DEADLINE EXTENDED!

Call for Papers

Mystery / Detective Fiction Area

Southwest Popular / American Culture Association (SWPACA)

46th Annual Conference, February 19-22, 2025

Marriott Albuquerque

Albuquerque, New Mexico

https://www.southwestpca.org

EXTENDED Proposal submission deadline: November 14, 2024

Proposals for papers and panels are now being accepted for the 46th 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 https://swpaca.org/subject-areas/

As popular genres, mystery and detective fiction reflect a wide range of changes in society in contemporary works, but they also have a venerable classic tradition. Submissions are welcomed that address mystery and detective fiction from both ends of this spectrum and every point in between.

Some possibilities:

• Research addressing or applying theoretical or structural topics in the genre
• Work focusing on any subgenre or aspect of mystery and detective fiction, from the hard-boiled to the cozy and from the latest trends to the classics
• Work applying other theoretical approaches to representations of detectives and other characters in terms of diverse identities (racial, ethnic, gender, sexual, physical or neurodiversity, nonhuman, and so on) or theoretical approaches that address other aspects of mystery and detective texts (setting, plot, and so on)
• Papers addressing particular regional aspects of mystery or detective fiction
• Work on international writers in the genre
• Analyses of television or film adaptations of the genre

All proposals must be submitted through the conference’s database at https://swpaca.org/app

For details on using the submission database and on the application process in general (including submitting proposals for roundtables and preformed panels), please see the FAQS & Resources tab on https://swpaca.org/

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 now November 14, 2024. 

SWPACA offers monetary awards for the best graduate student papers in a variety of categories. Submissions of accepted, full papers are due January 1, 2025. More details are here: https://swpaca.org/graduate-student-paper-awards/  SWPACA also offers travel fellowships for undergraduate and graduate students as well as contingent faculty: https://swpaca.org/travel-awards-students-faculty/

Registration and travel information for the conference is available at https://swpaca.org/albuquerque-conference/  For 2025, we will be returning to the Marriott Albuquerque (2101 Louisiana Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM 87110), which boasts free parking and close proximity to dining, shopping, and other delights.

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

If you have any questions about the Mystery / Detective Fiction area, please contact the Area Chair, Dr. Lexey Bartlett, Fort Hays State University, at labartlett@fhsu.edu. If you have general questions about the conference, please contact us at support@southwestpca.org, and a member of the executive team will get back to you.

This will be a fully in-person conference. If you’re looking for an online option to present your work, keep an eye out for details about the 2025 SWPACA Summer Salon, a completely virtual conference to take place in June 2025.

We look forward to receiving your submissions!