SFFTV open call for submissions and books for review (summer 2023)

Science Fiction Film and Television invites article submissions on any topics related to sf and visual media; we especially invite articles related to the production economy of the culture industry and to non-US sf, as well as articles that related to our current CFPs for special issues and planned special issues on (1) indigenous sf filmmaking and (2) the career of Taika Waititi. 

We also invite proposals from potential guest editors for special issues; please write gerry.canavan@marquette.edu for more information on this process.

SFFTV is edited by Gerry Canavan (Marquette University), Dan Hassler-Forest (Utrecht University), and Ida Yoshinaga (George Institute of Technology). Preferred length for articles is approximately 7000-9000 words; all topics related to science fiction film, television, gaming, other visual media will be considered. Typical response time is within three months. Check the journal website at Liverpool University Press for full guidelines for contributors; please direct any individualized queries to gerry.canavan@marquette.edu.

The journal is also seeking reviewers of recent works of sf and sf-adjacent critical theory as well as recent SF visual media. We are always welcome to pitches, but we also have the following books available for review:

* Rebecca Janicker, ed, THE SCIENTIST IN POPULAR CULTURE (Lexington Books) 

* Jesse Russell, THE POLITICAL CHRISTOPHER NOLAN: LIBERALISM AND THE ANGLO-AMERICAN VISION (Lexington Books)

* Tyler Sage, MR. FREEDOM (Constellations in Science Fiction Film and TV series)

* David Sweeney, THE OA (Constellations in Science Fiction Film and TV series)

* Joe Street, SILICON VALLEY CINEMA (Edinburgh University Press)

* J.P. Telotte (ed.), THE OXFORD HANDBOOK OF NEW SCIENCE FICTION CINEMAS (Oxford UP)

* Keith B. Wagner, Jeremi Szaniawski, and Michael Cramer, FREDRIC JAMESON AND FILM THEORY: MARXISM, ALLEGORY, AND GEOPOLITICS IN WORLD CINEMA (Rutgers University Press)

Reviews typically run 1000-2000 words, or 2000-4000 words in our “review essay” format. Samples of both types of review are available upon request.

For our media in review section, we are now primarily interested in:

* reviewers who are calling attention to things that have gone overlooked in the larger entertainment-media-complex landscape, especially international film;

* reviewers with a specific aesthetic, political, or philosophical “take” on a text, as opposed to a more traditional review that recapitulates the plot at length and advises the potential viewer whether or not they ought to watch it.

This notion of a specific “take” is especially important for blockbuster franchise fare, like the MCU or Star Wars movies; in most cases we would only be interested in a review essay for such a film, discussing it within some larger critical context.

Due to a recent review backlog we have not been actively soliciting reviewers; as a result, much recent SF media is still available for reviewing. If there is a film you are interested in reviewing, please contact gerry.canavan@marquette.edu and let him know the name of the film and what you think you’d like to say about it. Deadlines are quite flexible. We look forward to hearing from you!