Discourse surrounding issues related to the transgender community is currently dominating the contemporary cultural conversation in the United States in an unprecedented way.  Against the backdrop of this discursive moment, Femspec calls for submissions for a special issue (Volume 24, Issue 1) dedicated to exploring speculative approaches to gender, and particularly to transgender identity and embodiment.  Femspec is an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed feminist journal dedicated to science fiction, fantasy, magical realism, surrealism, myth, folklore, and other supernatural genres.  Femspec publishes both academic scholarship and creative writing.  For this issue, we seek both scholarly and creative work that interrogates the concept of gender and questions its stability; that seeks to imagine gender outside of binary norms; and that explores what speculative fiction or structures of thought have to teach us about transgender identity, embodiment, and subjectivity.  Possible topics of inquiry include:

• Representations of transgender or non-binary characters in science fiction, fantasy, and other forms of speculative literature
• The destabilization of binary gender norms within speculative fiction
• Fascism and its relationship to gender as represented within speculative fiction
• Speculative approaches to biopolitics and gender
• Representations of gender-nonconformity, transgenderism, or non-binary gender identity within mythology or folklore
• Speculative approaches to gender within cinema
• Speculative approaches to gender within anime or manga
• Interrogation of gender norms within horror fiction or cinema
• Interrogation of gender norms through representations of monstrosity
• Butlerian gender performativity as articulated within speculative fiction.
• Cyborg ontology and its relationship to gender
• Transgenderism and the posthuman
• Speculative applications of queer/trans theory

Creative writing submissions to the issue could include short fiction, poetry, or experimental forms.

To submit work for consideration for inclusion in the special issue, please review Femspec’s submission guidelines at the following link: SUBMISSION GUIDELINES | Femspec

The submission form is located at the following link: Submission Form | Femspec

Please note that in order to submit work to the journal for publication, you must be subscribed to the journal; please click on the following link for subscription information: Subscribe | Femspec

We are also looking for artists to submit cover art related to the theme of the issue.  If you are an artist who would be interested in having their work featured as the journal's cover image, please contact Editor-in-Chief Dr. Batya Weinbaum at weinbaumbatya@gmail.com.

The deadline for submission for Issue 24.1 is January 1st, 2024.