CfP: (Deadline extended) Asian Theatre for The Handbook of Ecofeminist Drama; University of Illinois Press2026.6.5 {en}
Seeking chapters on Asian theatre for The Handbook of Ecofeminist Drama to complement the 43 confirmed chapters from over 20 countries listed below. Proposals are due 15 June 2026. We especially welcome chapters from and about the breadth of Asian countries to complement confirmed chapters from India, Pakistan, Taiwan, and the Philippines–as well as additional chapters from these countries. The Handbook is under review with the University of Illinois Press.
The Handbook of Ecofeminist Drama: Theatre, Performance, and Ecological Futures examines how theatre and performance actively reshape and reconfigure ecofeminist theory through dramatic form, performative practice, and aesthetic experimentation. Rather than reiterating established binaries—such as nature/culture, woman/nature, or human/nonhuman—this volume foregrounds theatre’s capacity to generate new epistemologies of ecological vulnerability, ethical responsibility, and relational survival.
We invite original scholarly contributions that investigate drama and performance as sites where ecofeminist thought is materially embodied, dramaturgically enacted, and politically reimagined. Particular attention will be given to chapters engaging contemporary theatre and performance and articulating how ecofeminism is transformed through theatrical aesthetics, performance politics, and formal innovation.
The editors of The Handbook of Ecofeminist Drama, Douglas A. Vakoch and Işıl Şahin Gülter, have edited and written ten previous books on ecofeminism and ecological theatre, with recent volumes including The Routledge Handbook of Ecofeminism and Literature (2023), Ekolojik Tiyatro ve Antroposen: Caryl Churchill’den İzler [Ecological Theatre and the Anthropocene: Traces of Caryl Churchill] (2023), Indian Feminist Ecocriticism (2022), and Ecofeminist Science Fiction: International Perspectives on Gender, Ecology, and Literature (2021).
We invite additional chapters on any of the following 11 themes. Please avoid topics that duplicate any of the 43 confirmed chapters listed here:
THEME 1: Contemporary Ecological and Climate Change Theatre
Chapter 1. “Distributed Cognition and Ecofeminist Climate Theatre: Women’s Cognitive Ecology in Chantal Bilodeau’s Forward and No More Harveys,” Khaled Mostafa Karam, PhD, Egypt
Chapter 2. “Performing Ecological Crisis: Radical Care and Black Feminist Worldmaking in DELIRIOUS DANCES’ Wastelandia,” Anikó Szűcs, PhD, UK
Chapter 3. “Syncretic Ecospirituality as Ecofeminist Counter-Imaginary to Nuclear Patriarchy: Staging the Chernobyl Myth,” Inna Hakkinenn, PhD, Finland
Chapter 4. “Cuts to the Bone: An Ecofeminist Analysis of Catherine Banks’ Bone Cage,” Emily A. Rollie, PhD, USA
Chapter 5. “Ecofeminist Dramaturgy and the Theatre of Extinction in Caryl Churchill’s Escaped Alone,” İşıl Şahin Gülter, PhD, Turkey
THEME 2: Posthuman and More-than-Human Performance Practices
Chapter 6. “Performing More-than-Human Commons through Irony: Marta Cuscùnà’s Ecofeminist Trilogy,” Lucia della Fontan, PhD, Italy
Chapter 7. “Sivan Ben Yishai’s Ecofeminist Reworkings of the Theatre,” Friederike Oberkrome, PhD, Germany
Chapter 8. “Material Exposure and the Posthuman Body: Rethinking Ecofeminist Theatre through Contemporary German-Speaking Performance,” Gabriela Zgrzebnicka, PhD, Germany
Chapter 9. “Dafne Phono: Nour Mobarak’s Posthuman Opera,” Mitchell Herrmann, PhD, USA
Chapter 10. “The Ecofeminist Crypt: Plurality, Natality, and the Relational Somatics of the Performer,” Maria Lönn, PhD, Sweden
THEME 3: Ecofeminism, Disability, Illness, and Staged Vulnerability
Chapter 11. “Intellectual Disability and the Pleasure of More-than-Human Kinships: Theatre 21’s Care-ful Feminist Ecologies,” Katarzyna Ojrzyńska, PhD, Poland
