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Call for Papers
Messengers from the Stars: On Science Fiction and Fantasy
No. 8, 2025

Editors: Diana Marques & Ana Rita Martins

Messengers from the Stars is an international, peer-reviewed, open-access journal, offering academic articles, reviews, and providing an outlet for a wide range of creative work inspired by science fiction and fantasy. The 2025 issue will be dedicated to the following theme:

‘Getting Medieval’: Fantasy and the Middle Ages

Traditionally distinguished by the presence of supernatural or magical elements, otherworldly settings, epic quests and archetypal characters, Fantasy fiction has been an incredibly popular genre since its inception. Indeed, as highlighted by scholars like John Clute, much of world fiction “has been described, at one time or another, as fantasy” (337). Although Fantasy is sometimes perceived as a form of escapism and at other times as a legitimate fictional realm with its own internal logic, the influence of the Middle Ages has remained a constant element in the construction of Fantasy worlds. From the use of folklore, myths, medieval legends and sagas, different contemporary authors look to the past as a source of inspiration, adapting, transforming and rewriting narratives to not only suit contemporary tastes and ideals but also to mirror present-day anxieties and fears. The works of J. R. R. Tolkien, George R. R. Martin, Robin Hobb, Joe Abercrombie, Marion Zimmer Bradley or Juliet Marillier, among others, are good examples of how the Middle Ages have served to fire the imagination.

Bearing this in mind and acknowledging that Fantasy continues to expand and develop, offering a diverse array of narratives as well as endless possibilities for storytelling and creative exploration, in this number we are especially interested in how Fantasy fiction uses the medieval past to create storylines that resonate with contemporary audiences across geographic, linguistic, cultural and political boundaries. We consider Fantasy in broader terms, including literature, cinema, television, comics/graphic novels, video games, music, etc., and are especially interested in submissions that expand the fields of knowledge and landscapes represented in the journal.

Possible topics may include, but are not limited to:

• Arthuriana in Fantasy;
• Female Agency in Medieval Fantasy;
• Fantasy and the Global Middle Ages;
• Heroism and Monstrosity in Fantasy;
• Medieval Emotions in the Fantasy Genre;
• Medieval Spaces and Places in Fantasy;
• Medievalism, Neomedievalism and Fantasy;
• (Mis)Perceptions of the “Medieval” and the “Middle Ages” in Works of Fantasy;
• Which Middle Ages is it? – Identity in Fantasy.

Submissions, between 4000 and 6000 words in English, must be sent to mfts.journal@gmail.com by February 3, 2025. The authors will be notified by the end of March, 2025.

In addition, you can propose a book or film review. We welcome book and film reviews on current science fiction and fantasy research and PhD dissertations. Reviews should be between 500 to 1,000 words. Longer reviews, e.g. dealing with more than one book, must be agreed upon with the Editorial Board.

Books available for review:

Carroll, Jordan S. Speculative Whiteness: Science Fiction and the Alt-Right. University of Minnesota Press, 2024. ISBN 978-1-5179-1708-1.

Lapoujade, David. Worlds Built to Fall Apart: Versions of Philip K. Dick. Trans. by Erik Beranek. University of Minnesota Press, 2024. ISBN 978-1-5179-1461-5.

If you wish to review a title which is not in the list, then please email the Editors directly with your suggestion, as we do consider all requests for recent and forthcoming titles, especially from publishers already listed. If the book or film you wish to review is more than 3 years old, then you would need to demonstrate its significance to its field for it to be considered.

All submissions must follow the journal’s guidelines available here.

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Academic Writing Skills Course: English for Academic Purposes (EAP)

This 50-hour on site and online course aims to help teachers, researchers, and post-graduate students to develop their writing competencies in academic English. The pedagogical approach is based on a workshop model, with a series of writing exercises that will be assessed by the teacher and discussed amongst peers in the weekly classes.

Dates: September 23 – December 16, 2024
Timetable: Mondays and Wednesdays, 4.00-6.00pm
Rooms: TBA
Credits: 1.8 ECTS

Enrollment Fee:

• ULisboa Researchers, Professors & Post-graduate Students: 80€
• Other Universities Researchers, Professors & Post-graduate Students: 100€
• Professors and Researchers working at FLUL are exempt from any fees. However, they must still submit proof of employment/association.

