The Green Fuse: Nature in Fantasy. British Fantasy Society Journal – Call for Submissions for Summer Issue 2025
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Organization: British Fantasy Society
British Fantasy Society Journal – Call for Submissions for Summer Issue 2025
Deadline: 28th February 2025
The Green Fuse – Nature in Fantasy
‘The force that through the green fuse drives the flower.’
Dylan Thomas
In this special issue we will look at environmental aspects of Fantasy. Since its very earliest manifestations, in taproot texts such as the Epic of Gilgamesh, Beowulf, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Fantasy has been entangled with the natural and supernatural world. Modern classics of Fantasy such as The Lord of the Rings, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, The Book of Earthsea, Mythago Wood, The Broken Earth Trilogy, The Tide Child Trilogy, and others foreground the ‘natural world’ (even if that is in a Secondary World setting), and have environmental aspects that are intrinsic to the plot: the destruction of the forests of Isengard and the March of the Ents; the perpetual winter of Narnia; the shattered land of The Silence; the remnant of ancient woodland of Ryhope Wood; the toxic wastelands of Viriconium, etc. We shall delve into the rich biodiversity of the imagination, and examine the symbiotic relationship between the natural world and the creation of Fantasy.
Subjects that could be explored include:
· Changing representations of nature in Fantasy.
· Fantasy and the Anthropocene.
· The super/natural mythscapes of childhood.
· Neo-animism, sentient nature, and the sense of the sacred in Fantasy.
· Indigenous perspectives of our relationship to the natural world as depicted in Fantasy.
· Anthropomorphic nature in Fantasy.
· The flora and fauna of Fantasy.
· The natural landscapes of Fantasy.
· Environmentalism in Fantasy.
· Fantasy sites (real world sites that have inspired Fantasy classics) and the production of Fantasy.
· The enchantment, disenchantment, and re-enchantment of nature through Fantasy.
Also invited are scholarly reviews of contemporary (or classic) Fantasy in novels, TV, film, graphic novels, computer games, etc. Original, human-produced artwork will also be considered.
Submissions should be clearly titled as follows: SURNAME_TITLE_BFSJOURNAL_CFP FEB 25 A 200-word abstract and 100-word author bio should be included. Work needs to original, previously unpublished, and referenced using the Harvard author/date system. The editor retains the right to edit any submission, and contributors must be willing to address any editorial suggestions within good time. Publication is expected Summer 2025.
Deadline for submissions: 28th February 2025. Send to The Editor: bfsjournal@britishfantasysociety.org
For full submission guidelines please refer to checklist on BFS site.
https://britishfantasysociety.org/get-in-touch/bfs-journal/
https://britishfantasysociety.org/get-in-touch/bfs-journal/
bfsjournal@britishfantasysociety.org
Dr Kevan Manwaring