Call For Papers: Reading While Black

So, as you all know I am in the process of solidifying publishers for the four editied collections that I am currently putting together. I am in talks with one publisher about one. The following is a post for a call for papers about the edited collection that I will be putting together as it relates to Black people and reading. I hope many of you are interested in participated or know someone who would like to. Thanks!

“Black People Don’t Read”: An Exploration into Black American Literacy, Reading, and Writing

Proposals are sought for a new edited collection on reading, writing and Black culture

“Black people don’t read” is a pervasive stereotype illuminating the fiction that American Black culture maintains an anti-intellectual, disinterested philosophy towards knowledge, exploration, and curiosity. Seeking to explore possibilities outside of this stereotype, this collection of essays will start a long overdue conversation by assembling an array of articulate, critical, and thoughtful papers about reading, writing, and the Black community. Contributions may seek to address (but are by no means limited) to the following topics:

-- Literacy and Black Stardom (i.e. what is the impact of stars such as Fantasia and R.Kelly’s illiteracy)
-- Historical Analyses of Black Intellectualism, Writing, Reading and/or Literature
-- “Urban Fiction” (i.e. Zane, Eric Jerome Dickey) and Black Publishers who solely focus on urban fiction. What is its place in Black literature if there is one? Is its widespread appeal and success a boon to the perception of the Black community in literary circles?
-- Contemporary authors of the African diaspora who have widespread appeal and their impact on Blackness and reading, etc. (i.e. Zadie Smith, Edward P. Jones, etc.)
-- Oprah Winfrey’s impact on literacy and reading
-- Cultural analyses exploring the stereotype of “why Black people don’t read”. The role reading plays in Black communities, contemporary Black attitudes towards reading/writing, etc.
-- Black Literary Circles and Book Clubs
-- Analyses of the role class plays in literacy, reading, and/or writing in the Black community
-- LeVar Burton and “Reading Rainbow”
-- Contemporary Black attitudes to reading, writing, and/or literature
-- Libraries and their role in the Black community

While the vast preponderance of this collection will focus on analytical essays, I am also looking for a few personal narratives about Black people and their own experiences with reading, writing and/or literature. If interested in submitting something to the collection, please send me the following information to my e-mail (ccy215@nyu.edu or cocacy@gmail.com) : a resume or one-page biography, an abstract of your essay topic of no more than 500 words and your complete contact information. I will be receiving abstracts until October 31st as this project is moving forward quickly. Please contact me if you have any additional questions. Thanks so much!

puckish -- adjective: Whimsical; mischievous; impish

"It's both rebellion and conformity that attack you with success" --- Amy Tan