[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published and unpublished works) of the genre.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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