CFP: Contemporary Black Women’s Fiction

Black Perspectives, the award-winning blog of the African American Intellectual History Society (AAIHS), invites blog posts for an online forum on the topic of Black Women’s contributions to the canon of African American literature. Black women have been prolific contributors to the fiction genre as early as the nineteenth century. The works of Black women writers such as Gwendolyn Brooks, Zora Neale Hurston, Nella Larsen, Toni Morrison, and Harriet E. Wilson amongst others serve as a foundation for the contemporary works of fiction written by Black women authors including Charmaine Wilkerson, Britt Bennett, Zakiya Dalila Harris, Edwidge Danticat, Yaa Gyasi and Alice Walker. The proliferation of film and television series adaptations of many of these popular works has also worked to transform Black women’s representation in mainstream media. These women continue to build on the tradition established by earlier writers, as their work has fundamentally shaped the fiction genre and undoubtedly enhanced the canon of African American literature.

Black Perspectives invites writers to contribute short essays that provide historical context for the rise in Black feminist traditions within the fiction genre. The forum seeks to explore the Black women’s unique contributions to the fiction genre globally. We encourage potential contributors to submit guest blog posts that explore topics that include, but are not limited to the following:

• Pioneering Black women fiction authors (including Octavia Butler, Maya Angelou, Francis Harper, and bell hooks)
• Black women’s fiction books adapted to film/television throughout history and their impact on Black women’s representation within mainstream
• The Black feminist tradition within Black fiction, including Black feminist fiction as a tool for anti-colonial protest
• Contemporary Black women fiction writers and their works’ impact in modern Black culture/politics (including Selena Montgomery, nom de plume of Stacey Abrams)

Submissions should be between 750 and 1500 words. They must be submitted to the senior editors no later than Sunday, March 31^st at 11:59pm Eastern Standard Time. With your submission, please provide your bio (250-300 words) and a headshot (for use if your essay is accepted).

All submissions will undergo a peer review process before they are accepted. Please click here for more details on the blog’s submission guidelines as well as information regarding format and citations.