The editor of a book collection tentatively called “The Wild That Attracts Us: New Critical Essays on Robinson Jeffers” invites proposals for essays that evidence the advance in Jeffers scholarship, especially since the publication of the most recent collections in the early- and mid-1990s. Since the publication of those volumes, there have been significant accomplishments in Jeffers scholarship: the entire five volumes of the Collected Poetry and the first of three volumes of the Collected Letters have been released, Jeffers Studies was established, and the Robinson Jeffers Association has flourished. Given the enlivened atmosphere of Jeffers scholarship, the time is right for a new collection of essays, one that significantly adds to the body of critical work on Robinson Jeffers.
To that end, proposals are invited for essays that specifically address the critical sea-change of the past two decades, especially as it concerns Jeffers study, including but not limited to: the full advance of ecocriticism; the re-imagining of regionalism as place studies; the continuing development of cultural studies and the new historicism; the development of the New Formalism; the increasingly poignant vector of science and literature; the advances in narratology; the glaring omission of feminist analysis in Jeffers scholarship; the similar dearth of writing about the teaching of Jeffers. The primary audience for this project will be academic, faculty and students primarily at the undergraduate and graduate level; secondary audiences would include the general public, especially given that Jeffers has long maintained an energetic and mindful readership.
Proposals should be 750-1,000 words, include a clear title, highlight a unique contribution to Jeffers scholarship, and provide the editor with an unambiguous argument as to Jeffers’ poetry, the critical tactics undertaken by the essay’s author, and the significance of the essay to Jeffers scholarship as a whole. The deadline for proposals is December 31, 2010. Proposals may be sent either electronically or in hard copy to the appropriate address below.
ShaunAnne Tangney
Associate Professor of English
Humanities Division
Minot State University
500 University Ave. W
Minot, ND 58707
sa.tangney@minotstateu.edu