A short address to delegates in acknowledgement of the 10th anniversary of Journal of Postcolonial Writing's publication with Taylor and Francis. Preceding the keynote lecture at the Postcolonial Studies Association Convention on Diasporas, held at the University of Leicester

Wilson, Janet M

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Journal of Postcolonial Writing - 10th anniversary

This work has been submitted to NECTAR, the Northampton ElectronicCollection of Theses and Research.Conference or Workshop ItemTitle: Journal of Postcolonial Writing ­ 10th anniversaryCreator: Wilson, J. M.Example citation: Wilson, J. M. (2015) Journal of Postcolonial Writing ­ 10thanniversary. Invited Presentation presented to: Postcolonial Studies Association2015 Convention: Diasporas, University of Leicester, 07­09 September 2015.Version: Presented versionhttp://nectar.northampton.ac.uk/8036/NECTARJPW 10th Anniversary Celebrations,  PSA Conference on Diasporas,  University of Leicester 8th September 2015  Welcome to you all  it is wonderful to see so many of you  all at this special celebration of 10 years of JPW with T&F. I like to begin by thanking T&F for t heir support over  the years—two of their team, Rachel Drew and Marita Elftheridou  are here now, And of course just as th is is a celebration of a ten year publishing  relationship wtih T&F it is also a celebration of our  slightly shorter   one with  PSA.  JPW is one of the journals that is associated with the work of   the PSA since its founding  in 2008  (which means you get a 25%  discount from a personal sub if you are a PSA member)   and so it seems logical to mark this occasion in conjunction with the PSA  conference and through a speaker we all admire and whom, Anshuman Mondal, the Chair of  the PSA  has invited—Paul Gilroy, So  special thanks to both the PSA organisers  (and I would like to thanks Alberto Carbajal in this context for all his  efficient/speedy communications)  and T&F for helping to  bring about this occasion and giving us the opportunity to come together for this anniversary celebration, for organizing the reception, and for arranign with Paul Giulroy to  address us today.  A few words about the history of the JPW which from the start has filled a gap for scholars and students working in this field  and which  has  gone form strength to strength since it was taken over by T&F in 2005. . If I had thought I would be here now 10 years ago,  I would never have believed  myself, We started off with a different profile- for in fact this journal was originally called World Literature Written in English, it originated in the late 60s  as part of the MLA when it ǁaŶted to Đoǀer ͚other literatures͛ and it was published for a wh ile  in Canada (Diana Bryden) and then in Singapore (Kirpal Singh).  It came to Northamtpon in  early 2001 from Singapore.  In fact one of the very first meeting of myself  with colleagues at Northampton (Sarah Lawson Welsh, Chris Ringrose, Alison Struselis, and  Peter Brooker),  took place  on 9/11 at the every moment the twin towers were attacked, very auspicious sign  for such a journal (some of our most popular  essays have been on topics of terrorism concerning 9/11).    After four years of producing  WLWE, and catching up with the subscribers and finding a printer,    I approached T&F --  after they agreed to take over the production of the journal they wanted do a remake and rebranding-- and asked us to change the title,  insisting  on the word postcolonial .,  This seemed to indicate that the discipline had come to stay, at least in publishing terms for now JPW is  part of a suite of journals like Interventions: International Journal fo Postcolonial Studies, Postcolonial Studies and Wasafiri.  But  fashions change  and  in a decade we  seem to have gone full  circle, as the concept of  World Literature and Global literature has meanwhile  come back, and in some institutions replaced  the label of Postcolonial Literature.   At first our output was also modest –just two issues a year, and  most of the editing done  in a more liesurely fashion than today; but this decade has witnessed  the rise of online and electronic   publishing  and distribution  methods and so our production increased,  we went to  three issues within two years,  then  when T&F developed an integrated online platform enabling us to streamline the editing process, we went to five issues in 2010, and last year to the unbelievable number of 6. The team has grown as well from the initial editors of me and Sarah and a handful of colleagues to now 14 (including a reviews editor a special issues editor, a creative writing editor and a marketing manager) .  We also now have an expanded and geographically diverse International Advisory Board, one of whom, Louise Bethlehem,  has come to today  from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem to share this occasion.     With online publishing and distribution by full text downloads, giving global accessibility  to  the issues, in  ways not possible with just   hard copy, and with   new  ways of attracting and measuring the reading public through the  social media – by networking with twitter,  facebook etc,  the   face of journal production has this decade changed beyond recognition, But it is also true to say that the field of postcolonial studies has expanded exponentially in this same period (and absorbed other disciplinary frameworks like diaspora studies  world literature, globalisation – these labels  intersect and circulate)  - and we now can put out 6 issues per year because of the increasing  amounts of material available to publish--  even though we  might reject 70% of all articles,. In part this is because we have increasingly turned to special issues  which are a popular way of publishing conference proceedings or  to focus on some topic that is currently trending or is unknown  (we have one coming out on Andalusia e.g.). Another advantage is that they can after two years be converted into book format as has happened with one or two.  