CALL FOR PAPERS 1/2026

Young Adult Literature and Culture: Contexts − Circulations − Reception

In recent years, the concept of young adult literature - long established in English-speaking countries - has become an immensely popular term in Poland and beyond, opening up multidirectional discussions about the book market, young people’s modes of cultural participation, reading trends, the literary quality of works aimed at young adults, and the age range of this readership.

Although titles labelled as young adult were already being published in Poland in the first decade of the 21^st century (Suzanne Collins, John Green, Stephenie Meyer), it is only in the last few years that YA novels have appeared in truly massive numbers, both Polish and translated, and not only from English. New genre variants have also emerged, such as hybrid romantasy. Publishers have been launching a growing number of YA imprints, including Prószyński Young (Prószyński i S-ka), We Need YA (Wydawnictwo Poznańskie), You&YA (MUZA), and Must Read (Media Rodzina). Equally dynamic are the strategies for popularising and promoting YA literature, as well as for engaging with its readership – above all through social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok. These online channels are increasingly used by publishers and libraries, as well as by bookfluencers, who strongly shape the reading choices of young adults and often belong to this age group themselves (their influence has contributed to the popularity in Poland of authors such as Adam Silvera, Erin Doom, Holly Black, Mona Kasten, Rebecca F. Kuang, as well as Polish authors including Weronika Ancerowicz, Weronika Marczak, and many others).

The YA phenomenon has drawn the attention of cultural commentators seeking to understand its popularity, as well as pedagogical circles (especially conservative-leaning ones) concerned about the life models and values promoted by novels originally published on Wattpad, such as Katarzyna Barlińska’s Hell trilogy or Weronika Marczak’s Rodzina Monet. At the same time, critics highlight YA literature’s openness to the authentic problems, experiences, and needs of young adults. A growing number of novels offer queer representation or address issues of broadly understood diversity, mental health, social injustice, and more.

Young adult, then, is far more than a literary category: it encompasses communities of young people and collectives formed around shared reading experiences; it is a rapidly expanding segment of the book market; and it refers to the ways in which young people communicate with one another online. Young adult is a participatory culture rooted in literature. We therefore invite reflections on this multifaceted cultural, social, and market phenomenon.

The research areas we propose - addressing both Polish and international perspectives - include:

• defining and redefining young adult from various angles, including market-based, sociological, psychological, etc.;
• criteria for classifying texts as YA - young adult as a convention vs young adult as a readership (generational issues: millennials, Gen Z, Generation Alpha); YA literature vs literature for adolescents;
• young adult vs new adult - controversies, misunderstandings, issues of reception;
• recurring schemes, motifs, and themes characteristic of YA literature; the phenomenon of “tropes” (enemies to lovers, love triangle, etc.);
• new genre variants (e.g. romantasy);
• reading trends, fashionable authors, and popular titles;
• the origins and history of YA literature;
• methodologies for studying YA literature and culture, along with proposed future directions;
• challenges in translating YA (taboo subjects and censorship, cultural distance, and ways of rendering it in translation);
• fascination with “Americanness” in YA literature and its reflection in authorial and translational strategies;
• young adult as a community of shared reading experiences and a platform for exchanging perspectives;
• young adult as a form of social sensitivity training;
• the phenomenon of Wattpad;
• the specificity and dynamics of the Polish YA book market from a comparative perspective (publishers, promotional strategies, book fairs, etc.);
• young adult in social media - BookTok, Bookstagram, vlogs, podcasts;
• adaptations and screen versions of YA literature;
• the reception of YA literature among adult readers.

The topics listed above do not, of course, exhaust the scope of the proposed issue; we also welcome themes formulated by contributors.

We also encourage the submission of texts unrelated to the special issue’s theme for the Talks, Varia, Essays, and Review Articles sections.

Submission deadline: May 4, 2026
Submit via the journal’s platform: https://www.journals.polon.uw.edu.pl/index.php/dlk