Children’s Books (Photo by: Robyn Budlender, CC0 1.0 Public Domain)
Call for Book Chapter Proposals On Names, Naming, and Diversity in Youth Literature
Recent years have seen a significant increase in works of fiction that champion and celebrate diversity and inclusion for young readers. This literary evolutionary literature has also introduced children, to the enormous diversity of. The current call is for book chapters that examine how youth literature use names to present that child, adolescent, teen, and tween readers ethnic, cultural, linguistic, neurological, religious, diversity. Proposals centered on the use of names and naming in youth literature dealing with individuals, families, and communities from the following groupings are particularly, but by no means exclusively welcomed:
- ethnoracial minorities, including those with mixed heritage
- The differently abled
- LGBTQ+
- communities of faith
- Immigrants and asylum-seekers
Although the proposals must be in English, the works selected for examination may include other languages. Proposals will be judged upon their thematic fit and potential to make a substantive contribution to the fields of onomastics and literary studies. All Interested authors are asked to submit formal proposals using the following guidelines.
Proposal Submission Process
- Abstract proposals (max. 500 words, excluding the title and references) should be sent as a PDF email attachment to Professor I. M. Nick (nameseditor@gmail.com)
- For organizational purposes, the proposals must include “DIVERSITY” in the subject line of the email
- All proposals must include an abstract, title, and a preliminary list of references;
- The full name(s) of the author(s) and their affiliation(s) must appear in the body of the email. These details should NOT appear in the attached proposal.
- In the case of multi-authored submissions, one person must be clearly designated as the primary contact
- The DEADLINE for proposal submissions is November 15, 2023. All proposals will be submitted to a double-blind review process. Authors will be notified about acceptance on or by December 15, 2023
- Final chapters (max 7,000 words, excluding abstracts and references) will be due April 15, 2024
For further information about this call, please feel free to contact Professor I. M. Nick (nameseditor@gmail.com). We look forward to receiving your proposals!
The American Name Society Executive Council recently decided to hold two “Name of the Year” events leading up to the selection of the 2023 Name of the Year, both separate from the annual meeting. 
