Sankofa: A Journal of African Children’s and Young Adult Literature is accepting scholarly article submissions for its Summer 2025 (Vol. 15) publication. This issue will focus on the theme “Gender and Sexuality in African and African Diaspora Children’s and Young Adult Literature.”

Diversity and inclusion have long been essential aspects of children’s and young adult literature. As the world continues to evolve, particularly concerning gender and sexuality, it is imperative that literature for young readers reflects this diversity. Traditionally, heterosexual masculine characters have dominated children’s and young adult fiction, while heterosexual female characters often appeared underrepresented and marginalized. Gender representations in literature have often reinforced heteronormative models, marginalizing non-heteronormative identities. For African and African Diasporic writers, there has been a notable emergence of female voices reflecting their lived experiences as children and young adults. Generally, contemporary authors have been increasingly open to exploring gender and sexuality in their characters, presenting diverse textual forms that reflect characters’ sexualities and behaviors.

This call for papers invites original scholarly contributions that examine how fiction writers from Africa and its Diaspora conform to, complicate, or challenge traditional gender norms and sexual subjectivities in children’s and young adult literature.

Authors are encouraged to explore various topics related to sexuality and gendering in African and African diasporic children’s and young adult texts and productions, including but not limited to:
 Immigration and self-acceptance
 Cultural conflicts and feelings of alienation
 Rejection, isolation, or themes of suicide
 Gender confusion and the exploration of identity
 Instances of bullying and/or cyber-bullying
 Social issues and the desire to escape from life’s challenges
 Dynamics within families and the assigned gender roles based on heteronormativity gendering
 Examination of masculinity, femininity, and the impact of heteronormativity
 Representation of homosexuality, 2SLGBTQIA+ identities, and queerness
 Exploration of the intersection between sexuality and religion.

Deadline: October 31, 2024 (Vol 15)

For author guidelines, please see our website https://sankofajournal.com/ and in particular the “For Authors” page (https://sankofajournal.com/for-authors). Submissions and a cover letter may be sent to sankofa@morgan.edu.

We eagerly anticipate receiving your scholarly contributions that critically engage with the depiction of sexual subjectivities in gendered characters within children’s and young adult literature.

Sankofa Editorial Team
Contact: sankofa@morgan.edu

Note: Sankofa reserves the right to select submissions based on relevance, quality, and adherence to submission guidelines.