Call for Abstracts--Seeking abstracts for articles for the forthcoming Bloomsbury Handbook to Kurt Vonnegut, which will include 25-35 brand-new essays on Vonnegut of about 5,000-6,000 words each.  The book will be part of a new series with Bloomsbury Publishing UK, aimed at an audience of post-graduates and above.  

Books already published in the series include volumes about Toni Morrison and F. Scott Fitzgerald, among others.

Timeline
Abstracts of approximately 200 words are due on December 1, 2025.  Final papers will be due sometime in late August/early September, 2026. Please send all abstracts to Susan Farrell, at farrells@cofc.edu.  All abstracts must be for new work; no previously published work will be considered.

Overview
Here's a tentative overview of the sections of the book, but these sections are subject to change.  You're also welcome to submit an abstract on any topic you'd like.

• Novels--Essays that involve new readings of Vonnegut’s novels.
•  Other genres.--Essays that focus on more neglected aspects of Vonnegut’s work—his short fiction, essays, speeches, autobiographical writing, plays, children’s book, libretto, etc.
•  Vonnegut and Culture--Essays that examine Vonnegut’s cultural and political views as represented in his life and work.  These essays may focus on questions of race, class, gender, or sexuality.  They might focus on specific cultural backgrounds that influenced or shaped Vonnegut’s work.  They might focus on political belief systems expressed in his works. They might examine topics such as painting, music, economics, family, myth, or ritual in Vonnegut’s work. 
•  Vonnegut and Philosophy--Essays that examine Vonnegut’s work in relation to philosophical principles and ideas.  These might include large constructs such as identity, time, free will, determinism, etc., or they may explore more specific philosophical influences/ideas.
•  Vonnegut and War--Essays that explore Vonnegut’s depictions of war, his views on war, his own experiences in war, and similar issues. Essays in this category could examine Vonnegut and the firebombing of Dresden, Vonnegut and the Cold War, Vonnegut and the Vietnam War, Vonnegut’s influence on war writing, Vonnegut’s relationship to other war writers, etc.
•  Vonnegut and Science--Essays that look at Vonnegut’s use of science in his books, his relationship to the science fiction genre, his vision of the future, the influence of pulp science fiction on his work, etc.  Essays in this category might also focus on Vonnegut and the environment, on ecocriticism of his work, on evolution and Darwinism, or on other specific scientific fields important to understanding Vonnegut.
•  Teaching and Adaptation--Essays that discuss Vonnegut and pedagogical practices, or that examine various film/tv/stage/visual/graphic adaptations of Vonnegut’s work.