CFP for Special Issue of Studies in American Humor: “Periodicals, Period: Humor and Nineteenth-Century American Newspapers and Magazines”

 Studies in American Humor, the journal of the American Humor Studies Association, invites submissions of scholarly papers for a special issue of the journal to appear in fall 2027, edited by Wesley Scott McMasters and Todd Nathan Thompson. The topic of this special issue is “Periodicals, Period: Humor and Nineteenth-Century American Newspapers and Magazines.” This special issue will be an extension of a well-received panel on this topic (co-sponsored by the American Humor Studies Association and the Research Society for American Periodicals) at the 2025 American Literature Association conference.

 On August 28, 1879, the Kenosha [WI] Telegraph ran a poem titled “The Editor and the Poet’s Ghost,” which parodied Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” (1845) while teasing both overworked newspaper editors and poor-devil authors. After the ghost reveals his reason for haunting the editor–i.e. he wants him to print some of his poems, of which he has “a score”–the editor responds, ““Ghost!” I cried, “O scorn your pleading; I am now no poetry needing, / Better be your exit speeding.’” This is just one of dozens of parodies of “The Raven” that circulated in newspapers and magazines in the nineteenth century. Such works offer unique insight into nineteenth-century editorial practices as they overlap with literary and print cultures, laying bare connections within networks of authors, editors, and readers, but also illustrating patterns of reception, recognition, and reuse as well as the ways in which these patterns recursively inform further editorial practices and production. Additionally, “The Editor and the Poet’s Ghost” dramatizes the close, symbiotic relationship between three key elements of early American culture: literature, humor, and the periodical press.

 This special issue will feature essays that consider the interstices of humor, periodicals and editorial practices, and cultural production in the American press over the long nineteenth century. Topics may include but are not limited to the following: approaches by and to particular literary humorists writing for periodicals, literary parody and satire in periodicals, reprints of jokes and humorous bon mots, comic depictions in periodicals of American authors and the literary scene, “insider” humor about the press and editorial work, editors’ roles, influence and exchange across periodicals and editors, the use of comic or satiric rhetoric to make political points and/or cultural critique in the pages of newspapers and magazines, etc. 

 If interested, send a 300-word proposal and a brief bio to Wesley McMasters (WM********@**.edu) and Todd Thompson (To***********@*up.edu) by January 1, 2026. The deadline for final submissions of essays developed from accepted proposals will be September 1, 2026. The scheduled release date of the issue is fall 2027. Final manuscripts should be in the range of 5000 to 8000 words. For more submission and style guidelines, see https://studiesinamericanhumor.org/submissions-2/submissions/. Any questions can be forwarded to the editorial team at st**@*******su.edu or to guest editors.