CFP International Conference "Monsters, Sorcerers, and Witches of Northwestern Europe" (proposals 3/2/2025; Siena 7/9-11/2025)

International Conference "Monsters, Sorcerers, and Witches of Northwestern Europe"

deadline for submissions:
March 2, 2025

full name / name of organization:
Prin 2022 Project "Monsters, Sorcerers, and Witches of Northwestern Europe: The Medieval and Early Modern Construction of Otherness in Literature for Popular Audiences

contact email:
monsterswitchesnorthwesterneu@gmail.com

source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2025/01/10/international-conference-monsters-sorcerers-and-witches-of-northwestern-europe.



To mark the conclusion of a biennial research carried out by four Italian Universities (Siena, Turin, Florence, and Naples “L’Orientale”), the scientific committee of the PRIN 2022 Project Monsters, Sorcerers, and Witches of Northwestern Europe: The Medieval and Early Modern Construction of Otherness in Literature for Popular Audiences invites abstract submissions for a three-day international conference, to be hosted at the University of Siena on 9-11 July 2025.

The conference will devote attention to monstrous births of human beings, illicit magic, and witchcraft – three features at the core of the Renaissance preternatural imagination – in order to highlight the connection between prodigious events and marginality, placing a special emphasis on the resulting social relegation of the individuals involved in them.

Particularly appreciated will be contributions taking into examination non-canonical sources, such as ballads, broadsheets, pamphlets, as well as manuals, sermons, and annals, which were destined for large and culturally varied audiences, including those with limited literacy. The time frame under consideration will encompass the late Middle Ages and the whole early modern period, so as to inspect both the genesis, development, and aftermath of such phenomena in Northwestern European texts.

Proposals seeking to investigate the processes of interpretation and exploitation of the preternatural will also be very welcome, as will those scrutinising the mechanisms of repression underlying the narration of preternatural events, by relating them to their prescriptive framework.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following themes:

• Monstrosity, witchcraft, and gender.
• The witch, the deformed child’s mother and their connections with other liminal subjects.
• Metamorphosis and shapeshifting.
• Crossing boundaries with monstrosity and witchcraft.
• Border conflicts or crossings between normativity and non-normativity.
• Transgression through monstrosity and witchcraft.
• Classifications and fluidity of monstrosity and magic.
• The non-normative body and/or intellect in the late Middle Ages and the early modern period.
• Monstrosity and witchcraft as markers of physical and intellectual disability.
• Medical, legal, religious, social or political evaluations of monstrosity and witchcraft.
• Monstrosity, witchcraft and related textual genres (teratologies, chronologies of strange events, demonological treatises, etc.).

We are particularly keen to promote interdisciplinary approaches and encourage submissions that engage with literary, historical, theological, medical, legal, or cultural perspectives.



Papers should not exceed 20 minutes and will be followed by a five-minute discussion.



Paper submission

If you wish to present a paper, email an abstract of 250-300 words alongside a short bionote (100-150 words).

Please send your proposals to: luca.baratta@unisi.it; monsterswitchesnorthwesterneu@gmail.com

Deadline for proposals: 2 March 2025

Notification of acceptance: 16 March 2025



Conference dates: 9-11 July 2025

Venue: Department of Philology and Literary Criticism

University of Siena

Pionta Campus – Logge del Grano Hall

Piazzetta Logge del Grano, n. 5 – 52100 Arezzo (Italy)



Project & Conference website: https://sites.google.com/view/monsterswitches/conferences/international-conference-prin2022-project-monsterswitches


Last updated January 10, 2025

CFP Romancing the Gothic Conference 2023 – The Supernatural and Witchcraft in belief, practice and depiction (3/31/2023; 8/26-27/2023)

Romancing the Gothic Conference 2023 – The Supernatural and Witchcraft in belief, practice and depiction

