examine ways which women of=20
color writers and artists operate within the=20
field of speculation and how their works=20
contribute to the speculative genre. Essays might=20
focus on a single writer/artist or deal with=20
several writers/artists comparatively. Topics=20
might explore (but are not limited to) questions=20
of aesthetics, social theory/philosophy,=20
historical re/visions, human/special=20
subjectivity, racial/gender politics of=20
canonization, to name a few. Below is a list of=20
women of color who produce art and writing of a=20
speculative nature. Some are historical while=20
others are more contemporary.

Please send completed unpublished essays=20
(preferable) and/or abstracts to the following by=20
December 15, 2004:

Ritch Calvin
rcalvink_at_notes.cc.sunysb.edu

and

Angela Cotten
acotten_at_notes.cc.sunysb.edu

Potential (though not exhaustive) list of authors:
Zainab Amadahy
Nikki Baker
Velma Bowen
Toni Brown
Octavia Butler
Ana Castillo
Shirley Gibson Coleman
Maryse Cond=E9
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Tananarive Due
Laura Esquivel
Cristina Garcia
Jewelle G=F3mez
hattie gossett
Virginia Hamilton
Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins
Nalo Hopkinson
Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain
Lillian Jones
Cynthia Kadohata
Larissa Lai
Patricia McKissack
Misha
Shani Mootoo
Gloria Naylor
Terri de la Pe=F1a
Saira Ramasastry
Jewell Parker Rhodes
Eden Robinson
Leslie Marmon Silko
Sheree Thomas
Lusia Valenzuela
Linda K. Wright

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Received on Sun Oct 24 2004 - 21:10:31 EDT