Special Issue Call for Papers: 

Teaching Baldwin / Baldwin as Teacher  

At a time when teaching is threatened and learning itself is perceived and portrayed by some as threatening, James Baldwin Review (JBR), an annual peer-reviewed journal, seeks submissions for a special issue entitled “Teaching Baldwin, Baldwin as Teacher.” In Baldwin’s terms, “to become educated (as all tyrants have always known) is to become inaccessibly independent, it is to acquire a dangerous way of assessing danger, and it is to hold in one’s hands a means of changing reality.” For this special issue, JBR is especially interested in essays from a range of international perspectives and from contexts within and outside academic institutions. Topics might include but are not limited to the following:

• Specific approaches to teaching Baldwin or particular Baldwin texts or genres• Baldwin in undergraduate, graduate, general education, or non-traditional classrooms• Teaching Baldwin’s understudied work and/or collaborations• Baldwin in interdisciplinary contexts• Baldwin’s own work as a teacher at colleges and universities in the US in the 70s and 80s• Baldwin’s less formal teaching as a mentor and as a prominent public figure and rights activist• “Good, Bad, & Ugly”—approaches, tips, and horror stories from teaching Baldwin• Baldwin’s sense of “education with a small e” (education one receives from life)and “Education with a large E” (education dictated by institutions)• Teaching Baldwin alongside other writers, artists, and activists• Lessons from Baldwin when teaching and learning in dangerous times

Please send submission to Justin Joyce (j.a.joyce@wustl.edu) and Prentiss Clark (Prentiss.Clark@usd.edu). Submissions received before May 1, 2026 will receive fullest consideration. All submissions must be accompanied by a 250-word abstract and a list of keywords. Please consult our detailed submission instructions on ourwebsite: https://www.manchesteropenhive.com/view/journals/jbr/jbr-overview.xml

James Baldwin Review brings together a wide array of peer-reviewed critical essays and creative non-fiction on the life, writings, and legacies of James Baldwin. JBR publishes essays that invigorate scholarship on James Baldwin, catalyze explorations of the literary, political, and cultural influence of Baldwin’s writing and political activism, and deepen our understanding and appreciation of this complex and luminary figure. We accept submission on a rolling basis and are always interested in high-quality work on James Baldwin, regardless of focus or specialty.

It is the aim of James Baldwin Review to provide a vibrant and multidisciplinary forum for the international community of Baldwin scholars, students, and enthusiasts.

Connect with us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jamesbaldwinreview. Follow us on Bluesky @jbrjournal.bsky.social‬. Authors are welcome to contact the managing editor—Justin A. Joyce—with proposals or queries at: j.a.joyce@wustl.edu.