Western American Literature: A Journal of Literary, Cultural, and Place Studies

Western American Literature: A Journal of Literary, Cultural, and Place Studies

Edited by Amy T. Hamilton

ISSN 0043-3462

eISSN 1948-7142

About

To order memberships and subscriptions, visit the Western Literature Association website at http://www.westernlit.org/membership/.

Published by the Western Literature Association in partnership with the University of Nebraska Press.
Since 1965, Western American Literature has been the leading peer-reviewed journal in the literary and cultural study of the North American West, defined broadly to include western Canada and northern Mexico. The journal constantly looks for new theoretical approaches to canonical figures as well as studies of emerging authors, filmmakers, and others who are expanding the canon of western literary and cultural production. While remaining grounded in the geography of the North American West, it continues to explore new approaches to literary and cultural studies more broadly, such as groundbreaking work in ecocriticism and scholarly support for the Hispanic Literary Heritage Recovery Project.

In a desire to further this tradition of integrating western studies into global scholarly conversations, there is special interest in publishing theoretical and critical articles in areas such as critical regionalism, global indigeneity, settler-colonialism, digital humanities, cinema and new media, global wests, and other cutting edge approaches. 

Table Of Contents

Volume 57, no. 3 (Fall 2022)
Essays
Fraught Prospects: California Landscape Poetry During and After the Gold Rush
Caroline Gelmi

Necro-Settler Coloniality in Texan Mythology and Identity: Forgetting the Alamo
Chaney Hill

“Theirs is a kind of ecological esthetics”: Three Mountain Poems by Kenneth Rexroth, Gary Snyder, and Philip Whalen
Todd Giles

Book Reviews
Lisa Tatonetti, Written by the Body: Gender Expansiveness and Indigenous Non-Cis Masculinities
Tereza M. Szeghi

Estella Gonzalez, Chola Salvation
Juan-Danniel Hernandez

Timothy W. Bintrim, James A. Jaap, and Kimberly Vanderlaan, editors. Willa Cather’s Pittsburgh: Cather Studies 13
Elizabeth Turner

Mary Clearman Blew, Waltzing Montana: A Novel
Randi Lynn Tanglen

Shannon Sullivan, editor. Thinking the US South: Contemporary Philosophy from Southern Perspectives
Cristina Hernández Oliver

John G. Neihardt, Eagle Voice Remembers: An Authentic Tale of the Old Sioux World
Sam Stoeltje

Steven Wingate, The Leave-Takers
Rebecca Paredes

Miriam C. Brown Spiers, Encountering the Sovereign Other: Indigenous Science Fiction
Sara L. Spurgeon

Oscar Mancinas. To Live and Die in El Valle
Sophia Martinez-Abbud

Mark Rifkin, Speaking for the People: Native Writing and the Question of Political Form
Caitlin Simmons

WLA Conference Information

Submissions & Book Reviews

Western American Literature publishes literary criticism and interdisciplinary work with a literary focus. We invite manuscripts on any aspect of the literature, culture, and place-oriented pedagogy of the North American West, including western Canada and northern Mexico. We are especially interested in work that advances the field in new and provocative directions and that engages in a conversation with the latest scholarship.

If unfamiliar with our journal, take a look at recent copies available on Project MUSE.

Due to space limitations, WAL will not consider essays more than 35 pages in length, inclusive of endnotes and works cited. Please do not submit an essay that is under consideration elsewhere or that has been previously published.

Articles should be submitted via our online portal.

Do not put your name anywhere on the article or in a running head, and veil any references to your own work (if applicable) to assure anonymity with the readers. You will need to register with the online portal before submitting, so we will have your personal information in the system keyed to your submission.

Typically, the peer-review process takes 3-6 months, sometimes longer. Please be patient.

NOTE: Your manuscript should follow the most recent edition of the MLA Handbook. Please use endnotes, not footnotes. Long discursive notes should be avoided and will count toward the page limit.

You are welcome to provide illustrations that are pertinent to your essay. Images should be scanned at 350 dpi or higher and saved as a TIF or EPS file. It is your responsibility to obtain reprint permission for images, for both print and digital formats. The editors and the publisher reserve the right not to use poor-quality images.

Also, if you are writing about poetry, it is almost certain that you will need to obtain permission to quote from the poems. If you don't do so ahead of time, be prepared to do so immediately should your article be accepted.

A word to the wise: we receive many submissions on a few authors about whom much has already been written, in particular Cormac McCarthy, Willa Cather, and Leslie Marmon Silko. Please be sure you have something truly new to say about these authors and are familiar with the latest critical studies of their work.

Editorial Board

Editor
Amy T. Hamilton, Northern Michigan University
Editorial Board
José Aranda, Rice University
Neil Campbell, University of Derby, UK
Nancy Cook, University of Montana
Krista Comer, Rice University
Charles Crow, Bowling Green State University
Cheryll Glotfelty, University of Nevada, Reno
Victoria Lamont, University of Waterloo, Canada
David Rio, University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU, Spain
Susan Shillinglaw, San José State University
Sara Spurgeon, Texas Tech University
Janis Stout, Texas A&M University
Lisa Tatonetti, Kansas State University
Steve Tatum, University of Utah
Nicolas S. Witschi, Western Michigan University
Book Review Editor
Kyle A. Bladow, Northland College
Editorial Fellow
Allison Peters, Northern Michigan University
Graduate Editorial Assistants
Sarah Jane Kerwin, University of Michigan
Meagan Meylor, University of Southern California
Sarah Nolan, University of Southern California
Julia Talen, Northern Michigan University

Announcements

Single Article Sales
Single articles from Western American Literature  are now available for purchase through Project MUSE.


Research Site Launched
A joint project of Western American Literature  and the Western Literature association, Western American Literature Research provides researchers a convenient starting point for mining the wealth of information available in the journal. A dropdown list allows users to select from an extensive list of authors to find links to past articles related to that author's work. Another page presents a list of special themed issues. Additional authors and topics will be added over time, increasing the site's value to scholars at all levels.

Sponsoring Society

Founded in 1965, the Western Literature Association (WLA) is a non-profit, scholarly association that promotes the study of the diverse literature and cultures of the North American West, past and present.

Since its founding, the WLA has served to publish scholarship and promote work in the field; it has gathered together scholars, artists, environmentalists, and community leaders who value the West’s literary and cultural contributions to American and world cultures; it has recognized those who have made a major contribution to western literature and western studies; and it has fostered student learning and career advancement in education.

WLA members receive Western American Literature as a benefit of membership and only members are able to obtain individual subscriptions to the journal.

Resources

Reading List: Climate Change

Check out this list of peer-reviewed articles focusing on Critical Theory, Environmental Ethics, Economics & Business, and other areas of study on Climate Change.

Reading List: Sexual and Gender-Based Violence

This reading list is full of academic articles for both instructors & students seeking peer-reviewed materials on Rape Culture, Sexual Help, Models of Resistance, and other areas of study.

Reading List: Migration

This list of peer-reviewed materials features articles on many topics spanning Globalization, Genocide, Religion, Diaspora Communities, and other aspects on the topic of Migration.

Reading List: Willa Cather

This list of peer-reviewed articles & reviews centers on the work of acclaimed author (and UNL alum) Willa Cather. Known for her novels on the pioneer experience, her works are reexamined here through the lens of modern-day academics.

Useful Links

Western American Literature Research Site

This site, a project of the journal Western American Literature and the Western Literature Association, is a useful starting point for researchers wishing to utilize the wealth of information on specific authors and topics presented over the many years of the journal's publication.

Advertise in Western American Literature Today

Click the link above to view this journal's advertising rates & options!

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