Deadline: September 30, 2020

Call for Chapter

A new edited collection on true crime in 21st century American visual and audio media invites proposals for chapters.

This new book seeks to present original scholarship on the structure, themes and consumption of true crime in today’s visual/audio media landscape.

From sober documentary film through ‘binge-worthy’ streaming of podcasts and television series, true crime appears in a wide variety of styles and attracts an equally varied array of responses. This book hopes to reflect as many approaches as possible.

While the central focus will be on American films and series of the21st century, the collection would also benefit from discussions on the global reach and/or influences of such media, so proposals on such topics are welcomed.

The following list is a guide to the variety of true crime content the book will consider:

• Legal Procedures (including police procedural, courtroom practices, appeals, probation services)
• Injustice Narratives (including false confessions, wrongful imprisonment as well as general criticisms of the American justice system)
• Organized Crime (history of the mafia, political corruption, gangster celebrities)
• Interviews with Convicts (including high profile cases, serial killers)
• Victims (including support and reconciliation programs)
• Unsolved crime (including missing persons, ongoing investigations)
• Crimes made sensational (including property violations, neighbor disputes, traffic stops)

A list of possible approaches: 

• Documentary styles and aesthetics (including re-enactment, docudrama)
• Character creation and/or sensationalist narrative practices including: the presentation of law enforcement, prosecutors, defense teams and/or the legal system in general the presentation of crime victims and their families the presentations of race, gender and sexualities
• The social purpose of true crime documentaries
• Transmedial and /or transglobal responses to American true crime narratives
• Production practices and ethics
• Finance, marketing and/or distribution practices and experiences

Routledge has expressed interest in the project (Approx. 12 chapters of 6-8,000 words each).

Please send a 300-400 word abstract of your proposed chapter and a 100-word author bio statement to George S. Larke-Walsh at george.larke-walsh@unt.edu by September 30th 2020.