Postcolonial Literatures and Arts is a peer-reviewed journal devoted to the criticism of English-speaking postcolonial literatures and arts. Its first issue, dated 2023, takes up and continues under another name the journal Commonwealth Essays and Studies, published for the first time in 1975 by the Société Française d’Études du Commonwealth (created in 1971), which became in 2021 the Société des Études Postcoloniales (SEPC). All issues of the journal under the title Commonwealth Essays and Studies are available digitally, with open access, on the Persée platform for issues published between 1975 and 1999, and on the OpenEdition portal for those published between 2000 and 2022 <https://journals.openedition.org/ces/&gt;.

The evolution of the journal’s title (and of the society that runs it) reflects the conceptual shift from Commonwealth studies to postcolonial studies, and the current interest in the effects of globalisation on English-language literature. The transition from print to electronic publication in 2019 has enabled the journal to maintain its status as a valued international contribution to the field of English-language literature studies.

Postcolonial Literatures and Arts is published twice a year, only in English. One issue out of two is devoted to communications from the annual thematic workshop of the Societé des Anglicistes de l’Enseignement Supérieur (SAES); it is guest-edited by the workshop president/s. The other annual issue offers a more specialized subject, or is devoted to an author honored by literary news (Nobel Prize in Literature for example); in all cases, international specialists are invited to contribute. The articles published are original. Each issue also includes reviews of critical and theoretical works, and sometimes interviews on literary subjects. Thus, the editorial policy of this international journal is both to publicize the work of French researchers abroad (SAES issue) and to stimulate international collaborations (special issues).

The current editor-in-chief of Postcolonial Literatures and Arts is Kerry-Jane Wallart (University of Orléans). The editorial committees are elected by the general assembly of SEPC members which meets once a year in the autumn, during the SAES days. Terms of office are limited to six years, renewable if necessary. The eligibility criteria are as follows: be a member of the SEPC and have experience as a member of the reading committee for at least two years. The Reading Committee and the International Scientific Committee are open bodies (their members are not limited in number) and diverse: researchers, teacher-researchers, and authors who regularly participate in the evaluation process of articles submitted for publication are invited to become members of the Reading Committee (for colleagues from French institutions) or the International Scientific Committee (for international colleagues), with the aim of representing the diversity of the field of study of postcolonial literatures, arts and cultures. Members leave committees when they no longer wish to participate in evaluation activities.

Advice to contributors:

Postcolonial Literatures and Arts is a peer-reviewed scholarly journal devoted to the study of postcolonial literatures and arts. It is published twice a year by the French Society for Postcolonial Studies (Société des Études Postcoloniales / SEPC). We welcome submissions of previously unpublished articles, interviews, and reviews on literary and artistic topics relating to any area of postcolonial cultures in English. Translations are to be provided for citations in languages other than English. Submissions, which should not exceed 6,000 words or 36,000 signs (including explanatory notes and works cited), should follow the Chicago Style and the stylesheet of the journal, which is available online.

The journal also welcomes proposals for special issues, in particular those based on an international collaboration between a member of the SEPC and another or several other scholar(s).

Please submit an electronic copy of your essay or your proposal for a special issue by e-mail attachment to the editor < kerry-jane.wallart@univ-orleans.fr >. Submissions for essays should include the author’s name, affiliation (student standing if applicable), a short abstract of your essay (50-70 words), and a brief bio-bibliographical note (50-70 words). Submissions for special issues should include the editors’ names, affiliations, and an abstract of the proposal, along with a tentative table of contents, should it be available. All works must be received in electronic format. 

All submissions are double-blind peer-reviewed. Decisions regarding submissions can be expected by e-mail within three months.

Advice for Potential Contributors to Commonwealth Essays and Studies available here.

Metrics can be consulted here (scroll down to « revue ces »).

Printed edition: ISSN 0395-6989

Online edition: ISSN 2534-6695

Editorial Committee of Commonwealth Essays and Studies / Comité éditorial:

Editorial director: Christine Lorre (U. de Caen Normandie)

Editor: Kerry-Jane Wallart (U. d’Orléans)

Associate editor: Kathie Birat (U. de Lorraine)

Advisory editor: Claire Omhovère (Paul Valéry U. – Montpellier)

Review co-editors: Manon Boukhroufa-Trijaud (Sorbonne U.), Jaine Chemmachery (Sorbonne U.), Cédric Courtois (U. of Lille), Anne-Sophie Letessier (U. Jean Monnet – Saint-Etienne), and Sandrine Soukaï (U. Gustave Eiffel)

Editorial Board / Comité de lecture:

Sandeep Bakshi (U. of Paris)

Claire Bazin (U. Paris-Nanterre)

Salhia Ben-Messahel (U. of Toulon)

Corinne Bigot (U. of Toulouse – Jean Jaurès)

Marilyne Brun (U. de Lorraine)

Florence Cabaret (U. of Rouen)

Anne Castaing (CNRS)

André Dodeman (U. Grenoble Alpes)

Christiane Fioupou (U. of Toulouse – Jean Jaurès)

Claire Gallien (U. Paul Valéry – Montpellier 3)

Cécile Girardin (U. Paris 13)

Vanessa Guignery (ENS Lyon)

Mélanie Joseph-Vilain (U. of Dijon)

Claire Joubert (U. Paris 8 – Vincennes-Saint-Denis)

Françoise Kral (U. Paris – Nanterre)

Florence Labaune-Demeule (U. Lyon 3 – Jean Moulin)

Judith Misrahi-Barak (Paul Valéry U. – Montpellier)

Catherine Pesso-Miquel (U. Lumière – Lyon 2)

Alexandra Poulain (Sorbonne Nouvelle)

Mathilde Rogez (U. of Toulouse – Jean Jaurès)

Sneharika Roy (The American U. of Paris)

Richard Samin (U. of Lorraine)

Alexis Tadié (Sorbonne U.)

Christine Vandamme (U. Grenoble Alpes)

Kerry-Jane Wallart (U. of Orléans)

Laetitia Zecchini (CNRS/THALIM)

Pascal Zinck (U. Paris 13)

International Advisory Board / Comité de lecture international:

Maria-Sabina Draga Alexandru (U. of Bucharest)

Diana Brydon (U. of Manitoba, Canada)

Estelle Castro (James Cook U., Australia)

Alistair Fox (U. of Otago, New Zealand)

Michelle Keown (U. of Edinburgh, UK)

Neil ten Kortenaar (U. of Toronto, Canada)

Bénédicte Ledent (U. of Liège, Belgium)

Laura Moss (U. of British Columbia, Canada)

Vassilena Parashkevova (U. of Surrey)

Andrea Robin Ruthven (U. of Cantabria, Spain)

Paul Sharrad (U. of Wollongong, Australia)

John Thieme (U. of East Anglia, UK)

Mark Williams (Victoria U. of Wellington, New Zealand)

Janet Wilson (U. of Northampton, UK)