Margaret Walker’s 100th birthday gives scholars the perfect opportunity to reflect upon the importance of her contribution to African American literary traditions. From her re-envisioning of the historical novel as a genre that could be used to examine African American slave experience (Jubilee), to her award-winning volume of poetry (For My People), Walker’s creative and critical imagination shaped contemporary African American literature. Her appreciation of the complexities of African American folk life enriched her work as both a novelist and a poet, yet she is rarely studied in the academy. This volume of essays seeks to bring renewed critical attention to Margaret Walker, particularly the pivotal role that she played in the development of African American literature.

The editor seeks the following topics:

· Analysis of newly published work (see Margaret Walker’s This is My Century: New and Collected Poems (University of Georgia Press, 2013), Foreword by Nikky Finney and Introduction by Maryemma Graham).

· New approaches to Walker’s poetry.

· New approaches to Walker’s fiction.

· Critical Evaluations of Walker’s contribution to poetry.

· Critical Evaluations of Walker’s contribution to fiction (African American historical novel, neoslave narrative, etc).

· Essays by African American poets and/or authors about the influence Walker’s work had on your life as a poet/writer.

· Interviews with African American poets and/or or authors about the influence Walker’s work had on their life as a poet/writer.

· The editor is also open to other ideas—so you are invited to pitch an idea by the deadline to her, if you do not see something that fits your interests.

Deadline for one page Abstracts: 1 October 2015

Deadline for Drafts: 15 January 2016

Please email abstracts with short cv to:

Cherise A. Pollard, Ph.D.