Deadline to register: September 17, 2024

English language requirement: B2.2 or higher^[1]

Enrollment: All those interested must fill in the enrollment form (scan QR code) or accessing the registration form here.

The course program can be found here.

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^[1] Students should submit a certificate or diploma. If they do not have one, they may take a placement test prior to beginning the course.

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Book Launch | Na Raiz de Todos os Males: Terror Doméstico no Séc. XXI

On July 24th, at 6pm, we will be launching the book Na Raiz de Todos os Males: Domestic Terror in the 21st Century, at Casa do Comum (Rua da Rosa, 285, Lisbon).

The session will be attended by the Director of CEAUL, Prof. Adelaide Serras, the editor of Caleidoscópio, Jorge Ferreira, and the book will be presented by Ana Bela Morais (a researcher in the field of film studies). More information about the book can be found here.

The session will also feature screenings of three short films – chosen by José Duarte and Miguel Ribeiro – dedicated to the theme of Terror:

Kali, O Pequeno Vampiro (Regina Pessoa, 2012 – 9’20);

O Coveiro (André Gil Mata, 2012 – 14′ minutos);

A Instalação do Medo (Ricardo Leite, 2016 – 15′);

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Editorial Translation Course

Date: July 22 to August 2, 2024 | Monday to Friday (18h30-20h30)
Venue: Online
Organization: Zsófia Gombár and Maria João Ferro
More information: m-joao@campus.ul.pt

Registration here until July 19th

FLUL student – 45€
General public – 55€

This course aims to introduce the entire publishing process, from idea to book, covering the various stages of editorial production – from receiving the original or prospecting the international market to preparing the original (grammar and styles, standardization of internal criteria, linguistic preferences, etc.), through translation, proofreading and proofing, as well as pagination. The various professionals involved in publishing a book will also be mentioned – from the editor to sales, including the author, typesetter, editorial assistant, etc. In addition, the role of the translator and translation in the editorial process and in publishing in general will be discussed.

Registration is currently closed as all available places have been filled.

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Representations of old age and ageing in literary and cultural narra4ves. Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities

Editors
Joaquim Pinheiro (Faculdade de Artes e Humanidades da Universidade da Madeira; CECH-UC) Zuzanna Zarebska (Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Lisboa; CEAUL)

The present volume invites articles that explore the themes related to ageing and old age. The texts should be sent to book.oldage_velhice2025@mail.uma.pt by December 29th, 2024, in Word format. All the manuscripts will be submitted to scientific evaluation (blind peer review). The authors will be notified of Acceptance/Rejection until March 17th, 2025.

The Editors look forward to receiving new stimulating work that will explore and advance the state-of-the-art of ageing studies.

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American Studies Over_Seas: Active Ties, Tides, and Times

Entitled American Studies Over_Seas: Active Ties, Tides, and Times, The University of Lisbon Center for English Studies (ULICES) is developing a project centered on coastal areas and intertidal zones, and on how they might be addressed through more hydro- and eco-centered perspectives on languages, arts, and literatures. We would like to contribute to the storytelling and the transformative articulation of some of the pressures and challenges  to  natural habitats  and  residential/working areas  that  result from climate change and anthropogenic activity. The project will also look at how these coasts have been shaped culturally and historically, particularly in what concerns Portuguese and North-American exchanges.

Part of this project, a symposium devoted to the (shared) coastlines of the Atlantic will be hosted at the School of Arts and Humanities of the University of Lisbon, November 7-9, 2024. We are mainly concerned with how we can combine knowledges and affections between the disciplines (ties) to imaginatively and more effectively bridge the temporal depth and urgency (times) of human environmental impact, and thus follow the traces and hopefully better track or change the tides of Portuguese and US coastlines and their insular clusters in the Atlantic (tides). This event will bring together scholars from different fields, as well as policy makers and activists working within affected coastal areas. Academically, the symposium will be structured around three lines of inquiry:

