Journal of Science Fiction Special Issue on Afrofuturism

The Journal of Science Fiction is accepting submissions for a special issue on Afrofuturism to be published on January 31, 2018.

The Museum of Science Fiction’s annual convention, Escape Velocity, will be hosting literary programming on the subject at this year’s event (September 1-September 3, 2017), and due to the popularity of the topic and the research interests of the JOSF team, we have decided to compile a special issue aggregating essays on science and speculative fiction literature, film, comics, and popular culture which address the experience of blackness. We seek academic articles of 5,000 to 8,000 words, short reflection pieces of 500 to 1,000 words, and book reviews of 500-750 words.

We welcome submissions focusing on any and all aspects of Afrofuturist culture. We hope to include African, African-American, and Afro-Caribbean authors, texts, and perspectives. Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

• The nomenclature of Afrofuturism: the modern relevance of the term, its origins, and its history
• The critical study of race theory, gender, and/or sexuality in Afro-diaspora texts
• Authors (including but not limited to the following):
  • Steven Barnes
  • Tobias S. Buckell
  • Octavia Butler
  • Maryse Condé
  • Samuel L. Delany
  • Tananarive Due
  • Jewelle Gomez
  • Nalo Hopkinson
  • NK Jemisin
  • Nnedi Okorafor
  • Ben Okri
  • Daniel José Older
  • Ishmael Reed
  • Charles R. Saunders
  • Colson Whitehead
  • Ytasha L. Womack
• Films, such as Marvel’s upcoming Black Panther, Coney’s Space Is the Place, Nance’s An Oversimplification of Her Beauty, Bodomo’s Afronauts, or Sayle’s Brother from Another Planet (to name only a few of the many possibilities)
• Queer futurities
• Neo-Slave Narratives
• Dialect
• Non-Fiction
• Artwork
• Music
• Book Reviews
• Interviews

Special consideration will be given to essays addressing literature, theory, and contemporary texts and trends. The deadline for submissions is October 13, 2017.

Please submit completed essays through the MOSF Journal of Science Fictionwebsite, http://publish.lib.umd.edu/scifi/index. To submit your work, click "About" > "Submissions: Online Submissions", create an account, and follow the submission prompts. 

**We will also consider the submission of proposals (250-500 words), but preference will be given to drafts and completed pieces.**