Call for Papers

Children’s/Young Adult Literature and Culture

Southwest Popular / American Culture Association (SWPACA)

Proposal submission deadline: November 1, 2018

40th Annual Conference, February 20-23, 2019

Hyatt Regency Hotel & Conference Center

Albuquerque, New Mexico

http://www.southwestpca.org 

Proposals for papers and panels are now being accepted for the 40th annual SWPACA conference.  One of the nation’s largest interdisciplinary academic conferences, SWPACA offers nearly 70 subject areas, each typically featuring multiple panels.  For a full list of subject areas, area descriptions, and Area Chairs, please visit http://southwestpca.org/conference/call-for-papers/

Panels are now being formed in the Children’s / Young Adult Literature and Culture area. Scholars, researchers, professionals, teachers, graduate students and others interested in this area are encouraged to submit an abstract.

This area covers a wide variety of possible mediums: traditional book/literature culture, but also comics, graphic novels, film, television, music, video games, toys, internet environment, fan fiction, advertising, and marketing tie-ins to books and films, just to name a few.  Proposals on fiction, non-fiction, poetry, or cross-genre topics are welcome.  Interdisciplinary approaches are especially welcome, as are presentations that go beyond the traditional scholarly paper format.

Topics may include, but are not limited to:

• Diversity in Children’s and YA literature (gender, race/ethnicity, disability, body image, sexual identity)
• Use of innovative or “novel” formats for both children’s and YA literature
• The next “big” thing in children’s and YA literature
• Film adaptation issues
• Historical approaches to children’s and YA literature and culture
• New readings of children’s and YA literature and culture
• Re-imaginings of myth, fairy tale, and other traditional stories
• Explorations of specific authors in the children’s and YA areas
• Fan fiction and fan followings of books, films, and authors
• Beyond books and films
• Awards for children’s and YA literature (issues and controversies)

Proposals on other topics related to Children’s and Young Adult Literature and Culture will be read with interest.

All proposals must be submitted through the conference’s database at http://register.southwestpca.org/southwestpca 

For details on using the submission database and on the application process in general, please see the Proposal Submission FAQs and Tips page at http://southwestpca.org/conference/faqs-and-tips/

Individual proposals for 15-minute papers must include an abstract of approximately 200-500 words. Including a brief bio in the body of the proposal form is encouraged, but not required.   

For information on how to submit a proposal for a roundtable or a multi-paper panel, please view the above FAQs and Tips page.  

The deadline for submissions is November 1, 2018.  

SWPACA offers monetary awards for the best graduate student papers in a variety of categories. Submissions of accepted, full papers are due January 1, 2019.  For more information, visit http://southwestpca.org/conference/graduate-student-awards/ 

Registration and travel information for the conference is available at http://southwestpca.org/conference/conference-registration-information/

In addition, please check out the organization’s peer-reviewed, scholarly journal, Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy, at http://journaldialogue.org/

If you have any questions about the Children’s/Young Adult Literature and Culture area, please contact its Area Chair, Diana Dominguez, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, diana.dominguez@utrgv.edu

We look forward to receiving your submissions.