Call for contributions to Whitman & The Beats.

Edited by Dr. John Lennon (jlennon01@gmail.com), Dr. Ian Maloney (imaloney@stfranciscollege.edu) and Dr. Scott Weiss (sweiss@stfranciscollege.edu)

We are seeking original articles for an edited interdisciplinary collection that break new ground in addressing Whitman's presence in the works of Beat writers, the reception of Whitman's poetry by the Beats, and papers which address how the legacy of the Beats, their perspectives of their era and artistic innovations, may be traced to Whitman's influence on American literary culture.

This collection is born from the recently well received conference "Whitman & The Beats" that was held at St. Francis College in Brooklyn N.Y. on March 27-28, 2010. Anne Charters, who was the keynote speaker, has already agreed to include her essay in our collection.

Topics may include (but are not limited to) areas of inquiry such as "the road," "gender and sexuality," "mysticism," "religion and spirituality," "America," and "transcendentalism." While we are excited to include papers that deal with Kerouac and Ginsberg, we are also seeking papers that uncover Whitman's legacy in some of the numerous figures (both literary and non-literary) that exist on the outer edges of Beat legacy.

We are seeking completed articles of no more than 4,000 to 6,000 words by NO LATER THAN September 1st, 2010 (early submissions welcome). Please follow MLA citation. Include a brief biography/ C.V. and 250 word abstract. Mail submission or send inquiries to Dr. John Lennon at jlennon01@gmail.com.