Main site: https://romancingthegothic.com/2022/11/12/romancing-the-gothic-conference-2023-the-supernatural-and-witchcraft-in-belief-practice-and-depiction/.
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In 1848, William Harrison Ainsworth published his novel The Lancashire Witches based on the real-life witch-trials in Pendle in 1612. Exploring the background of the trials and executions, it was heavily based on Thomas Potts’ Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Lancashire (1613). 1848 also saw the publication of Catherine Crowe’s The Night-Side of Nature with T. C. Newby. The book purported to unclose something of this ‘night side of nature’ with all its wonders. After all, she tells us, ‘we are encompassed on all sides by wonders, and we can scarcely set our foot upon the ground, without trampling upon some marvellous production that our whole life and all our faculties would not suffice to comprehend.’ The book featured accounts of dreams, wraiths, doubles, ghosts and more. This year, Romancing the Gothic is marking the 175th anniversary of these publications with a conference dedicated to the subjects which lie at the heart of both texts: witchcraft, the supernatural in history, belief, practice and depiction.

We invite individual papers (20 minutes) or panels (3 x 20 minutes) exploring the fictional, factional and factual depiction or discussion of witchcraft and the supernatural from any period. This conference seeks to focus on the changing ways in which practices and beliefs have been understood and depicted as well as mapping the ways in which discourses of witchcraft and of the supernatural have been deployed in different historical, political, theological and social contexts. We welcome papers discussing all traditions of witchcraft and supernatural belief and depiction and would particularly encourage pre-formed panels discussing specific national or cultural traditions.

We welcome papers on topics including:

• The Night Side of Nature and The Lancashire Witches
• The wider work of William Harrison Ainsworth and Catherine Crowe
• The Lancashire ‘witches’
• The depiction of witches in fiction, film, video games etc.
• The depiction of witch trials
• Histories of persecution
• Factual and factional writing on the supernatural
• Occult writers
• The depiction of the supernatural in fiction and film
• Ghost-hunting (historical or contemporary)
• Ghost stories
• Social histories of the ghost
• Real ghosts and hauntings
• Supernatural typologies
• Queering the Supernatural
• Changing theologies of the supernatural
• Brujeria and its depiction in contemporary media
• Fear and the supernatural
• Healing and the supernatural
• Histories of ghost (and other supernatural) belief
• Supernatural dreaming in fiction and fact
• Changing theologies of the supernatural
• Internet subcultures related to witchcraft and the supernatural

The conference will be held entirely online on 26th-27th August 2023. We will be accepting abstracts until March 31st 2023. Please send abstracts of 250-300 words and a short bio. We accept and welcome papers from academics and non-academics, including practitioners. We also welcome pitches for ‘workshops’ or interactive activities. For previous conferences these have included: 18th century dance lessons, cooking with Dracula demonstrations, and creative writing workshops. Please send all pitches to the conference organiser Dr Sam Hirst (University of Liverpool/Oxford Brookes University) at sam@romancingthegothic.com.

To ensure the conference is accessible to the maximum number of people, there is no fee for presenters. Everyone delivering a paper or workshop will be offered a small honorarium. The event is online, using subtitling and will be recorded so that those unable to attend at various times (for example, due to timezones) are able to access all the events. Please contact me with any questions or requirements related to accessibility at the email address above.

If this is your first conference or you would like support with abstract writing, I will be putting on an online workshop on writing abstracts. Please email me at sam@romancingthegothic.com if you would like to attend.

CFP Recasting the Bygone Witch: Examining Strength in Preservation (9/30/2022; NeMLA 2023)

Recasting the Bygone Witch: Examining Strength in Preservation (NeMLA 2023)

source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2022/06/19/recasting-the-bygone-witch-examining-strength-in-preservation-nemla-2023

deadline for submissions:
September 30, 2022



full name / name of organization:
Panel at NeMLA 2023, March 23-26, 2023, Niagara Falls NY



contact email:
ainemnorris@gmail.com



From Sabrina to Supreme, there are plentiful modern representations of the witch in popular culture, each exuding singular or group-sourced power borne from traditions of centuries-past, as manifested in literature, television, film, or local lore. But what about the lesser-known witches, those who practice and represent branches of witchcraft rarely examined within the subcultural analysis or fandom?

This panel examines portrayals of lesser-known witches and how their quiet unconventionality, even within the broader occult subculture, might inform scholarship, practice, and preservation. What can we learn by examining lesser-known witches or unconventional representations of the witch?