Some of our highlights have been the focus on particular topics, e.g. the double special issue on Terrorism published in 2010 (edited by Stpehen Morton, Anastasia Vassalopolous and Robert Spender), 3804 downloads, and  Beyond Geography, Literature Violence and Politics in Pakistan in 2011 with 2381 downloads.  These have been helped by T&F marketing  campaigns of free online collections, such as Comic Books and Graphic  Novel Collections, a Focus on Islam,  and another one on What͛s TreŶdiŶg iŶ Literature , all of which feature specific articles from JPW  publications. As it says on the flier, the most popular articles--  can be viewed on the T&F website—20  are available to download this month as a special gesture towards this anniversary. So do make the most of this opportunity.  E.g. Peter Morey͛s The ‘ules of the Gaŵe haǀe ĐhaŶged, MOhsiŶ Haŵid͛s The Reluctant Fundamentalist and post 9/11 Fiction; and  Anna HartŶell͛s MoǀiŶg Through AŵeriĐa, PlaĐe, ‘aĐe aŶd ‘esistaŶĐe iŶ MoshiŶ Haŵid͛s The ReluctaŶt FudŶaŵeŶtalist’   Before I finish I would like to take this opportunity to say that  we are always receptive  to  new work and this is just the kind of  conference where we will be looking out for it, (so doŶ͛t ďe surprised if someone taps you on the shoulder). There may well be a chance for you to present your papers in a more extended form to our online submission system.  If you would like to discuss this please  do talk to a member of the editorial team. [And talking of postcolonial segueuing into  world literature  that  Chris Ringrose, my co editor  on JPW, and I  are starting  a new series with Ibidem Verlag,  called Studies in world Literature, There are fliers in your conference packs  and again  if you are interested  in presenting a proposal please do contact us]  PSA/JPW Postgraduate ESSAY PRIZE I would now like to move on to present this years JPW/PSA Postgraduate Essay Prize, taking over in this task from Dr Lucienne Loh who  is responsible for coordinating the JPW and the PSA efforts and judges the prize with me. Unfortunately due to illness she cannot be here today.  The Postgraduate Essay Prize now in its 6th year, is jointly judged and financed by PSA and JPW, and  reflects the special relationship between us. Its aim is to give winners, younger scholars working in this field, the chance to publish their essay in in a prestigious academic journal.   I have great pleasure in announcing the 2015 winner as Annalisa Hoehling, U of Massachutts. Amherst  for her  essay. ͚The Productive ͞Marǀelous ‘eal͟: Alejo CarpeŶtier͛s EŶ-Folding of Revolution in The KiŶgdoŵ of This World͛. The judges say this is possibly the best entry they have ever received in the 6 years of judging.   As she cannot be here tonight to receive this in person, Annalisa will  be sent a cheque of £250 and  has already been invited to submit her essay to the  JPW for publication.   This year two also tied for the runner up place:  Mahruďa TasŶeeŵ Moǁtushi ;KiŶg͛s College LoŶdoŶͿ ǁith the essay ͚The ͞Artful͟ BodǇ aŶd the Bengali Art Critic: Hemendrakumar Roy in Search of BeautǇ͛ and  Stefanie Rudig (University of Innsbruck), for ͚LadǇ Barker – WritiŶg ColoŶial Neǁ ZealaŶd͛  As this is the first time we have been able to  feature the prize in a public venue like this, so I though I would  add a few words about it. It  started as an initiative in 2010 from JPW to showcase emerging talent in postcolonial studies and we approached the PSA to  advertise it among their constituency,  co-finance and co judge  it (i.e.  provide the initial round of judging,  and the JPW a second round (usually confirming the PSA judges).  A brief history of the prize winners is available online, but I will also mention them now and the topics of their published essays:    The 2010 Winner: Joshua McNamara,   School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London: ͞AgaiŶst ͚Third CiŶeŵa͛: The NoŶ-reǀolutioŶarǇ ‘eǀolutioŶ of IaŶ Gaďriel͛s ForgiǀeŶess͟ (published in JPW 47.1 (2011):  The 2011 Winner: Charlotta Salmi, Linacre College, University of Oxford.  "Reflections on a National Cartography: The Freedom to Roam and the Right to Imagine in Raja Shehadeh's Travel Writing" JPW 2012, Volume 48, Issue 4.  In that year special mention was given to  AMANDA WAUGH, University of Massachusetts, Amherst: for her essay ͞Laďor That “Đars: ColoŶial aŶd Child EǆploitatioŶ iŶ Charlotte YoŶge͛s The Clever Woman of the Family͟  2012, Catherine Rashid (University of Cambridge), for her essay ͞Secular Time and Muslim Fiction " JPW 2015, Volume 51, Issue 3.   The 2013 Winner: Henghameh Saroukhani, "Penguinizing dub: Paratextual frames for transnational protest in Linton Kwesi Johnson's Mi Revalueshanary Fren  2014 Winner is Joy Hayward-Jansen, University of Massachussets, Amherst (USA), for her essay ͚QueeriŶg the PlaasroŵaŶ: HoŵoerotiĐisŵ iŶ MarleŶe VaŶ Niekerk͛s Agaat͛.   I also wish to take the opportunity to thank all the judges who help to judge the prize each year for their careful, judicious comments; this year͛s excellent judges are: Anna Bernard (KCL), Lorna Burns (St Andrews), Claire Chambers (York), Corinne Fowler (Leicester), Dave Gunning (Birmingham) and Robert Spencer (Manchester), and also to  thank Taylor and Francis for contributing to the prize and the PSA for helping to manage and organise the prize .   I now hand over to  Anshuman Mondal  of the PSA,  who will introduce the speaker  Paul Gilroy   ͞Europe Otherǁise: Mare Nostruŵ aŶd the BaŶality of Good CoŵpetitioŶ͟ 

A short address to delegates in acknowledgement of the 10th anniversary of Journal of Postcolonial Writing&apos;s publication with Taylor and Francis. Preceding the keynote lecture at the Postcolonial Studies Association Convention on Diasporas, held at the University of Leicester

Journal of Postcolonial Writing - 10th anniversary

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