Philip K. Dick, Here and Now

deadline for submissions:
July 31, 2017
full name / name of organization:
David Sandner, California State University, Fullerton
contact email:
dsandner@fullerton.edu
 In Spring, 2016, California State University, Fullerton hosted a singular Philip K. Dick Conference, bringing scholars from around the world to the place where he left his manuscripts and papers. We currently seek chapter submissions to join the strong core work from the conference in an edited volume that reinvents the study of major American author Philip K. Dick now that he is considered to be a major 20th-century American author. Where previous scholarly collections set out to explain why we should read Dick, our collection interrogates why we must and do—why he has become a touchstone for our culture today.



Philip K. Dick, Here and Now reinitializes and extends the study of a major American sf author whose reputation has undergone a profound transformation since his death. At Dick’s death, exactly one work was in print—Bladerunner, the movie tie-in, with its original title in small letters underneath. Now? Everything is in print. The Library of America collects Dick’s novels and more, even the hard to find, once-unpublishable Exegesis, so important to Dick, that has received scant critical attention. We live in a phildickian present.



Our collection divides into two sections: Rebuilding PKD concentrates on new studies of Dick’s literary works from a wide variety of recent critical perspectives; Building an Icon reassesses Dick’s legacy from the vantage point of his extraordinary rise in reputation. We seek essays for either section, but are particularly interested in proposals for the first section grounded in new perspectives on Dick’s work through such critical lenses as trauma studies, ecocriticism, monster studies, cultural studies or, of course, theoretically grounded science fiction studies; or interrogating his representations of gender, race, or class; or reassessments of material culture or spatiality in Dick’s work. This list is by no means exhaustive or meant to be prescriptive and we are happy to consider any proposal which places new critical approaches to Dick’s work at its center.



We hope to include chapters by authors from a variety of disciplines and viewpoints, reflecting the contemporary study of Philip K. Dick and science fiction. Please submit a 500-word chapter abstract and a biography of no more than 250 words by July 31st to:



dsandner@fullerton.edu



All proposed abstracts will be given full consideration, and submission implies a commitment to publish in this volume if your work is selected for inclusion. If selected, complete chapters will be due by November 30th.



All questions regarding this volume should be directed to: dsandner@fullerton.edu



Our editorial team includes editor David Sandner and associate editors Jaime Govier and Christine Granillo. We look forward to receiving an exciting array of abstracts and to working with selected authors on this important project, aiming to offer imaginative ways of re-conceptualizing Philip K. Dick Studies across a variety of critical approaches.