Approaches or lenses for papers may include (but are not limited to):

• Literature, texts, or theory
• Cultural studies
• Gender studies
• Technology or media studies
• Race and ethnicity studies
• Environmental studies
• Pop culture studies
• Local or regional examinations
• Museum studies and public history
• Historic preservation or conservation

Abstracts must be submitted before the deadline to the NeMLA website: https://www.cfplist.com/nemla/Home/S/19862 (note: you will need to establish a username and password).



Information about abstract requirements is available here: https://www.buffalo.edu/nemla/convention/callforpapers.html



This panel is for the Northeast Modern Language Association convention, March 23-26, 2023 in Niagara Falls, NY. To learn more about NeMLA, visit https://www.buffalo.edu/nemla/convention.html Papers must be delivered in-person at the conference.



Please don't hesitate to send any questions to both Aíne Norris ainemnorris@gmail.com and Maria DiBenigno mdibenigno@wm.edu.


 
Last updated July 9, 2022

CFP Crones, Crime, and the Gothic Conference (4/1/2022; Falmouth U 6/10-11/2022)

Crones, Crime, and the Gothic Conference

source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2022/03/16/crones-crime-and-the-gothic-conference

deadline for submissions:
April 1, 2022

full name / name of organization:
Falmouth University, 10-11 June, 2022

contact email:
cronescrimegothic@gmail.com



Older women have traditionally been portrayed negatively in folklore, fairy tales, literature and film, for example. Images of witches, evil stepmothers, shrivelled, bitter 'spinsters', and vindictive, bullying women abusing positions of power are rife in Western culture. Yet, perhaps things are changing. A new emphasis on the need to discuss and understand the menopause seems to be at the heart of this. This conference examines historical representations of the 'crone' in relation to crime and Gothic narratives. But it also looks ahead and globally to examine other types of discourses and representations. Bringing older women to the fore of the discussion, this conference aims to go global and really shake up the way that the ‘crone’ is thought about and symbolized.

This conference addresses the key real-world issue of how older, menopausal, and postmenopausal women are spoken about and represented in different cultures and locations. It focuses on crime and Gothic narratives that are the most often, but not always, negatively positioned in relation to older women. As well as highlighting some of the historical issues, this conference gives a voice to diversity, global differences, and other issues such as race, trans-cultures, class, colonization, sexuality identities, femininity, and masculinity.

We welcome abstracts for papers, panels, workshops, and creative practice.

Topics can include (but are not limited to) the following:

• The Crone
• Witches
• Folklore
• Fairytales
• Global representations
• Older women in film and television
• Criminal women
• Wise women
• The older woman and the Gothic
• Older women and ethnicity
• Trans-cultures
• Regional cultures
• Historical fiction
• Literature
• Class
• Race
• Gender
• Sexuality
• Crones and ecology and/or the climate emergency
• Grandparents
• Spinsters
• The menopause

Abstracts do not have to cover each subject (crones, crime, or the Gothic) but each paper should address at least one of the title subjects and present a clear challenge to conventional and traditional ways of thinking. The aim of the conference is to explore the fears of the past and the contemporary, as well exploring ways to go forward.



Please send 250 word abstracts + a short bio in a Word document to: cronescrimegothic@gmail.com



Submission deadline: 1 April 2022



Last updated March 16, 2022

CFP Edited Collection: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (due 10/31/2021)

Sorry to have missed posting this sooner. 

Edited Collection: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

deadline for submissions: October 31, 2021

full name / name of organization: Cori Mathis

contact email: cemathis@lipscomb.edu

source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2021/07/22/edited-collection-chilling-adventures-of-sabrina


In the world of teen drama (or YA drama, as some prefer), there are a number of ways to represent adolescence and its attendant horrors, and we’ve seen a great deal of fantasy-based approaches; beginning with Buffy, some establish that high school is actual hell. But few series come close to Chilling Adventures of Sabrina’s devotion to that idea. The Netflix series (2018-20), based on the Archie Comics spin-off and featuring a much darker version of Sabrina Spellman, may be difficult for audiences to reconcile with ABC’s Sabrina the Teenage Witch, the previous adaptation. While one is a teen sitcom in which Sabrina’s powers get her into wacky situations, and she is supported by a talking Salem the cat, the other might feel closer to The Craft. However different this version of Greendale is from what we may be used to, it certainly offers much to explore.



