[ecrea] CFP The Films of John Hughes (Refocus series)

CFP: /The Films of John Hughes/ (Refocus Series)

*Series Editors: *Gary D Rhodes, Robert Singer

*Editors:*Timothy Shary, Frances Smith

The films of writer, director, and producer, John Hughes, have enjoyed 
popular and critical success. With /Sixteen Candles /(1984)/, The 
Breakfast Club /(1985)/, Weird Science /(1985),/Ferris Bueller’s Day Off 
/(1986),//and /Pretty in Pink / (1986), Hughes portrayed mercurial 
suburban adolescence in America. In doing so, he was responsible for 
bringing to the fore a whole new troupe of actors, dubbed The Brat Pack, 
which included Molly Ringwald, Matthew Broderick, Emilio Estevez, and 
Andrew McCarthy. Despite the lasting success of Hughes’ teen output, it 
was his move into mainstream comedy that secured his greatest commercial 
successes with hits like /Planes, Trains and Automobiles/ (1987)/, Uncle 
Buck /(1989), /Home Alone /(Chris Columbus, 1990), and /101 Dalmatians/ 
(Stephen Herek, 1996).

Since Hughes’ death in 2009, there has been a growing appreciation of 
his work, and particularly of his teen output. Contemporary nostalgia 
for the 1980s has played a role, in works such as /Easy A /(Will Gluck, 
2010), /Pitch Perfect /(Jason Moore, 2012), /The Edge of Seventeen/ 
(Kelly Fremon Craig,2016), and /Permanent/ (Collette Burson, 2017). Yet 
Hughes also deserves to be considered as an independent filmmaker, who 
eschewed the calls of Hollywood to film in his native Midwest 
(particularly Chicago). To be sure, Hughes’ films remain relevant and 
are well remembered. However, despite his popular appreciation and the 
sporadic commentary about his movies, there has to date been no 
scholarly volume dedicated to the discussion of his work as a whole.

This anthology seeks to address this gap in scholarship, and will be 
published by Edinburgh University Press in 2019 as part of the /Refocus/ 
series, which has included books on Amy Heckerling, Delmer Daves, and 
Preston Sturges. Edited by Dr. Gary D Rhodes and Dr. Robert Singer, this 
series is dedicated to examining the work of overlooked filmmakers. We 
are seeking proposals of 500 words, plus a biography of 100 words, for 
essays to be included in the book. Completed essays should be between 
6500 and 8000 words and follow the Chicago endnote referencing style. We 
are open to proposals on all aspects of John Hughes’ work. Essays may 
focus on individual works, or on recurrent themes throughout his oeuvre.

Contributions are particularly welcome, but by no means limited to, the 
following areas:

• Hughes and teen cinema

• The American family in Hughes’ films

• His early work for /National Lampoon/ movies and TV shows (1979-1985)

• Analysis of individual films (1980-2008)

• Gender and teen comedy

• Topics of class, race, sexuality, or gender across Hughes’ films

• Analyses of individual star performances in his films, e.g.: John 
Candy, Macaulay Culkin, Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall

• Hughes’ eight films as director (1984-1991)

• The aesthetic style of Hughes’ work, as writer and/or director

• Hughes as Hollywood producer of family comedies, e.g.: /She’s Having a 
Baby/ (1988), /Dutch/ (1991), /Dennis the Menace/ (1993), /Flubber/ (1997)

• Midwest geography and culture in his stories

• Use of music in his films, particularly pop hits

• His writing as alter ego Edmond Dantés, including /Beethoven/ (1992), 
/Maid in Manhattan/ (2002), and /Drillbit Taylor/ (2008)

• Anything connecting his essentially secluded personal life to his work

Proposals should be sent to (refocusjohnhughes /at/ gmail.com) 
<mailto:(refocusjohnhughes /at/ gmail.com)>by _December 31, 2017_. Both editors 
will review all proposals and respond by January 31, 2018. If 
successful, essays will need to be completed by _September 30, 2018_. 
Please send any enquiries to (refocusjohnhughes /at/ gmail.com) 
<mailto:(refocusjohnhughes /at/ gmail.com)>.

With best regards,

Frances Smith and Timothy Shary


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