SFFTV: WINTER 2023 OPEN CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS AND CALL FOR REVIEWERS (PLUS “WHAT WAS THE MCU?”)

Science Fiction Film and Television invites article submissions on any topics related to sf and visual media; we especially invite articles related to the production economy of the culture industry and to non-US sf, as well as articles that related to possible upcoming special issues on (1) indigenous sf filmmaking and (2) the career of Taika Waititi. We also have a current call for mini-essays for a special section: “What Was the MCU?” (deadline 1/15/24). We also invite proposals from potential guest editors for special issues; please write gerry.canavan@marquette.edu for more information on this process.

SFFTV is edited by Gerry Canavan (Marquette University), Dan Hassler-Forest (Utrecht University), and Ida Yoshinaga (George Institute of Technology). Preferred length for articles is approximately 7000-9000 words; all topics related to science fiction film, television, gaming, other visual media will be considered. Typical response time is within three months. Check the journal website at Liverpool University Press for full guidelines for contributors; please direct any individualized queries to gerry.canavan@marquette.edu.

The journal is also seeking reviewers of recent works of sf and sf-adjacent critical theory as well as recent SF visual media. We are welcome to pitches, but we also have the following books available for review:

* Kazue Harada, SEXUALITY, MATERNITY, AND (RE)PRODUCTIVE FUTURES: WOMEN’S SPECULATIVE FICTION IN CONTEMPORARY JAPAN (Brill)

* Mark Kingwell, SINGULAR CREATURES: ROBOTS, RIGHTS, AND THE POLITICS OF POSTHUMANISM (McGill-Queen’s University Press)

* J. Jesse Ramirez, UN-AMERICAN DREAMS: APOCALYPTIC SCIENCE FICTION, DISIMAGINED COMMUNITY, AND BAD HOPE IN THE AMERICAN CENTURY (Liverpool UP)

* Jesse Russell, THE POLITICAL CHRISTOPHER NOLAN: LIBERALISM AND THE ANGLO-AMERICAN VISION (Lexington Books)

* Benjamín Schultz-Figueroa, THE CELLULOID SPECIMEN: MOVING IMAGE RESEARCH INTO ANIMAL LIFE (University of California Press)

* Nicole Starosiekski, MEDIA HOT & COLD (Duke UP)

* Joe Street, SILICON VALLEY CINEMA (Edinburgh UP)

* Erik Trump and Jake Parcell, THE ARCHITECTURE OF SURVIVAL: SETTING AND POLITICS IN APOCALYPSE FILMS (Lexington)

* Tom Tyler, GAME: ANIMALS, VIDEO GAMES, AND HUMANITY (University of Minnesota Press)

Reviews typically run 1000-2000 words, or 2000-4000 words in our “review essay” format. Samples of both types of review are available upon request.

For our media in review section, we are now primarily interested in:

* reviewers who are calling attention to things that have gone overlooked in the larger entertainment-media-complex landscape, especially international film;

* reviewers with a specific aesthetic, political, or philosophical “take” on a text, as opposed to a more traditional review that recapitulates the plot at length and advises the potential viewer whether or not they ought to watch it.

This notion of a specific “take” is especially important for blockbuster franchise fare, like the MCU or Star Wars movies; in most cases we would only be interested in a review essay for such a film, discussing it within some larger critical context.

Due to a recent review backlog we have not been actively soliciting reviewers; as a result, much recent SF media is still available for reviewing. If there is a film you are interested in reviewing, please contact gerry.canavan@marquette.edu and let him know the name of the film and what you think you’d like to say about it. Deadlines are quite flexible. We look forward to hearing from you!