We invite proposals for a forthcoming collection of essays on Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and welcome those that engage with industry perspectives, textual approaches, audience studies, and issues of critical reception.

We anticipate a broad audience for this collection, which includes scholars as well as students of the humanities at both graduate and undergraduate levels. As such, submissions from contributors at various levels and from diverse fields are encouraged. Suggested themes include but are not limited to:

• Genre (teen/YA drama, horror, etc.)
• Gender (masculinities, femininities, etc. as represented in the series)
• Girlhood studies
• Race and ethnicity (both in the series and from a production perspective)
• Queer readings and approaches
• Dis/ability
• Religion (Christianity, Wicca, etc., both in reality and in the world of CAoS)
• Historical, cultural, televisual, and other contextual frameworks
• Intertextuality
• Industry/production
• Adaptation
• Love and romance
• Family constructions
• Autonomy and consent
• Class and economics
• Freedom and power

Submission Details:

Proposals should be between 300 and 500 words (along with 3-5 key sources) and should clearly describe the author’s thesis and proposed outline of the essay. Completed essays (6000-7500 words, including references) are also welcome. In a separate document, authors should provide a short CV with contact information and relevant publications and presentations. (Please send these as attachments.)



Please note: submitted proposals/essays should not have been previously published nor currently be under consideration for publication elsewhere. An academic press is already interested in this collection.



Submission Deadlines:

Abstract Due: October 31, 2021

Notification of Acceptance: November 15, 2021

Full Essay Due: January 31, 2021



Questions and submissions to Dr. Cori Mathis, cemathis@lipscomb.edu


Last updated August 2, 2021 

 

RIP Billie Hayes

Many performers have helped solidify the idea of the wicked witch in popular culture. Most might think of Margaret Hamilton from the Wizard of Oz or the Evil Queen from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, but others have also made an impact on the world.

One of these was Billie Hayes who passed away this week. (See her obituary from Variety.)

She was, perhaps, best known for her role as Witchiepoo in the Sid and Marty Krofft show H. R. Puffnstuff, entertaining generations of fans with her comic antics.

But Hayes also portrayed other witches over the years, including one on an episode of Bewitched. 

CFP Northeastern Monsters (8/1/21; NEPCA virtual 10/21-23/21)

Here's the second special call for NEPCA 2021:


Northeastern Monsters

Session Proposed for the 2021 Conference of the Northeast Popular Culture/American Culture Association

Sponsored by the Monsters & the Monstrous Area

Virtual event, Thursday, 21 October, through Saturday, 23 October 2021.

Proposals due by 1 August 2021.



The Northeast Popular Culture/American Culture Association (a.k.a. NEPCA) prides itself on holding conferences that emphasize sharing ideas in a non-competitive and supportive environment. We welcome proposals for presentations of 15-20 minutes in length, from researchers at all levels, including undergraduate and graduate students, junior faculty, and senior scholars, as well as independent scholars. NEPCA conferences offer intimate and nurturing sessions in which new ideas and works-in-progress can be aired, as well as completed projects.

For this session, we’re looking for papers that explore and highlight the Northeast’s contributions to monster lore, including authors, events, individuals, locations, and, of course, monsters.



If you are interested in joining this session, please submit the following information into NEPCA’s online form at http://bit.ly/PopCFP2021.

• Proposal Type (Single Presentation or Panel
• Subject Area (select the “Monsters and the Monstrous” from the list)
• Working Title
• Abstract (250 words)
• Short bio (50-200 words)

Address any inquiries to the area chairs: Michael A. Torregrossa at popular.preternaturaliana@gmail.com.

Presenters are also required to become members of NEPCA for the year.

