Wednesday, November 15, 2017

YA and Children's Author Visit: Isabel Quintero

Join us as we welcome author, Isabel Quintero, to SDSU! The bookstore will have Quintero's latest books for sale which include Gabi, A Girl in Pieces, her new children's series, Ugly Cat & Pablo, and her latest graphic novel. After the speaking engagement, hang around and meet the celebrated author who will be available to sign copies of her book--a perfect holiday gift for any book lover!























Stay Tuned for NCSCL's interview with Isabel Quintero in December! 

Friday, November 3, 2017

New CFPs from the Children's Literature Society and More!


The Children's Literature Society is seeking a call for papers for the 2018 American Literature Association 29th Annual Conference 

When: May 24th-28th, 2018
Where: Hyatt Regency in San Fransisco
Deadline for Submission: January 10th, 2018
How to Apply: Please send abstracts or proposals (around 300 words) and include academic rank and affiliation and AV requests to Dorothy Clark (Dorothy.g.clark@csun.edu ) and Linda Salem (lsalem@mail.sdsu.edu )

Summary:

Panel 1:

Disrupting Morality in Children's Literature.

In the 1800s Maria Edgeworth noted the difficulty of constructing stories ‘suited to the early years of youth, and, at the same time, conformable to the complicate relations of modern society.’  Children of 2018, a ‘rising generation’ of remarkably sophisticated individuals, face a startling array of challenges. In a great many ways, we have seen a new “moral literature” develop for children—stories that address science and technology, multiculturalism, diversity (gender, family, socio-economics), and re-envisioning history so that marginalized peoples and their narratives are addressed.  How does contemporary children's and young adult literature
“amuse and instruct” or otherwise communicate moral reasoning in an age of disruption? In what ways has the change in the construction of childhood influenced narratives? What roles do play, learning, obedience, behavior, and creativity have in today’s narratives, counter-narratives, anti-narratives, multi-narratives, and speculative narratives?


Panel 2:

Empathy, Affect, and Friendship in Children's Literature

Whether people talk about their own experiences of childhood friendship or lack of friendship and sense of isolation, the concepts of friendship, social acceptance and rejection play a powerful role in childhood and are a perennial theme in children’s literature. Where is comfort, compassion, affirmation or information about social isolation or connection in today's literature? How do modern writers convey and express common human emotions of love, fear, anger, hate, and sadness in this effort to affect the child reader?  And, do these reflect the changing construction of childhood as well as the deepening expansion of children’s literature into the domains of multiculturalism, diversity, and socio-economics?  Examples continue in multiple media—from such dynamic texts as The Recess Queen and Jacqueline Woodson’s Each
Kindness to the recent mega popular television series Stranger Things which defines friendship with rules like "friends don't lie" as a requisite for belonging to a group—friendship continues to be a central site of reflection in Children’s Literature.




Textmoot: Stories for the Refreshment of the Spirit

When: January 13th, 2018
Where: Scarborough College, Fort Worth, Texas
Deadline for Submissions: November 15th, 2017
How to Apply: Send abstract of under 200 words to info@texmoot.org

Keynote Speakers: Dr. Corey OlsenSignum University

Summary:
CALL FOR ACADEMIC PAPERS:
In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis, Lucy Pevensie reads a lovely narrative spell in the Magician’s Book. It lifts her out of a petty state of jealousy, soothing her loneliness and easing her disappointment. In the Houses of Healing in Minas Tirith, humans and hobbits find healing for both body and spirit, including recovery from trauma and heartbreak. We are looking for proposals for flash-paper presentations (up to 10 minutes each) that rigorously investigate either depictions of healing in literature (especially speculative fiction) or applications of literature to real-life recovery. Questions and topics that may be considered include the following:
·         The tale in Coriakin’s book was “about a cup and a sword and a tree and a green hill,” evocative of both Arthurian legends and the Gospel narratives; consider healing as it is presented in Arthuriana or in the Biblical text.
·         Does Tolkien’s unique concept of “recovery” overlap with the medical or psychological definitions of that term?
·         Do certain genres lend themselves to tales of healing? Are redemption and recovery built into the trajectories of certain genres? Do some genres complicate those expectations?
·         Has literature been shown to aid individuals suffering from grief or trauma?
·         Has literature been shown to contribute to the healing of cultural traumas or to the causes of social or racial reconciliation?
·         Does literature build healthy communities?
·         Can literature ever cause, exacerbate, or contribute to trauma and woundedness?
Send abstract of under 200 words to info@texmoot.org by Nov. 15th.

