Announcing a Special Issue on Poetry and Social Justice

2017-01-12

Art/Research International is pleased to welcome guest editors Dr. Sandra L. Faulkner, Bowling Green State University, and Dr. Sheila Squillante, Chatham University. They are currently seeking proposals for this special issue on Poetry and Social Justice, for publication in January/February 2018.

Call for Proposals

“Poetry is not sloganeering, and when poets directly confront a particular political crisis they need to do so carefully, even warily. They rarely put forward direct solutions to problems. Instead, they offer a kind of understanding that is distinct, as well as useful, by creating a language adequate to the experience of their readers. In this sense, poetry matters because it can waken us to realities that fall into the realm of the political.” (Parini, 2008, p. xiii) 

Poetic inquiry can be an active response to social issues, a political commentary, and a call to action. Poetry is political. Thus, writing, performing, and publishing poetry is important political activity. Poetry can help us shape lives in ways that we want to live; we create and tell the stories that we need to advocate for social justice. As Fisher (2009) argued, the “political task” of poetry is “a visionary one, the work of making way for new worlds and words” (p. 984). Poetry confronts social structures to engage audiences and activate poetry’s political potential; poetry engages a “political voice” (Orr, 2008, p. 416). This special issue addresses poetry’s role as a creative art that is vital in the inquiry process and presentation, a method and way to engage in important social issues.

We invite manuscripts, performances, poetry, and other presentations that engage with poetry’s potential for connectivity, political power, and evocation through methodological, theoretical, performance, and empirical work for the Theoretical Musings and In Action sections of Art/Research International. Submissions due by April 14, 2017. Inquires may be directed to sandraf@bgsu.edu

Artistic pieces need to address the call through an explicit exegesis and/or description of how the work speaks to poetry and poetic inquiry as social justice. Please review the Art/Research International Author Guidelines before making your submission.

Please clearly indicate on your title page that you are directing your submission to this special issue.