CALL FOR PAPERS (CFP)
Folk Literature and Mythology in Modern Disguise
Myths, Folk Tales, and Oral Literature in Modern Children’s and Young Adult Fiction
Sponsored by TCLRA and The Department of Foreign Languages and Literature, Tunghai University
Saturday, December 5, 2026
Tunghai University
Dr. Nicola Daly
Title: Indigenous Voices in Aotearoa New Zealand children’s Literature – a case study
Oral literature, folk tales, legends, religious tales, and myths have had a great influence on literature over time until the present day. Traditional forms of literature have inspired artists to create paintings, sculptures, and digital artworks, and have become deeply embedded in poetry, short stories, plays, novels, graphic novels, picture books, films, and cartoons. In these adaptations, writers, directors, and artists apply their own artistic agendas when utilizing these ancient tales.
From Riordan’s Percy Jackson and Louie Stowell’s Loki: A Bad God’s Guide to Causing Chaos to C.S. Lewis’s Narnia Chronicles and movies like Disney’s Hercules, mythology continues to inspire modern creators. This conference aims to interrogate the ways in which folk literature and mythology are adapted in modern disguises within children’s and young adult literature.
Possible topics include but are not restricted to the following:
- Indigenous Picture Books
- Folk literature/Mythology and authorship
- Folk literature/Mythology and identity
- Folk literature/Mythology and ideology
- Folk literature/Mythology and history
- Folk literature/Mythology and patriarchy
- Folk literature/Mythology and feminism
- Adaptations of folk literature/mythology in Picture Books, Visual Texts, Graphic Novels, Children’s Novels, Young Adult Literature, Films, Animation, TV shows, or Theatre for Children
Important dates
- September 15, 2026: Abstracts Due
- September 30, 2026: Notification of Acceptance
- November 15, 2026: Revised abstract due for printing in the conference handbook
- December 5, 2026: Date of Conference
Important points
- Submission Requirements: Please submit an abstract (approximately 300 words in English) and a short personal biography (50-100 words in English).
- Submission Method: Send materials to Mieke K.T. Desmet at mdesmet@thu.edu.tw.
Call for papers: 2026 Fall Conference with TCLRA & Tunghai University. Please consider submitting your abstracts. Details can be found in the followings.
CFP Mythology in Modern Disguise
Proposed Panels:
Children’s Literature for Everyone
This conference seeks to explore the features and uses of children’s literature for divergent ages, purposes, and people groups. No more than 350 words (include 5 keywords) for 20-minute panel presentations to the following email address: tclra2024@gmail.com
Deadline for abstracts: 25 February 2024
Working Towards the Speculative Future
This panel explores how speculative fiction for younger readers works towards creating a future free of racial injustice, gender-based and sexual violence. 250-word abstract and 2-page CV to Marcus Haynes at mhaynes3@ggc.edu.
(non-guaranteed session)
Deadline for submissions: 15 March 2022
Adapting for Children
This roundtable explores questions that emerge when texts are adapted for children, paying particular attention to diverse representations. Please submit a short biography and 250-word abstract to Meghann Meeusen and Allen Redmon at adaptingforchildrenMLA2023@
(non-guaranteed collaborative session)
Deadline for submissions: 7 March 2022
Pandemic Childhoods
How has the Covid-19 pandemic changed or disrupted the contours of childhood both as a cultural concept and a lived experience? Please submit 300-word abstract and 2-page CV to Brie Owen at gowen3@unl.edu.
(guaranteed session)
Deadline for submissions: 10 March 2022
Environmental Justice in Young People’s Literature
What are the intersections of environmental and social justice in young people’s literature? Please submit a 300-word abstract and 2-page CV by March 15 to Nathalie op de Beeck at nathalie.opdebeeck@plu.edu. (guaranteed session)