1. “Memories of distant quays” within the triangular Atlantic – History of relations between US and Portuguese-speaking countries across the oceans / comparative  coastal  (and  insular/archipelagic)  developments  in  the  Atlantic: ex.  East Coast and Azores/Portugal, Caribbean Islands to US and Cape Verde to Portugal, Portuguese-speaking countries – Brazil-US;
2. “The currents outbound” – diasporic transits with emphasis on luso- American experiences, storytelling and (eco)poetry of opposite and parallel shores; intersections with border studies and environmental justice; hybrid genres and (id)entity crossings;
3. “More-than-human shores” – coastal studies and the Humanities… or, more humbly, the “humusities” (Haraway 2015): challenge to the concept (and existence) of humanity/ies as seen from the shores and/or the edge of no return; the rising sea; nostalgia and anxiety of saltwater; environmental history

and stories of the shorelines, traces, inscriptions and entanglements of humans and other-than-humans; exposition, toxicity and occupation threats to traditional work / community cultures, and biodiversity; ports, docks, bays, dunes, isles, marshlands and global warming.

The ULICES’s project is also preparing an ecopoetic anthology Ten Sea Air / Dez Ar Mar – Ten Portuguese-speaking and Ten English-speaking investigative poets writing about how to breathe and navigate the climate crisis.

In parallel with these activities, the Center is organising an ongoing interdisciplinary team-building activity: the reading circle. On 29 April, John Gillis’ book The Human Shore (University of Chicago Press, 2015) was discussed. The next meeting, on 1 July, will focus on Steve Mentz’s Introduction to the Blue Humanities (Routledge, 2023).

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PROJECT DECONSTRUCT: Digital Education and Campaign to Stand up and Counter Holocaust Distortion and Misinformation

We are happy to announce that the project DECONSTRUCT: Digital Education and Campaign to Stand up and Counter Holocaust Distortion and Misinformation has been awarded funding by the European Commission (CERV-2023-EQUAL). The project is coordinated by Andrea Szonyi (Zachor Foundation) and brings together a strong international team of six partners: Zachor Foundation, FLUL, Hétfa Research Institute, Aristotle University, and UNIFI University. The ULICES team is proud to be part of this collaboration, with Zsófia Gombár (lead researcher), Ana Raquel Fernandes (in RG4), Catarina Xavier, Cláudia Martins, and Maria João Ferro (in RG6). The project officially began in May 2024 and will continue for the next 24 months.

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Translation, Memory, and Politics in the Medieval World: The XIII Cardiff Conference on the Theory and Practice of Translation in the Middle Ages | The Medieval Translator

The Centre for Classical Studies, the Centre for History and the Centre for English Studies are organizing the 13th Cardiff Conference on the Theory and Practice of Translation in the Middle Ages, from 17-21 June 2024. The Medieval Translator, with 69 participants. These conferences on the Theory and Practice of Translation in the Middle Ages began meeting at the University of Wales, Cardiff (1987-), and are now regularly organized throughout Europe.

For more information, see: https://xiiicardiffconferencelisbon.wordpress.com/.

Registrations here.

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Desire, Imagination & Dream: Angela Carter in Portugal

27 – 29 June 2024, University of Lisbon

This international conference, under the Angela Carter Society, explores the intricate relationships between art, politics, place, and sexuality in Angela Carter’s writings. Inspired by Carter’s 1977 visit to Portugal, documented in her essays for New Society, the conference will delve into her experiences in Caldas da Rainha during the 4^th international Meeting of Art.

The 1970s were pivotal for Carter, marked by prolific output and personal transformations, including her move to Japan. Her work from this period reflects her exploration of subjectivity, artistic creation, and political ideologies.

Portugal’s recent history, with democracy restored just three years before Carter’s visit, provides a rich backdrop and her essays depict Portugal’s political tensions, capturing the stark contrast between avant-garde art and local hardships.

The conference invites discussions on Carter’s intersection of art, sexuality, politics, and place, aligning with Portugal’s 50th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution. Highlights include an Angela Carter-inspired meal and a trip to Caldas da Rainha, offering a chance to connect her work with Portugal’s history and to reflect on the broader implications of her literary contributions.

[+INFO]

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Think Tank on Countering Disinformation in Education and Training

Location:  American Corner, FLUL
Time: 1-2 July, 2.00-6.00pm
Audience: Academic Community and Public
Deadline for enrollment: 20 of June

Registrations form available here.

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