CFP Promises of Monsters: Those Haunting Feminist Speculative Fiction (3/14/2026; MLA 2027)

2027 MLA CFP: The Promises of Monsters: Those Haunting Feminist Speculative Fiction

deadline for submissions:
March 14, 2026

full name / name of organization:
Ezgi Hamzaçebi / MLA 2027

contact email:
ezgi.hamzacebi@ozyegin.edu.tr

source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2026/03/04/2027-mla-cfp-the-promises-of-monsters-those-haunting-feminist-speculative-fiction

This panel explores the promises and provocations of monstrous and ghostly figures in feminist and queer speculative fiction, focusing on gendered human and nonhuman bodies. We are particularly interested in how monsters articulate socially ingrained fears and anxieties about women, queer communities, and the nonhuman world, as well as the desires and apprehensions they evoke toward the impossible, the fantastic, or the supernatural. Contributors might consider how these monstrous imaginings shape, challenge, or expand the category of “us,” offering critical insights into who is included, who is excluded, and on what grounds. By interrogating these entanglements, the panel seeks to illuminate how feminist and queer speculative fiction uses the figure of the monster to question normative assumptions, open new imaginative possibilities, and rethink the ethical and social stakes of inclusion, otherness, and coexistence.

*Please submit a 250-word abstract and a brief bio by March 14.

ezgi.hamzacebi@ozyegin.edu.tr

https://mla.confex.com/mla/2027/webprogrampreliminary/Paper33661.html



Last updated March 10, 2026