KENTE - Cape Coast Journal of Literature and the Arts: Announcements

Call for Papers: GENERAL CALL FOR PAPERS

KENTE - Cape Coast Journal of Literature and the Arts — 2025-02-23

Contemporary African literature is an effective medium through which the continent’s dynamic realities are articulated. From postcolonial identity crises and political disillusionment to gender dynamics, migration, and the impact of globalization, African writers and creatives continue to provide nuanced explorations of the African condition. These narratives do not merely reflect societal issues but also challenge stereotypes, redefine cultural identities, and contribute to global literary discourse. The diversity of voices in African literature—ranging from established authors to emerging voices—offers rich analytical opportunities to understand how literature and arts engage with evolving African realities.

Kente: Cape Coast Journal of Literature and the Arts, therefore, invites scholars, researchers, artist(e)s, and literary critics to submit original papers for an upcoming publication exploring the representation of general issues within contemporary African literature.

This call for papers invites critical examinations of issues such as but not limited to:

Youth activism, technology, and African futures.
Postcolonial identity and the legacy of colonialism.
Political instability, governance, election, war, and social justice.
Gender, sexuality, and body autonomy.
Migration, displacement, diaspora, and transnationalism.
Cultural heritage, language, and identity.
Environmental concerns and urbanization.

We encourage inter or cross-disciplinary approaches that bridge literary analysis with historical, sociological, scientific, and cultural perspectives. Submissions should contribute to a deeper understanding of how contemporary African literature reflects, critiques, and shapes societal narratives.

Submission Guidelines

Abstracts of 250–300 words should be submitted by 30^th March 2025. Full papers (5,000–7,000 words) are due by 30^th June 2025 and the publication date is 30^th August 2025.

Kindly send your abstract, with the email subject as Kente Open Call, to: kente-journal@ucc.edu.gh

Here is the link to our journal: https://journal.ucc.edu.gh/index.php/kente

We look forward to your contributions to this critical discourse on African literature’s role in expressing and interrogating the continent's diverse experiences.

Call for Papers: SPECIAL ISSUE ON CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES IN AFRICAN LITERATURE

KENTE - Cape Coast Journal of Literature and the Arts — 2025-02-23

Kente: Cape Coast Journal of Literature and the Arts invites scholars, researchers, and literary critics to contribute to a Special Issue focusing on the representation of climate and environmental issues in African literature. As climate change poses significant challenges worldwide, African communities face unique environmental impacts, including desertification, flooding, and resource conflicts. These experiences are increasingly reflected in African literary works, offering nuanced perspectives on ecological crises, cultural adaptations, and social resilience.

This Special Issue seeks to explore how African writers and/ or creatives engage with or confront environmental issues, using literature as a platform to articulate local and global ecological concerns.

We are particularly interested in papers that examine how African narratives portray the human-nature relationship, environmental justice, and the socio-political implications of climate change. Furthermore, we aim to investigate the role of storytelling in fostering environmental awareness and activism within African societies.

We welcome submissions that address, but are not limited to, the following themes:

Environmental degradation and sustainability in African novels, poetry, plays, and/ or arts.
Postcolonial ecocriticism and its application to African literary contexts.
Indigenous knowledge systems and ecological wisdom as depicted in African literature.
Climate migration, displacement, and identity in African narratives.
Representations of environmental activism and resistance movements.
The impact of globalization and neo-colonialism on African ecosystems.
Myth, folklore and environmental consciousness, etc

Submissions should be between 5,000 and 10,000 words, following the latest edition of MLA citation guidelines. Please submit an abstract of 250-500 words before the submission deadline, 30^th March 2025. Authors will receive an acceptance response on their abstract on 20^th June 2025 and full papers are due by 30^th June 2025. The publication date is 30^th November 2025.

Kindly send your abstract, with the email subject as Kente Special Issue, to: kente-journal@ucc.edu.gh

Here is the link to our journal: https://journal.ucc.edu.gh/index.php/kente

We look forward to your contributions to this critical dialogue on climate and environmental narratives within African literary traditions.

Call for Papers: Call for papers

KENTE - Cape Coast Journal of Literature and the Arts — 2022-02-10

CALL FOR PAPERS

KENTE: The Cape Coast Journal of Literature and the Arts (CCJLA), founded by the Department of English at the University of Cape Coast, Ghana, is a bi-annual peer-reviewed, open-access academic journal. For its Volume 3 (June, 2022) edition, the journal is inviting submissions that include critical analysis, theoretical models, and literature reviews in the following topic areas: Reimagining Borders in Postcolonial Migratory Narratives, Contemporary African Literature and the Environmental Imagination and Rethinking Traumas in a Covid 19 Era. Articles focusing on other relevant thematic perspectives are also strongly encouraged and expected.

Submission Guidelines

Length: Articles should not exceed 8000 words.
Format: Articles should be double spaced throughout. Use the same typeface and size throughout the article. Italics are preferred to underlines for titles of books.
Style: UK or US spellings, but be consistent. Direct quotations should retain the spelling used in the original source. Check the accuracy of your citations and always give the source, date, and page number in the text and a full reference in the works cited at the end of the article. Italicize titles of books or plays. Use single inverted commas throughout except for quotations within quotations which are double. Avoid subtitles or subsection headings within the text.
References: All references/works cited should be listed in full at the end of the article. The MLA style is preferred.
Articles should be sent through the journal’s platform @ https://journal.ucc.edu.gh/index.php/kente
Thank you.