Chapter 12. “Staging Misrecognition: Ecofeminist Performance and the Politics of Reading Ecological Bodies,” Peggy Ann Bloomer, PhD, USA
Chapter 13. “Disability, Care, and Interdependence in Martyna Majok’s Cost of Living: An Ecofeminist Perspective,” Mehri Razmi, PhD, Turkey
Chapter 14. “Landscapes of and for Suffering Bodies: Ecologies of Female Grief and Trauma in Medieval Theatre,” Pamela Kask, PhD, UK
THEME 4: Environmental Justice and Feminist Dramaturgies
Chapter 15. “Wounded Lands and Wounded Women: Ecofeminist Tragedy and Ecological Collapse in King Lear,” Zied Ben Amor, PhD, Tunisia
Chapter 16. “Arab Women’s Protest Theatre and the Ecofeminist Turn: Reading Salwa Bakr’s Hulm al-Senin,” Amira Farhani, PhD, UK
Chapter 17. “An A Femi-cocritical Study of Palestinian Woman’s Voice: Muhammad Aletabi’s Screams Coming out from Gaza and Fayha’a Abedelhadi’s Sage,” Eman A.S. Hijazi, PhD, UAE
Chapter 18. “Performing Environmental Justice: Feminist Dramaturgies and Ecofeminist Praxis in Kenya,” Wayua, PhD, Kenya
Chapter 19. “Performing Ecofury,” Elizabeth A. Hodson, PhD, Scotland
Chapter 20. “Community Kinship, Species Sustainability, and Environmental Justice,” Pranab Kumar Mandal, PhD, and Saswati Halder, PhD, India
THEME 5: Material Ecocriticism and Theatrical Matter (Bodies, Objects, Landscapes)
Chapter 21. “The Host Body: Trans-Corporeality and Ecofeminist Subjectivity in Girish Karnad’s Nagamandala and Hayavadana,” Mushrifa Ibrahim, PhD, and Jyoshna Dutta, PhD, India
Chapter 22. “Performative Caves: Mineral Intimacies and Transcorporeal Entanglements in More-than-Human Scenography,” Carmen Armenteros, PhD, Italy
Chapter 23. “Trans-Corporeal Landscapes: Mohiniyattam, Ecofeminist Embodiment, and the Decolonial Performance of Kerala’s Ecological Body,” Arathi Anil, PhD, India
THEME 6: Indigenous, Decolonial, and Global South Ecofeminist Performance
Chapter 24. “Ecofeminist Performance and More-than-Human Liberation: Guriya Ghar and the Pakistani Staging of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House,” Zakia Resshid Ehsen, PhD, Pakistan
Chapter 25. “Staging Rural Ecologies: Reimagining Ecofeminist Futures through Dramatic Adaptations of Munshi Premchand in Contemporary Indian Theatre,” Pravat Ranjan Sethi, PhD, India
Chapter 26. “Performing Ugie Olokun in Benin City: An Ecofeminist Contemplation?” Ndubuisi C. Ezeluomba, PhD, USA
Chapter 27. “Indigenous Frictions on the Colonial Script: Trans-feminist Eco-affectivity and Performance at the End of the World,” Mayra Bottaro, PhD, Argentina
THEME 7: Queer Ecofeminism and Affective Ecologies in Theatre
Chapter 28. “Me and the Moon: Drifting, Pooling, Waxing, and Waning,” Celia Weiss, PhD, USA
Chapter 29. “Planetary Becoming and Reparative Artivism: Queer More-than-Human Worlds in Ciwas Tahos’s Finding Pathways to Temahahoi,” Fan-Ting Cheng, PhD, Taiwan
Chapter 30. “Queer Ecofeminist Worlding in the Tikbalang Wedding: Umaaraw, Umuulan as Philippine Ecological Theatre,” Bryan Levina Viray, PhD, Philippines
Chapter 31. “Solarpunk Sounds: An Ecofeminist Examination of Food, Mouths, and Bodies in Cesi’s Davidson’s Trilogy Articulation, Fricatives, and Bilabials,” Eve Morton, PhD, USA
THEME 8: Care Ethics, Interdependence, and Survival in Dramatic Narratives
Chapter 32. “Negotiating Care: Affective Ecologies in Contemporary Chamber Operas Monstera Deliciosa and Cantus Firmus,” Kitija Balcare, PhD, Latvia
Chapter 33. “Mother Love Beyond Death: Wanthong, Haunting Care, and More-than-Human Performance in Thai Dance Drama,” Chawarote Valyamedhi, PhD, Taiwan
Chapter 34. “Coexistence, Eco-care, and Ecofeminist Ethics in Stef Smith’s Human Animals,” Özlem Karadağ, PhD, Turkey
THEME 9: Ecofeminist Adaptations and Reworkings of Canonical Texts
