CFP: Special issue of Appalachian Journal on Appalachian foodways (to be published in Fall 2025)
From pepperoni rolls to apple stack cakes, and from ramp patches to the importance of sochan, the region’s many biomes and communities have relationships with food that comingle and are born out of place. This special issue of Appalachian Journal seeks to highlight the importance of foodways in/to Appalachia and Appalachian studies. Content will include book reviews of foodways-related books (such as Crystal Wilkinson’s Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts or Appalachia on the Table by Erica Abrams Locklear), interviews with important foodways folks, creative nonfiction essays, transcribed roundtables or event panels, passed-down recipes (bonus points if they’re in a grandmother’s or similar scrawl), scholarly articles that provide insight into important foodways work happening in the region, food-focused poetry, and images or photo essays.
We are especially interested in content that:
- Pushes back against common Appalachian stereotypes
- Works to unsettle the region or thinks decolonially, such as focusing on Indigenous foodways and/or food sovereignty
- Engages with stories and other forms of expression through food(ways)
- Emphasizes the importance of food(ways) and community
- Considers how taking pleasure in food and foodways can be revolutionary acts of self and community care
- Highlights specific cultural markers, including language, spirituality, and relationships to place through what we eat and grow
- Focuses on the role of tradition in food(ways), including creating new traditions
- Discusses the impacts of occupation, displacement, and immigration on Appalachia’s foodways
DEADLINES: Abstracts (if required) are due March 1, 2025. The deadline for full materials (excluding scholarly articles) is June 1, 2025. Scholarly article drafts are due May 1, 2025 to allow time for peer review and revision.
HOW TO SUBMIT:
All materials should be emailed directly to coryjs@appstate.edu, though what you send depends on the genre:
Poetry: Send up to five poems in one document. No abstract needed; deadline June 1, 2025.
Images or photo essays: Images can be emailed or shared through Google Drive. Artwork included in this special issue will be printed in black and white. Images should be 300 DPI with 3000 pixels on the long side. Send up to ten images. No abstract needed; deadline June 1, 2025.
Scholarly article (5-12k words): Send abstract ahead of complete article. Abstracts are due March 1, 2025 with final drafts due May 1, 2025. Abstracts will be quickly responded to on a rolling basis. Please note that to give time for the peer review process and revision, the due date for scholarly article drafts is earlier than the general deadline for other types of finalized work.
Creative nonfiction, interviews, or roundtables: Send a brief abstract that includes your ideas for the CNF piece, the person(s) to be interviewed, or event to be transcribed along with a few sentences of justification for inclusion in Appalachian Journal and a potential word count. Abstract due March 1, 2025; full material due June 1, 2025.
While we generally do not accept unsolicited book reviews, if there is a book you feel we should review for this special issue, please drop us a line by March 1, 2025.
Additional Information:
For scholarly articles, creative nonfiction, interviews, and poetry, please see our Submission Guidelines.
Artwork included in this special issue will be printed in black and white. Images should be 300 DPI with 3000 pixels on the long side. Send up to ten images.
Feel free to email the editor, Dr. Jessica Cory, with any questions at coryjs@appstate.edu
If total submissions exceed our page count limitations, they will be considered for future issues of Appalachian Journal.