>>>Special Issue of MELUS on Multi-Ethnic Poetics

SPECIAL ISSUE OF MELUS ON MULTI-ETHNIC POETICS

Submissions are invited for a special issue of MELUS on the poetries and poetics of multi-ethnic traditions. This issue will initiate and extend scholarly conversations about poetics, especially given the general tendency in theories of ethnic cultures and literary expressivity to neglect the role that varied verse forms and traditions play. Thus, we particularly encourage submissions that utilize complex formal analysis to increase the theoretical sophistication of the study of these poetic traditions. We look forward to comparative studies, discussions of specific ethnically and/or culturally derived verse forms and traditions, fresh interpretations of established poets and poetics practitioners, and attention to neglected writers. In addition, we invite limited submissions of original poetry that pertains to multi-ethnic subjects or poetics.

We seek submissions dealing with topics including but not limited to the following:

• Poetics across ethnic traditions
• Literary forms within distinctive ethnic culture traditions (i.e.
ghazal, bop)
• Literary theory and practice associated with particular
communities (i.e. Cave Canem, VONA, Nuyorican Poets Cafe,
Umbra)
• Poetry and political movements
• Poetics and place, regional as well as transnational (i.e. global
south, diasporic)
• The place of the sacred, including sacred verse forms
• Poetics and performance (i.e. visual, oral, digital)
• Individual poets in historical and political contexts
• Poetics in conversation with other art forms
• Poetry sub-cultures and new media poetries

The most desirable essays will be between 7,000 and 10,000 words, including notes and works cited. Queries concerning possible submissions as well as book reviews are welcome. Electronic submission is required. Please send an email attachment to the editors, Meta DuEwa Jones (metadj@mail.utexas.edu) and Keith D. Leonard (kdl@american.edu). Deadline for submission: January 3, 2009.