CALL FOR CREATIVE PRESENTATIONS: In addition to academic paper panels, there will also be one session of short, original creative presentations (up to 10 minutes each) that explore or demonstrate the same questions and topics listed above. These presentations may include:
·         Original creative writing, such as poetry, short fiction, or short creative nonfiction
·         Performances of original musical compositions
·         Display and discussion of original works of visual artCreative Presentation proposals should provide a short description (fewer than 200 words) of the presentation – including genre, medium, technical requirements, and connection to the symposium’s theme – and should also include a sample of the creator’s original work in the same genre/medium.



Extended CFP – SWPACA Myth and Fairytales

When: February 7th-10th, 2018
Where: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Deadline for Submissions: November 15th, 2017

Summary:
All scholars working in the areas of myth and/or fairy tales are invited to submit paper or panel proposals for the upcoming SWPACA Conference. Panels are now forming on topics related to all aspects of myths and fairy tales and their connections to popular culture. To participate in this area, you do not need to present on both myths and fairy tales; one or the other is perfectly fine. Presentations considering both genres are of course welcome and can stimulate interesting discussions. Proposals for forming your own Myth or Fairy Tale-focused panel – especially panels focused on one particular myth/tale – are encouraged.
Paper topics might include (but are certainly not limited to):
·         Where Fairy Tales and Myth Overlap
·         Non-Western Myths and Fairy Tales
·         Revised Fairy Tales
·         Fairy Tales in/as “Children’s Literature”
·         Disney
·         Urban Fairy Tales
·         Ethnic Myths and Fairy Tales
·         Gendered Readings of Myths and Fairy Tales
·         Postcolonial Myths and Fairy Tales
·         Myths and Fairy Tales in Advertising Culture
·         Reading Myths and Fairy Tales in the Popular Culture of Past Centuries
·         Performing Myths and Fairy Tales: Drama and/or Ritual
·         Genres of Myths and/or Fairy Tales: Film, Television, Poetry, Novels, Music, Comic Books, Picture  Books, Short Stories, or Graphic Novels

Individual proposals for 15 minute papers must include an abstract of approximately 200-500 words.  Including a brief bio in the body of the proposal form is encouraged, but not required.  



UPDATE: EXTENDED DEADLINE: SWPACA Children’s/Young Adult Literature and Culture Area

When: February 7th-10th, 2017
Where: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Deadline for Submissions: November 15th, 2017

Summary:

The Children’s/Young Adult Literature and Culture area covers a wide variety of possible mediums: traditional book/literature culture, but also comics, graphic novels, film, television, music, video games, toys, internet environment, fan fiction, advertising, and marketing tie-ins to books and films, just to name a few.  Proposals on fiction, non-fiction, poetry, or cross-genre topics are welcome.  Interdisciplinary approaches are especially welcome, as are presentations that go beyond the traditional scholarly paper format.
Topics may include, but are not limited to:
·         Diversity in Children’s and YA literature (gender, race/ethnicity, disability, body image, sexual identity)
·         Use of innovative formats for both children’s and YA literature
·         The next “big” thing in children’s and YA literature
·         Film adaptation issues
·         Historical approaches to children’s and YA literature and culture
·         New readings of children’s and YA literature and culture
·         Re-imaginings of myth, fairy tale, and other traditional stories
·         Explorations of specific authors in the children’s and YA areas
·         Fan fiction and fan followings of books, films, and authors
·         Beyond books and films
·         Awards for children’s and YA literature (issues and controversies)
Proposals on other topics related to Children’s and Young Adult Literature and Culture will be read with interest.
Individual proposals for 15 minute papers must include an abstract of approximately 200-500 words.  Including a brief bio in the body of the proposal form is encouraged, but not required.

