The recent reunion of Monty Python during the summer of 2014 was a cause for celebration worldwide and scholarly interest in the work of Monty Python has been rekindled. There has been much work already published on the work of Monty Python proper, however, relatively little scholarly attention has been paid to the work of its members as individuals or as collaborators beyond the confines of Monty Python. Python members have been, and continue to be, prolific creators in a variety of artistic realms. To this end, the editors of this exciting new anthology seek essays of an interdisciplinary nature that address the work of Monty Python beyond the comedy show, films, and live performances.
The editors seek well-written and well-researched articles that address texts and performances that fall into the category of Python Beyond Python. While the editors are interested in analysis of the recent 2014 O2 reunion (as live and streamed performance), they will not consider papers related to Monty Python’s Flying Circus or movies like Meaning of Life, Life of Brian, Holy Grail, And Now for Something Completely Different etc.
Some texts and topics to consider include (but are not limited to):
- Non-Python collaborations such as Ripping Yarns, Do Not Adjust Your Set, At Last the 1948 Show, and Bert Fegg’s Nasty Book for Boys and Girls
- Fiction writing such as Jones’s Douglas Adams’s Starship Titanic, Idle’s Hello Sailor, and Palin’s Hemingway’s Chair
- Non-fiction writing such as Cleese’s Families and How to Survive Them and Jones’s Crusades
- Non-fiction work for television such as Jones’s “history” programs and Palin’s “travel” programs
- Illustrated books for children by Jones and Palin
- Work in theatre such as Idle’s Spamalot, Not the Messiah and What About Dick?, Jones’s Evil Machines, Chapman’s O Happy Day and Gilliam’s Faust.
- Audio works such as Cleese’s reading of The Screwtape Letters and Palin’s reading of his “travel” books
- Chapman’s A Liar’s Autobiography as book and animated documentary
- Films such as Erik the Viking, A Fish Called Wanda, All You Need is Cash and Yellowbeard
- Graphic novels such as Cleese’s Superman: True Brit
- Chapman’s 1988 tour of college campuses
- Acting work outside Monty Python such as John Cleese’s role as Q in the James Bond series and / or members’ work in animated films
- The influence of Jacques Tati on Terry Jones
- Sequential Art/Cartoons and Terry Gilliam
- Frank Zappa and Terry Gilliam
Please send a 500 word abstract and 250 word bio by December 1st to Lynn Whitfield at Lynn.whitfield@ttu.edu.
Notice of publication decision will occur by December 15th. Successful proposal authors will also receive formatting information at this time. Submitting an abstract does not guarantee final publication and neither does submitting a finished essay. These actions occur at the discretion of the editors.
Final essays will be due on March 5, 2015.