CFP Witches (Spec Issue of Journal of Dracula Studies) (1/1/2020)

Journal of Dracula Studies Special Issue: Witches
https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2019/06/27/journal-of-dracula-studies-special-issue-witches

deadline for submissions: January 1, 2020
full name / name of organization: Anne DeLong/Transylvanian Society of Dracula
contact email: journalofdraculastudies@kutztown.edu

The Journal of Dracula Studies is accepting submissions of manuscripts of scholarly articles (4000-6000 words) for a 2020 Special Issue focusing on witches and witchcraft. Papers may examine the figure of the witch and/or the practice of witchcraft in literature, film, folklore, and popular culture. Submissions are due by January 1, 2020. Possible topics include the following:

• witches, wizards, warlocks, cunning folk
• magic and magical practices
• hexing and spell casting
• witches throughout history
• witch hunts and witch trials
• witchcraft and feminism
• witchcraft and New Age spirituality
• witchcraft and political activism
• witchcraft and spiritualism: seances, spirit communication
• culturally diverse witchcraft practices: Voodoo, conjure, pow wow, etc.
• depictions of witches and witchcraft in film, television, and popular culture

Last updated July 5, 2019

CFP Withcraft Hysteria: Performing Witchcraft in Contemporary Art and Pop Culture (proposals by 10/1/2018)

CFP: WITCHCRAFT HYSTERIA: Performing Witchcraft in Contemporary Art and Pop Culture
https://www.fantastic-arts.org/2018/cfp-witchcraft-hysteria-performing-witchcraft-in-contemporary-art-and-pop-culture/
August 14, 2018

Type:
Call for Papers

Date:
October 1, 2018

Location:
California, United States

Subject Fields:
Art, Art History & Visual Studies, Cultural History / Studies, Popular Culture Studies, Theatre & Performance History / Studies, Women’s & Gender History / Studies

WITCHCRAFT HYSTERIA. Performing witchcraft in contemporary art and pop culture.

We seem to be living in bewitched times. Witches are everywhere, or rather: victims of alleged witch hunts pop up all over the place, preferable on Twitter or other social media. Pop-stars perform as witches, like Katy Perry in her performance at the 2014 Grammy awards, where she appeared in a cowl before a crystal ball, while later dancing with broomsticks as poles. Beyoncé’s visual album “Lemonade” (2016) made several explicit references to black witchcraft rituals. Azealia Banks proclaimed in the same year on Twitter that she practiced “three years worth of brujería” (brujería, Spanish: witchcraft) and tweeted––while cleaning the blood-smeared room used for her animal sacrifices––“Real witches do real things”. Marina Abramovic’s performance piece “Spirit Cooking” (1996) was used in the ominous Pizzagate conspiracy theory of 2016, accusing Abramovic and the Hillary Clinton campaign in practicing witchcraft rituals and occult magic. Clinton and other influential women in politics–such as Nany Pelosi and Maxine Waters––get labeled as witches and Sarah Palin partakes in a ritual to secure her electoral win and “save her from witchcraft”. Meanwhile, thousands of people coordinate binding spells against political leaders (#bindtrump) and Silvia Federici’s seminal book “Caliban and the Witch” moved from the bookshelf to the bedside table for many art professionals.

The title “Witchcraft Hysteria” follows the inscription on the monument dedicated 1992 to the Salem Witch Trials (1692), that were informed by European-US-American witchcraft discourses of their time and in turn were highly influential on today’s discussions.

For this publication, we want to investigate the revival and the current interest in the figure of the witch and the performance of witchcraft in contemporary art, visual culture and pop culture. The figure of the witch as icon of historical significance and present relevance in art and politics has only gained in its cultural impact. Our project focuses on performance strategies of “performing witchcraft” in a contemporary context, focusing on the last two decades.

Relevant paper topics may consider, but are not limited to:

• The figure of the witch in contemporary art and culture
• Contextualizing Witchcraft Hysteria in Theater, Film, Television, Streaming Media, Social Media, etc. in their historical representations and current manifestations
• Witchcraft (Hysteria) and Performance Studies
• Witchcraft and feminist (art) practice
• Practicing Witchcraft as political protest
• The politics of being (labeled) a witch
• Queer-Feminist perspectives on Witchcraft
• (Intersectional) Questions of Gender, Class and Race and Witchcraft

Schedule

Proposals (500 words): October 1, 2018

Final Papers Due: January 16, 2018 [I assume this is an error for 1/16/2019]

Submission of Final Revised Papers for Publication: March 4, 2018 [likewise, I assume this is an error for 3/4/2019].

