CFP: George Egerton: New Essays and Approaches

eds. Isobel Sigley (Loughborough University) and Whitney Standlee (University of Worcester)

As Jane Ford and Alexandra Gray have recently noted, the work of George Egerton, the nom de plume of Mary Chavelita Dunne (1859-1945), has enjoyed a remarkable ‘resurgence of interest over the past two decades.’ Indeed, Egerton is increasingly the subject of scholarly publications, appears frequently on university reading lists, and has been variously described as either on the verge of or already enshrined in the realms of canonicity. Yet no full-length critical study of her or her work has been published since Terence de Vere White’s controversial and error-ridden A Leaf from the Yellow Book appeared in 1958.

To redress this omission, we are seeking contributions to what will be the first edited collection of essays dedicated to the life and work of George Egerton. We envision a volume that includes emerging voices in Egerton scholarship alongside the work of established scholars. While innovative scholarly essays on Egerton’s early short story collections Keynotes and Discords are welcome, we are particularly interested in work that recovers her wider œuvre (Symphonies, Discords, Fantasias, The Wheel of God, Rosa Amorosa, her unpublished dramatic works and their performance history)and seeks to reassess her broader contribution to fin de siècle and early twentieth-century literature and drama.

Possible topics for essays may include: Aestheticism/Decadence; Egerton’s plays and/or novels; international influences/Scandinavian literature/Irish literature and tradition; periodicity (between Victorians and Modernists); publishing history; genre (realism/Modernism/style); community/literary networks/collaborations; the New Woman and feminisms; the body and essentialism; critical disability studies and the medical humanities; periodical culture.

Final article length should be approx. 7,000-8,000 words and conform to the MHRA style guide.

We invite those interested to send a précis of 500-600 words together with a short biographical note to both Whitney (w.standlee@worc.ac.uk) and Isobel (I.Sigley@lboro.ac.uk) by 1 October 2021.