[URBANTH-L]CFP: an Anthology of Urban/Hip Hop Literature

Angela Jancius jancius3022 at comcast.net
Thu Jan 1 23:54:19 EST 2009


CFP: an Anthology of Urban/Hip Hop Literature
Deadline: February 23, 2009

This is an invitation to submit critical essays and short stories (or novel 
excerpts) for inclusion in an anthology of Urban /Hip Hop literature. The 
book will explore the genre of hip hop literature, specifically fiction, 
through essays that focus on and examine its: origin, its validity as a form 
of literary text, thematic commonalities, validity as social text, and 
style. A portion of the book will be comprised of examples (previously 
published and unpublished works) of the genre.
Urban or Hip Hop Literature has been defined in many ways by many different 
people and groups. For the purposes of this anthology, the editor defines 
the genre as any work of fiction (short-story or novel) that is written by 
an African American author between 1990 and the present and that examines 
the life and lifestyle of "the street" and its denizens. One of the works 
that helped lay the groundwork for the genre is Steve Cannon's 1967 book, 
Groove, Bang and Jive Around, although Sister Soulja's 1997 book, The 
Coldest Winter Ever is often cited as being its first and seminal work. Some 
critics admonish offerings within the genre as being poorly written, badly 
edited, one dimensional and lacking in style. While this may be true of some 
of the work, as it is in any genre, is it indicative of all the writers and 
books that have been published in the genre over the past decade? The 
anthology will explore this question as well as present work by both 
published and un-published authors.

Deadlines: Submissions for the anthology will be accepted from December 30, 
2008 until February 23, 2009. Two types of submissions will be accepted for 
review and possible inclusion in the anthology:

1) Critical Essays on one of the topic areas mentioned above. Essays about 
other topics may be considered but should critically analyze some aspect of 
the genre.
Some topics essays might address include:
. Character Archetypes
. Setting
. Diction and Language
. Evolution of the genre
. Plot(s)
. Imagery and Symbolism
. Form

Essays that compare and contrast Urban/Hip hop literature with those from 
other literary genres in terms of the above topics (or other topics) will be 
considered.
Length: 10 to 15 pages - page numbers should appear on each page in the top 
right corner with the author's last name and essay title.
Format: Single sided, dbl spaced, 12 pt font (preferably Arial), 1 inch 
margins

Include a 200 word abstract and a brief (no more than 100 words) bio of the 
author as a cover page. In the top left corner of the cover page include the 
author's:

. Essay Title
. Name
. Address
. Phone
. Email

2) Fiction in the form of short stories or novel excerpts. Length: 15 to 25 
pages - page numbers should appear on each page in the top right corner with 
the author's last name and essay title

Format: Single sided, dbl spaced, 12 pt font (preferably Arial), 1 inch 
margins
Include a brief (no more than 100 words) bio of the author as a cover page. 
In the top left corner of the cover page, include the author's:

. Submission Title
. Name
. Address
. Phone
. Email

Please submit publication ready pieces only. No proposals or rough drafts 
will be accepted.

All submissions will be reviewed by the editor, but only those accepted for 
inclusion in the anthology will be contacted. Previously published work may 
be considered but it is not necessary for the submission to have been 
published elsewhere. If a work was previously published, please include all 
publication information with the submission as a part of the cover page.

File types:
*.pdf and *doc files types only preferably, *.pdf

Lisa Gray
Mills College
lgray at mills.edu 




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