Editors seek critical essays on the literary life and legacy of
Augusta-born Frank Yerby, one of the greatest unknown writers in
American literary history. A reputable university press has expressed
interest in the collection, with an eye toward offering an advance contract.

The unprecedented collection aims to capitalize on the increasing
scholarly "buzz" around the African American writer. The analytic goals
are threefold: (1) to locate Yerby as a Southern African American writer
as well as explore the larger national and international perspectives on
Yerby; (2) to address the specific history of critical responses to
Yerby's work and to his practice of Southern historical romance; and (3)
to concentrate on issues of methodology, as they pertain to the recent
emergence and intersection of several fields of critical inquiry in
literary and cultural studies. Essay topics should include but are not
limited to southern historical romance, southern literary history,
African American literary history, African American popular fiction,
Yerby's three "black" novels, diaspora, Yerby's expatriation (New) World
literature, "whiteness," gender/sexuality, and proletarianism. The
collection intends to prioritize essays that employ and/or extend these
new analytics to the study of Yerby's fiction, while using Yerby's texts
as case studies. In the end, the book hopes not only to introduce Yerby
to a new generation of readers, but also become the central point of
reference for future scholars of Yerby, and an invaluable resource for
scholars in a range of academic fields.

By June 1, 2005, please send 250-word abstracts and cv (preferably
through e-mail) to

Gene Jarrett (gjarrett_at_umd.edu)
Department of English
Susquehanna Hall
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742

or

John Charles (charl1j_at_cmich.edu)
Department of English
Central Michigan University
Mount Pleasant, MI 48859

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Received on Fri Mar 04 2005 - 10:31:41 EST