CFP: Edited Volume on Mary Stewart

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Mary Stewart: Desire, Mobility, Myth

Edited by Stacy Gillis and Rosalind Haslett

Mary Stewart’s best-selling literary career spanned the second half of the twentieth century: she published in a range of genres - romantic suspense, historical fiction, fantasy, children’s fiction, and poetry – with her work still in print today, and continues to be adapted for stage, television, film, radio and anime. Stewart's work is broadly interested in literary genealogies and form, women and movement, the past and mythmaking: yet as a  writer of best-selling popular fiction, she has been placed on the peripheries of most post-war literary histories. 

This collection is the first to critically reassess this significant figure in the post-war British literary landscape. We welcome a range of approaches: longer chapters (up to 8000 words), shorter pieces (up to 3000 words), curated roundtable discussions, dialogues, reflective responses, and more.  Topics and themes for contributions may include (but are not limited to) the following - 

Desire and romantic conventions  Spatiality and mobility  Lineage and inheritance  Europe  Children’s literature   Magic, witchcraft and the occult  Fabric, clothing and fashion  Travel  Audiences and reception  The past  Work and labour  Genre and form   Relationships with other writers  Secrets and trust   Literary allusions and genealogies   Radio dramas, adaptations and films  Rations and food  Translations   Sexual violence and consent   War and conflict  Coming of age  Literary networks  Islands and coastlines  Fantasy and the neomedieval   Classical and Arthurian myths  Sexuality and power  Englishness  Performance and acting

We invite contributions from scholars and all those interested in Stewart: please submit a 350-500 word abstract, 5-6 keywords, and a short biographical note to stacy.gillis@ncl.ac.uk and rosalind.haslett@ncl.ac.uk by January 31st, 2027.