In light of the recent resurgence in scholarly work on the writings of Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, we are proposing an MLA volume on “Approaches to Teaching the Works of Mary E. Wilkins Freeman.” Freeman’s oeuvre is extensive, and her work intersects with queer studies, disability studies, animal studies, food studies, Gothic studies, ecocriticism, labor history, and more. The MLA will decide whether to commission a book based on the quality and quantity of survey responses, so if you are a scholar who engages Freeman in the classroom, we would appreciate it if you would complete the survey. If you are interested in contributing to this volume, we also invite you to submit a proposal.

Call for Papers (CFP) for ISBN Edited Volume
Edited Volume Title: Body Politics in Literature

About the Volume

The body in literature is never neutral; it is a site where power is exercised, identities are shaped, and social meanings are constantly negotiated. Rather than viewing the body as a purely biological entity, literary texts reveal it as something produced through cultural norms, political structures, and ideological forces. This edited volume, Body Politics in Literature, aims to investigate how writers across different periods and traditions represent the body as a space of control, conflict, and transformation.

Trans embodiments have been lived and conceptualized in multiple ways throughout the long and complex history of Southeast Europe. Beginning in the late nineteenth century, state institutions – through legal and medical frameworks grounded in early sexology – largely criminalized and pathologized transness. These classifications often entailed invasive and frequently involuntary legal and medical interventions, and were accompanied by profound social marginalization. At the same time, the reception and dissemination of sexological and juridical knowledge across Southeast Europe remained uneven, shaped by the divergent historical trajectories of the region’s post-imperial formations.