The New Hyborian Age: Modern Visions of Robert E. Howard’s Worlds
N/A
Organization: Independent
The New Hyborian Age:
Modern Visions of Robert E. Howard’s Worlds
Call for Papers for an Edited Collection
Deadline for Submissions: March 31st 2025
Full name / name of organization:
Christopher DeRosa
Contact email
cderosawriting@gmail.com
Scholarship of the works of Robert E. Howard often focuses on the author’s original stories printed in pulp magazines. These works helped to form the foundation of the sword and sorcery genre, and established Howard as a masterful fantasist. However, the Hyborian Age continues to thrive through Howardian works which are only beginning to find a purchase in academia. I am excited to announce a project to bring together scholars to discuss contemporary media that adapts or was inspired by the works of Robert E. Howard.
This anticipated volume is a collection of essays and papers which seeks to analyze the impact that Robert E. Howard has had on modern popular culture, either through works which directly adapt his stories or popular media which draws inspiration from Howard’s writing. This volume seeks to look at the future to analyze the evolution of the Sword and Sorcery genre through the trends and ideas found in contemporary stories of the Hyborian Age and Howard’s other fictional worlds.
Robert E. Howard’s works have had an undeniable impact on popular culture in the genres of fantasy, science-fiction, western, and others. This modern popular media has created a robust body of work which continues to draw readers and viewers into Howard’s worlds. Characters such as Conan the Barbarian are mainstays of sword and sorcery fantasy, and the worlds and themes that Howard created continue to influence popular media and pay homage to Howard, thematically or ascetically.
Howard’s stories continue to be told through comic books and graphic novels, and the character of Conan has crossed paths with other pop-culture figures such as Deadpool and the Punisher numerous times. Creators such as the late author of the manga series Berserk, Kentaro Miura, also continue to cite Robert E. Howard as an inspiration for their own writing. This volume seeks to highlight the ways in which Howard’s work echoes through our current popular-culture landscape. Selections will analyze how the works of Robert E. Howard have been adapted for modern audiences, how contemporary works have been inspired by Howard, and the ways in which the sword-and-sorcery genre has evolved as a whole
Potential topics for essays may include:
Modern adaptations of Robert E. Howard’s works including novels, comic books and graphic novels, films, webcomics, etc
Reinterpretations of the works or characters of Robert E. Howard
Contemporary media set in the Hyborian Age
Pieces of popular media inspired by Robert E. Howard’s work
Discussions of the Marvel, Dark Horse, or other Howard-inspired comic books
The evolution of the Sword and Sorcery genre
If you have an essay which does not fit one of these criteria, feel free to send me an email along with a pitch for your work.
How to submit:
If you are interested in submitting an essay to this project, please send a 500-word abstract along with a 150-word bio to cderosawriting@gmail.com by March 31st 2025. Selections will be announced at most two months after the deadline.
Once approved, submissions must be written in MLA style and should be between 5,000 and 8,000 words long.
We have reached out to Mcfarland Books, who have shown great interest in this project.
Christopher DeRosa
