CFP: Edited Volume “Fairy Lore across Cultures”

Scholars, independent researchers, folklorists, literary critics, historians, anthropologists, and creative practitioners are invited to submit chapter proposals for an upcoming edited collection exploring the enduring presence and transformation of fairy lore across cultures, periods, and media. This book project seeks to identify how fairy lore, folklore and myths can help to understand contemporary society and analyze their cultural and social function through literary works.

This volume will provide different international reinterpretations of fairy myths and legends. Fairy mythologies (Celtic, Iberian, Ibero American, Nordic) will be studied exploring their imaginary elements (symbols and archetypes), conceptual elements (themes and mythemes), linguistic elements (narratives), and numinous elements (aspects of transcendence and sacredness). Also, there will be studies on adaptations of myths in different contexts: the evolution and reinterpretation of myths will be examined across various places and historical periods.

Suggested topics include (but are not limited to):

• Regional and comparative fairy traditions
• Celtic, Nordic, Slavic, Iberian, or global fairy myths
• Fairies in oral storytelling traditions
• Fairy encounters, changelings, and supernatural abductions
• Fairy folklore and landscape studies
• The intersection of fairy lore and ecology
• Gender, sexuality, and fairy narratives
• Colonialism and the transformation of indigenous spirit traditions
• Victorian fairy culture and spiritualism
• Fairies in children’s literature
• Dark fairy lore and the gothic imagination
• Fairies in contemporary fantasy fiction and film
• Fairy symbolism in art and music
• Digital folklore
• Fairy lore in gaming and interactive media
• The relationship between fairy mythology and witchcraft traditions

Please submit the following materials to the editor, Maya Zalbidea (Complutense University of Madrid, Spain), before June 30, 2026:

• A 250–500 word abstract in English language
• A short biographical note (100 words max)
• Your institutional affiliation (if applicable)
• Email

A confirmation email will be sent to inform you whether your chapter has been selected. Completed chapters should typically range between 5,000–8,000 words, including references.

This edited volume is intended for publication with a prestigious academic publisher, such as Routledge.