 New Directions in Children’s Film


When: N/A
Where: N/A
Deadline for Submissions: November 30th, 2017
How to Apply: chermansson@pittstate.edu 

Summary:
Chapter proposals are requested for a proposed handbook, New Directions in Children’s Film: Theory and Practice, edited by Casie Hermansson and Janet Zepernick and under consideration with Palgrave Macmillan. While children’s film is as old as film itself, film scholarship is only recently beginning to catch up to the numerous innovations of this thriving genre. This collection aims to chart the new directions in 21st century children’s film (broadly defined), and in its study.
Initial proposals of approximately 300 words should clearly address any aspect of current children’s film, including but not limited to children in/on film; evolving genre definitions and borders; censorship and gatekeeping; influence of technologies; adaptation issues; current thematic and other preoccupations; construction and constructedness of childhood representations; pedagogical issues; the child star system; money and the children’s markets. Please also include a professional biography written in 3rd person of 100-200 words, noting credentials in this research area as relevant. Deadline for proposals: November 30, 2017, by email to: chermansson@pittstate.edu . All submissions will be confirmed received by prompt email reply. Authors will be notified by December 15 about inclusion in the formal Prospectus and chapters of 6-8k words will be due in 2018. Please circulate and repost.




Children and Popular Culture
 
When: N/A
Where: N/A
Deadline for Earth: December 1st, 2017
How to Apply: The guest editor welcomes submissions of articles via the journal submission system on its SAGE Publishing site. See “Submission Guidelines” here: https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/journal/global-studies-childhood#description

Summary:
Childhood and youth are always contested notions, but perhaps nowhere more than in popular culture. Popular culture offers representations of children and youth as, among other things, wise, dangerous, evil, innocent, sexual, doomed, and in various states of “in progress.” Popular culture is also the broad site of much child agency, where children and youth produce texts from novels to YouTube channels to websites, blogs, and zines, frequently outstripping their adult contemporaries in technological savvy and communicative capability. Popular culture for children is by turns condescending to the youngest audience, crass, pedantic, and appropriated by adults for their own pleasure. Elements of popular culture are designed to educate and socialize children; others are manipulated by children as political activism. These turns call into question and trouble conceptions not only of “the child” but of “popular culture” itself and propose a compelling nexus of questions befitting both Childhood Studies and Popular Culture Studies.
In this special issue, authors are invited to consider intersections of popular culture by, for, and about childhood, both broadly construed. We will explore both the impacts of popular culture on youth and childhood and the very real impacts of children and youth on popular culture. All disciplinary approaches are welcome, including but not limited to textual and visual analysis, ethnographic work, studies of children’s popular material culture, historical readings, comparative analysis of texts, and consumer and communication studies.
Additionally, contemplations of the interstices between Childhood Studies and Popular Culture Studies as academic endeavors are encouraged. The two fields have been in limited conversation with one another, perhaps separated by epistemological and methodological concerns, yet the available data seems like a rich vein for insight. While both fields are multi-disciplinary and continuously evolving, Childhood Studies maintains very clear traces of its roots in social sciences, while Popular Culture Studies is still found more often housed in the Humanities. The two fields each have at their center subjects that have at times made it difficult for them to be taken seriously as sites of academic inquiry. With different questions at their core, how can the two fields interact? Put another way, how do we study this multitude of texts?
Topics for this special issue might include:
·         Popular culture and education, whether intentional or inadvertent;
·         Children’s popular culture as grown-up nostalgia;
·         Youth vs. adult perspectives on popular culture;
·         Children and youth as producers of popular culture;
·         New media as empowering or oppressive;
·         Capabilities for communication and interconnectivity;
·         Adult consumption of children’s popular culture;
·         Children’s consumption of decades-old popular culture;
·         Definitions of youth in popular culture;
·         Nostalgia through revivals and reboots;
·         Social media;
·         Diminishing space between children’s and adult popular culture.