Call for Submissions: Race in Fantasy- for The British Fantasy Society Journal (Summer 2026) ‘Race’—that socially constructed and contentious term and concept—has long been a part of Fantasy. As a way of narrativizing alterity, Fantasy excels (one could argue that it is its sine qua non), but like all other cultural forms it has been prone to the best and worst excesses of this. Although the largesse of Fantasy—its broad, catholic imaginary—embraces a rich spectrum of species, ethnicities, ontologies, and lifeworlds, it has been prone to all the cultural myopias, prejudices, peccadilloes, and stereotyping as any other genre. Exoticism, Orientalism, and Essentialism are only some of its many crimes. And yet many modern writers are helping to rehabilitate Fantasy: decolonising, indigenising, and diversifying its characters, its settings, and its storyworlds; while often embodying those vital energies and agendas themselves (e.g. as writers of colour). This issue seeks to explore this issue – one that is ever-more vital in an age of increasing intolerance, racism, and xenophobia – critiquing and deconstructing, while also defending and celebrating the good work that has been done and continues to be done, not least by the inclusive, supportive Fantasy community.Possible approaches include:· Representations of race in Fantasy.· The decolonisation of Fantasy – exploring non-white, Eurocentric perspectives.· The diversification of Fantasy – by writers, readers, and publishers.· Going beyond essentialism and exceptionalism in modern Fantasy.· So-called ‘Culture Wars’ in Fandom, and strategies for healing apparent rifts.· Tokenism, and how to avoid it.· Canonicity, and ways of making it polychromatic and porous.· Afrofuturism, Africanfuturism, and the Black Fantastic.· Xenofiction, and more-than-human Fantasy disruptions of the anthropocentric.Send the Abstract (200 words) with a bio to the Editor by 20th March.The British Fantasy Society Journal Summer issue will be published June 2026. Completed articles, if commissioned, will be due in by 1st May.Send to The Editor: bfsjournal@britishfantasysociety.org