Deadline for submissions: December 19, 2016.
Full name /name of organization: John Brittingham (Greenville College) and Andrew Marzoni (Georgia Institute of Technology).
Contact email: andrew.marzoni@lmc.gatech.edu
Since the first back-to-the-land movements of the late nineteenth century, summer camps have occupied a unique place in the American cultural imagination. Part coming of age ritual, part sanctuary, part nostalgia, part babysitter, summer camps have expanded from a select few operations to a cornucopia of specialized options in the twenty-first century: sports camp, music camp, nerd camp, fat camp, bible camp, coding camp, cooking camp––with every summer comes new possibilities.
We are seeking a variety of academic essays and nonfiction narratives for a volume titled Notes on Camp. Topics may include a film theory analysis of summer camp movies, an art historical perspective on camp crafts, or a musicologist’s take on “Kumbaya” and the role of summer camp in American folk music. We’d love to hear from writers eager to share their personal experiences as campers, counselors, parents, psychologists, coaches, and educators. Such essays might discuss encounters with the wilderness, organizations such as Boy Scouts of America or Girl Scouts of the USA, camp rivalries and pranks, adolescent romance, appropriation of Native American cultures and traditions, the sociology of the end-of-summer-dance, or even water sports. Ultimately, we are hoping to put together a volume at once touching and humorous, rigorous and anecdotal, bringing together a number of distinct academic disciplines and narrative voices.
Finished essays should be between 3000 and 5000 words in length, with the option of shorter submissions for narrative pieces. Previously unpublished work only, please.
Email 500-word abstracts to John Brittingham (johnbrittingham@gmail.com) and Andrew Marzoni (andrew.marzoni@lmc.gatech.edu) by December 19, 2016. Finished essays will be due early Spring 2017.