#CFP Interpreting The Hunger Games Prequels

CFP: Call for Essay Proposals

July 2025

Interpreting the Hunger Games Prequels: A New Generation

(Working title)

Scholars, authors, and related professionals are invited to submit chapter proposals for a forthcoming edited volume interpreting Collins’ two Hunger Games “prequel” novels from a wide array of educational perspectives and disciplinary lenses. Following immediately on the heels of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Scholastic Publishing most recently shocked the Hunger Games fandom with the release of a second prequel, Sunrise on the Reaping (2025), to widely positive acclaim. Just as the original trilogy inspired various interpretive volumes more than a decade ago, Collins’ prequels now expand this educational capacity even further, spanning the social and physical sciences, arts and humanities, communication disciplines, business and health-care professions, and beyond. This accessible volume seeks to capture such wide-ranging educational lessons for a diverse audience of high-school and college students, a passionate and multi-generational fandom of global reach, and educators who wish to pull these lessons into the classroom for both new and continuing enthusiasts.

Recommended Topics and Themes

The principal focus for this peer-reviewed volume revolves loosely around Sunrise Over the Reaping, with its abundant callbacks and connections to the trilogy and Songbirds and Snakes. However, contributors are invited and encouraged to consider either or both prequels and their shared connections, messaging, layers of meaning, character arcs, and/or storylines. Given Collins’ artful and strategic tie-ins with the other books, it is likely that contributors will further choose to treat the entire saga holistically in some way, referencing connections and meanings that weave through the prequels and original trilogy. Moreover, given the collective wealth of scholarly and interpretive writing that precedes this volume, contributors can build on and enhance past interpretations with fresh perspectives drawn from Collins’ new and thought-provoking material.
To this end, the following (alphabetical) topics and themes—some but not all explored in past works—are encouraged, though proposals for creative topics within or outside of this range will be seriously considered: Appalachian studies, architecture and design, child development, classical history and culture, communication, community development, demographics, dystopian genre, economics, Enlightenment thinkers, ethics, fashion, geography and environment, health care and mental health, immigration, literary studies, media and film studies, music history, philosophy, place and identity, political science, popular culture, psychology, queer studies, sociology, spiritualism, science and technology, teaching and pedagogy, transportation history, urban history and planning, women’s and gender studies, YA literature and fandoms.

Submission Procedure and Timeline

Chapter proposals should be submitted by email attachment to the academic editor (below) and should include the primary author’s name, affiliation, email, brief bio statement (100 words or less), a working chapter title, and a 250-500 word abstract describing the chapter concept and topic. Single and multiple author submissions are welcome. Proposals will be accepted
through Sept 30, 2025. Authors will be notified by Oct 31 about the status of their proposal and will be sent the contract and guidelines for manuscript submission. Chapter drafts will be due to the editor by June 30, 2026. Please feel free to contact the academic editor, Tom Paradis (
[email protected]) with any questions (see more about Tom below). After initial editing and revisions, the full manuscript will be submitted to the publisher (below) for double-blind peer review and any final revisions.

Publisher

This book has been accepted for publication by McFarland & Company, Inc., an independent book publisher based in Jefferson, North Carolina specializing in academic and reference works along with general-interest adult nonfiction. Prior publications include numerous interpretive and edited volumes about the Hunger Games and related YA literature. For additional information regarding the publisher, please visit www.mcfarlandbooks.com.

Academic Editor

The academic editor for this volume is Thomas (Tom) Paradis, Ph.D., professor of geography and urban planning at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana. His teaching and scholarly interests include urban development, historical and cultural landscapes, urban design, architectural history, tourism development, and now the fictional world of Panem. He also teaches an innovative first-year seminar called Unpacking the Hunger Games. Aside from his previous authored and edited books on American historic landmarks and the American home, Tom has published two books about the Palio of Siena, Italy, and most recently, A Daughter of Singapore (2025). His two prior books on the Hunger Games saga include A Place Called District 12: Appalachian Geography and Music in the Hunger Games (McFarland, 2022) and Behind the Ballads: A Tribute to the People, Places and Music of Songbirds and Snakes (Paradis, 2024). He further enjoys writing for his fun interpretive blog on all things Panem (worldofpanem.org) and, like many of us, is still searching for clues about what really happened to Lucy Gray.

Read an interview I did with Tom about his book A Place Called District 12 here.