We welcome reviews of recent fiction, poetry, non-fiction books in the field of Caribbean literature. Queries may be directed to cornel_bogle@sfu.ca. Presses may send books for review to the JWIL Book Reviews Editor at:
Cornel Bogle, PhD
Assistant Professor
SFU Department of English
8888 University Drive, AQ 6129
Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6
Canada
General Guidelines for Book Reviews
Reviews should generally be submitted 6-8 weeks after you receive the book. If this time period is unrealistic for your own schedule, please communicate this to the Reviews Editor. The book is yours once you submit a review.
Format for reviews
Please use Baskerville 12 point font, double spaced. Book review headings should appear as follows: author(s), title, publisher, date of publication, total number of pages. Please separate preliminary pages from main text pages, e.g. xii + 250 pp.
In your first reference, refer to author by given name(s) or initials, and subsequently by surname. Please avoid using titles and honorifics (Prof., Dr., Sir). When using quotations, page references should be in parentheses. Please use endnotes instead of footnotes. If you refer to another work, please include a Works Cited list with the full bibliographical data conforming to the MLA Handbook, 9th Ed. Please also see JWIL’s “House Style” guidelines for additional instructions.
To avoid delays, please submit attachments as Microsoft Word Files or RTF (rich text format) only. PDF files will NOT be accepted.
Word Limit
For reviews of literary texts – no longer than 1,000 words.
For reviews of critical, biographical and theoretical studies – no longer than 1,500 words.
Content
Reviews of creative works should give some overview of the text—context, story, themes, how it fits into the author’s oeuvre. Reviews of critical, theoretical or biographical studies should contain three types of information: an overview, an evaluation and a recommendation. In evaluating the work, please summarize the argument and mention the features that make the work distinctive. You should also say something brief about the author(s) and what expertise is brought to the subject. It would be useful to provide a description of the scholarly field and overview of the major discourses with which the text engages. For reviews of edited collections, please summarize the essays that make up the collection or at least a sample from each section.
- Say what are the work’s strengths, its weaknesses and its omissions.
- Do not structure your review as a chapter by chapter analysis. Instead, focus on the book as a whole, taking care to highlight particular aspects that illustrate your points.
- Relate the work under review to others dealing with the same topic.
- Where works are illustrated, comment on the clarity and relevance of these illustrations.
- If relevant, indicate the target reader to whom the work would appeal.
- At the end of your review, please indicate your full name and affiliation.
We thank you very much for your willingness to review a book and for your interest in the Journal of West Indian Literature (JWIL). Queries may be directed to the JWIL Book Reviews Editor at cornel_bogle@sfu.ca
