Call for Papers

The Latina/o/x Literature & Culture Society 

of the American Literature Association

32nd Annual Conference: May 27-30, 2021 

Westin Copley Place, Boston, MA 

Deadline: January 31, 2020

This year the Latina/o/x Literature & Culture Society welcomes submissions focusing on diverse topics including literary genre, single authors, children’s literature, speculative fiction, comparative analyses, as well as cultural studies approaches. We also encourage a variety of theoretical and interdisciplinary prisms as well as a variety of panel types, including traditional paper sessions, roundtable discussions, and sessions dedicated to the teaching of Latina/o/x literature. Given the location of the Conference in Boston, Massachusetts, we solicit proposals centering Latina/o/x experiences in New England and the Northeastern U.S. more broadly. In the spirit of community building, the Latina/o/x Literature and Culture Society attempts to build sessions that bring together participants at various stages of their careers.

***Location and dates subject to change in light of COVID-19***

While topics for individual papers proposed sessions are open, this year--especially given the other-worldly year of 2020--we welcome submissions investigating the emerging, though rapidly growing genre, of the Latina/o/x speculative genre. Topics may include but are not limited to the following:

• Apocalyptic and postapocalyptic 

• Apocalyptic themes: zombies, pandemic, environmental crisis, robot/cybernetic revolt, technological singularity, alien invasion, impact event, 

• Science Fiction  

• Dystopian or utopian fiction 

• Fantasy

• Speculative YA 

• Gothic and gothic horror genres 

• Queerness and the speculative

• Figure of the alien  

• Monstrosity and monsters 

• Ghostly matters

• Genealogy or Latina/o/x gothic literary prototypes 

• Race, terror, and horror 

• Body horror

• Terror, horror, and racialized subjectivity 

• Gothic epistemology and ontology 

Please submit proposals for individual papers as well as full panel and roundtable sessions.

• For individual papers, send a short abstract (150 words) with title, along with institutional affiliation, academic title, and contact information. 

• For panel proposals, send paper titles, short abstracts for each paper (150 words), along with institutional affiliation, academic title, and contact information for each panelist and the panel chair.     

Please submit proposals and inquiries to Co-Chairs Drs. Cristina Herrera and Cathryn Merla-Watson:  cherrera@mail.fresnostate.edu and cathryn.merlawatson@utrgv.edu 

For information about the Latina/o/x Literature and Culture Society, please visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/164409943705319/ For more information about the ALA and the conference, including registration information, please visit http://americanliteratureassociation.org