Demeter Press is seeking submissions for an edited collection, titled Interrogating Reproductive Loss: Feminist Writings on Abortion, Miscarriage, and Stillbirth, to be co-edited by Emily R.M. Lind and Angie Deveau.
The deadline for abstracts and acceptances is June 1, and the deadline for completed papers is Nov. 15. Expected date of publication is early 2016.
Feminist theories of the body, reproduction and the institution of motherhood typically focus on issues of rights, autonomy and choice. These themes become increasingly complicated when applied to questions of reproductive loss.
Interrogating Reproductive Loss: Feminist Writings on Abortion, Miscarriage, and Stillbirth seeks essays, poems, short stories and artwork that imagine a feminist epistemology of loss.
Whereas biomedical and feminist literature treat abortion, miscarriage and stillbirth as differently conceptualized events, this collection explores the connections between these three categories. How have feminist debates and activist strategies around reproductive choice invigorated the cultural conversation about miscarriage and stillbirth? How can we imagine more nuanced engagements with the spectrum of experiences that are at stake when a pregnancy ends? And how can we effectively create a space where women and trans people are given the opportunities to “identify and own” (Cosgrove 2004) the ways that loss makes meaning for those who grieve and/or celebrate the end of pregnancy?
Submissions from researchers, parents, health-care experts, community workers, artists and activists are welcome. Chapters from a wide range of disciplines and cultural perspectives, both theoretical/scholarly and creative (for example stories, narrative, creative non-fiction, poetry, image-based) are highly encouraged and will be considered.
For a full list of potential topics, visit the Demeter Press website
Abstracts should be a 250-word description of the proposed paper, including a tentative title. Include a 50-word biography noting citizenship and full contact information.
Direct all submissions and inquiries to Emily R.M. Lind at emilyruthmusgrovelind@gmail.com and Angie Deveau at angiedeveau@gmail.com.