Book Manuscript Workshop

The Society for French Historical Studies seeks to support scholars in the completion of book manuscripts for publication at transformational moments in their careers. To that end, we invite historians of France and the francophone world with a manuscript that is at least 50% complete to apply. The Society may select more than one manuscript for workshopping at each annual conference, depending on submissions and resources.

The Society will solicit two to three commenters for accepted manuscripts, in consultation with the author of the manuscript. Commenters may include scholars with methodological affinities as well as topical expertise. We thereby hope to enable scholars to broaden their reflections on the significance of their work through temporal and geographical comparison. At the same time, this breadth would avoid replicating the peer review process of academic presses.

The workshop will take place at the SFHS annual conference. Sessions will be scheduled to last for two to three hours, at a time immediately before, during, or immediately after the conference that is mutually convenient for the author and commenters. The Society will provide a quiet space for the group to meet and will supply refreshments. Under certain circumstances, the Society may also be able to subsidize one night of lodging for the author and/or the commenters.

Eligibility: Topics related to France and the francophone world. This opportunity is limited to scholars who do not have institutional support for a manuscript workshop. Applicants must have 50% of the manuscript completed.

Application Process: Submit a two-page book proposal and CV to sfhs.ms.workshop@gmail.com. The 2024 submission deadline has passed. Please check back again in the fall for the 2025 deadline.