Chapter 35. “Ecofeminist Dramaturgy in the Theater of Abdülhak Hâmid: A Study Centered on Duhter‑i Hindû and Finten,” Didem Ardalı Büyükarman, PhD, Turkey
Chapter 36. “Shakespearean Ecofeminism,” Hadley Kamminga-Peck, PhD, USA
Chapter 37. “The Ecofeminist Agenda of Modern Russian Drama,” Katherine Anna New, PhD, England
THEME 10: Performance Activism and Ecofeminist Praxis
Chapter 38. “Beyond Metaphor: Reclaiming Feminized Nature in Cecylia Malik’s Performative Activism,” Anna Dulba-Barnett, PhD, United States
Chapter 39. “Washing Away Dictatorship and Patriarchy: Ecofeminist Resistance in Jalila Baccar’s Ghassalet Ennuādir,” Douja Mamelouk, PhD, Tunisia
Chapter 40. “Baraye as Ecofeminist Performance: Poetry, Protest, and Life in Iran,” Sepandarmaz Mashreghi, PhD, Iran
THEME 11: Multispecies Theatre and Animal Studies
Chapter 41. “Staging Care and Survival: An Ecofeminist Dramaturgical Analysis of Nonhuman Animals in Eregnaye,” Dagnachew Adefris Gebrehiwot, PhD, Ethiopia
Chapter 42. “Dancing with Extinct Corals: Ec(h)oing Noh’s More-than-Human Dramaturgies in Okada Toshiki’s Sango,” Luca Domenico Artuso, PhD, Belgium
Chapter 43. “Punished for Kinship: Multispecies Relationality and Boundary Violence in Greek Mythico-Drama and Ecofeminist Theatre,” Oana Marin, PhD, Romania
Submission Requirements
Interested scholars should submit:
- A 300-word abstract clearly outlining the chapter’s central argument, primary dramatic texts or performance practices, and its contribution to ecofeminist theatre studies
- A 200-word biographical note
- A list of 5–7 keywords
- Five key references
We are particularly interested in chapters that demonstrate how theatre and performance:
- extend and transform ecofeminist theory;
- challenge anthropocentric, patriarchal, and ableist environmental imaginaries;
- articulate innovative models of ecological ethics, relationality, and responsibility.
Abstracts should articulate a focused and original thesis and demonstrate how the proposed chapter advances ecofeminist thought through theatre and performance.
Only previously unpublished work will be considered. Contributors must hold a completed PhD. The editors seek a diverse and internationally representative group of scholars from theatre and performance studies, literary studies, environmental humanities, gender studies, and related disciplines.
Important Dates
Abstract deadline: 15 June 2026
Notification of acceptance: 20 June 2026
Full chapter submission: 30 October 2026
AI Policy
Contributors must adhere to the AI usage guidelines outlined in the Bloomsbury AI Policy for Authors and Illustrators (December 2025):
https://www.bloomsbury.com/media/0zxgch3t/ai-policy-for-authors-and-illustrators-dec-2025.pdf
For the purposes of this volume, “AI systems” include publicly accessible generative platforms (e.g., ChatGPT, Gemini, and similar tools) as well as AI-enabled grammar and editing systems.
In accordance with these guidelines:
- Publicly accessible AI systems (free or paid) may not be used to generate, draft, rewrite, or substantially edit submitted chapters.
- Institutionally licensed or privately managed AI systems may be used solely for limited brainstorming or organizational assistance, not for composing substantive scholarly content.
- Authors remain fully responsible for the originality, intellectual integrity, and scholarly accuracy of their submissions.
All accepted contributors will be required to formally attest to compliance with these policies.
Submission Address
Please send all materials as a single document to:
Işıl ŞAHİN GÜLTER
igulter[at]firat.edu.tr
Source: CFP: (Deadline extended) Asian Theatre for The Handbook of Ecofeminist Drama; University of Illinois Press, H-Net: Humanities & Social Sciences Online, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 US.
