Call for Contributors
Charles Bukowski in Context (Cambridge University Press), edited by David Stephen Calonne, is seeking expressions of interest for potential contributors. The volume joins the successful Literature in Context series. https://www.cambridge.org/core/series/literature-in-context/7F33BBA656571804864A3787944D845C. Charles Bukowski in Context will be a significant book which seeks to explore the many facets of Bukowski’s writings. This collection seeks essays which will discuss the connections between Bukowski’s life, his poetics, and the larger historical and philosophical issues of his poetry, essays, short stories, novels, and letters. Potential contributors are invited to choose one or more of the topics from the following draft list and write a few sentences about how you would pursue the topic. Please include brief biography or CV. I am encouraging both Bukowski specialists as well as emerging scholars to submit possible topics. My list of subjects is flexible open to further suggestions. Please send proposed topics to me by March 31, 2026. The final essays—usually 3,000-3,500 words in length-- would be due by December 15, 2026. Please respond to [email protected]
I: Places and Youth
Chapter 1. Andernach, Germany; Pasadena, California
Chapter 2. The Struggle with Acne Vulgaris
Chapter 3. Becoming an Outsider
II: American Literary Influences and Contexts
Chapter 4. Ernest Hemingway
Chapter 5. William Saroyan and John Fante
Chapter 6. The Beats
Chapter 7. Los Angeles Poetry
III: Classical, European and Russian Literary Influences
Chapter 8 Gaius Valerius Catullus
Chapter 9. Louis-Ferdinand Celine and Knut Hamsun
Chapter 10. Fyodor Dostoevsky
IV: Philosophical, Psychological, and Political Contexts
Chapter 11. Friedrich Nietzsche and Arthur Schopenhauer
Chapter 12. Pierre Bourdieu
Chapter 13. Psychiatry and Jacques Lacan
Chapter 14 C.G. Jung, The Trickster, Humor
Chapter 15. The “Working Class”
V: Publication History
Chapter 16. The Litte Magazines and Underground Press
Chapter 17. Loujon Press
Chapter 18. City Lights and Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Chapter 19. John Martin, Black Sparrow, and HarperCollins
VI Style and Imagery
Chapter 20. Poetics
Chapter 21. Surrealism and “Unreality”
Chapter 22. The Animal World
VII. Controversies
Chapter 23. The F.B. I. File
Chapter 24. Censorship
Chapter 25. Myth and Persona
Chapter 26. Love
Chapter 27. Relationships with Women Writers
Chapter 28. Fascism
VIII: The Arts
Chapter 29. Painting
Chapter 30. Cartoons and Robert Crumb
Chapter 31. Film
Chapter 32. Classical Music
IX: Reception Abroad/Internet
Chapter 33. Netherlands
Chapter 34. Germany and Carl Weissner
Chapter 5. France
Chapter 36. Arabic Countries
Chapter 37. Japan
Chapter 38. The Internet
X. Additional Possible Topics
As Letter Writer
Georges Bataille
Henry Miller
D.H. Lawrence
Revision Practices
As Journalist
Pulp Fiction
Popular/Punk/Rock Music
Gambling
“The Abject”
Charles Bukowski in Context (Cambridge University Press), edited by David Stephen Calonne, is seeking expressions of interest for potential contributors. The volume joins the successful Literature in Context series. https://www.cambridge.org/core/series/literature-in-context/7F33BBA656571804864A3787944D845C. Charles Bukowski in Context will be a significant book which seeks to explore the many facets of Bukowski’s writings. This collection seeks essays which will discuss the connections between Bukowski’s life, his poetics, and the larger historical and philosophical issues of his poetry, essays, short stories, novels, and letters. Potential contributors are invited to choose one or more of the topics from the following draft list and write a few sentences about how you would pursue the topic. Please include brief biography or CV. I am encouraging both Bukowski specialists as well as emerging scholars to submit possible topics. My list of subjects is flexible open to further suggestions. Please send proposed topics to me by March 31, 2026. The final essays—usually 3,000-3,500 words in length-- would be due by December 15, 2026. Please respond to [email protected]
I: Places and Youth
Chapter 1. Andernach, Germany; Pasadena, California
Chapter 2. The Struggle with Acne Vulgaris
Chapter 3. Becoming an Outsider
II: American Literary Influences and Contexts
Chapter 4. Ernest Hemingway
Chapter 5. William Saroyan and John Fante
Chapter 6. The Beats
Chapter 7. Los Angeles Poetry
III: Classical, European and Russian Literary Influences
Chapter 8 Gaius Valerius Catullus
Chapter 9. Louis-Ferdinand Celine and Knut Hamsun
Chapter 10. Fyodor Dostoevsky
IV: Philosophical, Psychological, and Political Contexts
Chapter 11. Friedrich Nietzsche and Arthur Schopenhauer
Chapter 12. Pierre Bourdieu
Chapter 13. Psychiatry and Jacques Lacan
Chapter 14 C.G. Jung, The Trickster, Humor
Chapter 15. The “Working Class”
V: Publication History
Chapter 16. The Litte Magazines and Underground Press
Chapter 17. Loujon Press
Chapter 18. City Lights and Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Chapter 19. John Martin, Black Sparrow, and HarperCollins
VI Style and Imagery
Chapter 20. Poetics
Chapter 21. Surrealism and “Unreality”
Chapter 22. The Animal World
VII. Controversies
Chapter 23. The F.B. I. File
Chapter 24. Censorship
Chapter 25. Myth and Persona
Chapter 26. Love
Chapter 27. Relationships with Women Writers
Chapter 28. Fascism
VIII: The Arts
Chapter 29. Painting
Chapter 30. Cartoons and Robert Crumb
Chapter 31. Film
Chapter 32. Classical Music
IX: Reception Abroad/Internet
Chapter 33. Netherlands
Chapter 34. Germany and Carl Weissner
Chapter 5. France
Chapter 36. Arabic Countries
Chapter 37. Japan
Chapter 38. The Internet
X. Additional Possible Topics
As Letter Writer
Georges Bataille
Henry Miller
D.H. Lawrence
Revision Practices
As Journalist
Pulp Fiction
Popular/Punk/Rock Music
Gambling
“The Abject”