Publication: Summer, 2018 [again, I assume this is an error for Summer 2019]

Please submit a 500-word proposal and a 200-word biography to both editors: Johanna Braun (johannabraun@g.ucla.edu) and Katharina Brandl (katharina.brandl@unibas.ch) by October 1, 2018.

Contact Info:
Katharina Brandl

University of Basel, Switzerland

Johanna Braun
Erwin Schrödinger Research Fellow at University of California, Los Angeles

Contact Email:
johannabraun@g.ucla.edu

CFP Varieties of the Monstrous Feminine in American Literature (9/30/2018; NeMLA 2019)

“Varieties of the Monstrous Feminine in American Literature”
https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2018/07/01/%E2%80%9Cvarieties-of-the-monstrous-feminine-in-american-literature%E2%80%9D

deadline for submissions:
September 30, 2018

full name / name of organization:
Mary Balkun/Seton Hall University

contact email:
mary.balkun@shu.edu



NeMLA 2019

The monstrous female is a staple of the literary imagination. The Medusa, the witch, the Sirens, the succubus/vampire, the she-devil, the madwoman, the coquette, the cross-dresser—these are just some versions of this trope that can be identified from the earliest periods to the present day. Some figures represent the ways women have been marginalized as “other” and the impact of that designation, while others represent ways that outsider positions can become a locus of power. This roundtable will explore various manifestations of the monstrous feminine trope, specifically in American literature and culture. It will consider questions such as: Who defines monstrosity? How can it be construed as positive as well as negative? How does the monstrous feminine manifest in different time periods and locations (urban vs. rural, east vs. west vs. midwest, north vs. south)? Does the monstrous feminine always have to be female?

Proposals of 300 words should be submitted by Sept. 30, 2018 via the NeMLA portal https://www.cfplist.com/nemla/Home/CFP.

CFP Edited Collection on Young Adult Gothic Fiction (7/16/2018)

Edited Collection on Young Adult Gothic Fiction
https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2018/05/22/edited-collection-on-young-adult-gothic-fiction

deadline for submissions: July 16, 2018

full name / name of organization: Dr Michelle Smith and Dr Kristine Moruzi

contact email: Michelle.Smith@monash.edu



Call for Papers: Edited Collection on Young Adult Gothic Fiction

The twenty-first century has seen a marked increase in the Gothic themes of liminality, monstrosity, transgression, romance, and sexuality in fiction for young adults. While Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series (2005-2008) is the most well-known example of Gothic young adult fiction, it is part of a growing corpus of hundreds of novels published in the genre since the turn of the millennium. During this period, the Gothic itself has simultaneously undergone a transformation. The Gothic monster is increasingly presented sympathetically, especially through narration and focalisation from the “monster’s” perspective. In YA Gothic, the crossing of boundaries that is typical of the Gothic is often motivated by a heterosexual romance plot in which the human or monstrous female protagonist desires a boy who is not her “type”. In addition, as the Gothic works to define what it means to be human, particularly in relation to gender, race, and identity, contemporary shifts and flashpoints in identity politics are also being negotiated under the metaphoric cloak of monstrosity.

Yet the Gothic also operates within young adult fiction to enable discussions about fears and anxieties in relation to a variety of contemporary concerns, including environmentalism, human rights, and alienation. Catherine Spooner suggests that the Gothic takes the form of a series of revivals. In the proposed collection we seek to explain what the current Gothic revival in YA fiction signifies and call for papers engaging with any aspect of Gothic fiction published for young adults since 2000.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• The Gothic and the posthuman
• The paranormal romance
• The monstrous feminine
• The adolescent body
• The evolution of canonical monsters including the vampire, the werewolf, the witch
• Postfeminism and the Gothic
• The Gothic and race
• Gothic spaces
• Gothic historical fiction

The editors are currently preparing a proposal for a university press Gothic series, in which the publisher has already expressed preliminary interest.

Please submit abstracts of up to 300 words and a biographical note of up to 150 words to both Dr Kristine Moruzi (kristine.moruzi@deakin.edu.au) and Dr Michelle Smith (michelle.smith@monash.edu) by 16 July 2018.

Full papers of 6000 words will be due by 1 December 2018.