CFP: Turn The Page! Illustrating Indian Comics Scenes

Heads up on a forthcoming monograph on comics in India edited by Shreyas R. Krishnan, Vidyun Sabhaney, Dr. Jeremy Stoll, and Mara Thacker - Turn The Page! Illustrating Indian Comics Scenes. Our goal is to bring together creators, researchers, academics, and others to illustrate how comics artists in India practice their craft. The resulting collection of essays, interviews, and research will make space for practitioners to intervene in the historicization of their own practice and unite scholars and practitioners in envisioning possible futures for Indian comics and comics studies. Collectively, we will make visible throughlines, blindspots, patterns, struggles, and achievements in the practice and study of comics in India. We will be creative, we will be disruptive, and we will be inclusive. 

If you are interested, consider sharing a proposal through our Submission Form. Overall, we are seeking proposals from scholars, creators, and otherwise – including:

·      Articles or Essays of 4 to 6,000 words in length

·      Comics / Illustration / Visual Essays of 4 to 8 pages in length

·      Essays with Original Illustrations of 2 to 4,000 words with 4 to 6 illustrations

We are looking to foreground scholars, creators, and academics from marginalized communities, so please consider sharing more with the Tell us about yourself prompt. As part of the submission form, you'll also be able to select the Thematic Section of Turn The Page! that seems to best align with your project - 1) Histories, 2) Practices, or 3) Contexts. At base, when submitting your proposal, please be prepared to provide the following information:

·      Name & Pronouns of yourself and any co-authors or co-creators

·      Preferred Email and Bio for each author or creator

·      Institutional Affiliation and Position in Comics Scene(s)

·      Proposal with Curriculum Vitae or Resume, plus Work Sample(s)

Please note that each essay, interview, or chapter must directly offer an insight into aspects of comics work(s) and/or comics community in and of India. Possible proposal topics could include, but are not limited to:  

• Interrogating what is an "Indian" comic

• Readers, fans, and creators of Indian comics

• Histories and cultures of comics, and related visual practices in India

• Forms and format of comics in India: anthologies, zines, mini-comics, translations, adaptations, etc.

• Labor, production, and distribution in the comics industry in India

• Politics, ideology and activism via comics in India

• Addressing inequities in and through comics in India

• Representation of caste, class, religion and gender in comics

• Comics studies, comics archives, and comics pedagogy in India

• First-hand accounts from Indian creators about comics practice, research, and professional experience

We are currently in conversation with multiple leading international publishers, so submissions will close on November 30, 2022. If you have any questions - or are considering submitting a multi-lingual proposal - please reach out to the editors at turnthepageeditors@gmail.com before submitting your proposal.