Along with my co-editor Rory Loughnane (University of Kent), I am delighted to invite proposals for Cambridge Elements in Shakespeare and Text, a brand new series of short books about the textual histories, present, and futures of the Shakespearean text.
We are interested in work that thinks in new ways about textual matters around Shakespeare and stretches the boundaries of what might be considered “a Shakespearean text.” We especially welcome proposals from early career scholars and those with something to say about textual matters around Shakespeare from the vantage of fields outside book history.
These “mini-graphs,” or Elements, will be 25K-30K words in length and offer the chance to explore topics that might not stretch to a full-blown monograph but which require more development than is possible in a journal article or collection chapter. All Elements in the series will be published in hard copy and online. The digital publication will be open-access for a short time after publication.
Here is the official call for proposals:
Cambridge Elements in Shakespeare and Text offers a platform for original scholarship about the creation, circulation, reception, remaking, use, performance, teaching, and translation of the Shakespearean text across time and place. From investigations of the early manuscript and print transmission of Shakespeare’s writings to studies about how they have been disseminated globally, the series defines the area of “Shakespeare and Text” broadly and aims to publish research that challenges—and pushes beyond—the conventional parameters of textual studies.
Areas of general focus might include textual editing and editorial practice; authorship and attribution; philology and bibliography; the history of reading; theatre studies; and approaches to textual studies that converge with literary criticism, theory, library studies, pedagogy, and the public humanities. The series editors welcome proposals for Elements at the intersection of textual studies and pre-modern race studies; gender, queer, and/or trans studies; and/or disability studies. So, too, they invite proposals about textual studies and the history of science and the environment/climate change. Elements might focus on the individuals, networks, communities, and institutions who have contributed to the migration and mediation of Shakespeare’s works, including collaborators and co-authors, printers, booksellers, book-owners, editors, teachers, theatre professionals, performers, translators, librarians, archivists, and the media. Also of interest are the objects made from these processes and new methods of approaching them.
If you have a project that fits the purview of the series, please be in touch with a short description of your research and its suitability. Also, don’t hesitate to contact us with questions.
Our contact information can be found on the series’ homepage, where you can also learn more about us and the series advisory board.