Essays are invited that explore the role of "difference" in constructions of illness and health. It is expected that the essays will vary in subject area and methodology. Literary, historical, and/or visual and cultural studies perspectives are especially encouraged. Possible subjects include multiculturalism/cross-culturalism in medicine, constructions of disability, stigma, explorations of racialized and/or gendered diagnoses and treatments, humanities perspectives on health disparities, patient or physician narratives in which otherness shapes medical identity, and cultural "competency." Manuscript length should be between 4,000 and 6,000 words of text. Completed essays, accompanied by a self-addressed envelope with sufficient return postage and the author's curriculum vitae, should be sent to the address below. Inquiries should be directed to the issue editors by e-mail.

All manuscripts should be submitted in triplicate, with text and notes typewritten and double-spaced, and prepared according to the Chicago Manual of Style, 14th edition. Literature and Medicine is a peer-reviewed journal. Author's names should appear only on a cover sheet and all identifiers in the text should be masked so that manuscripts can be reviewed anonymously. Literature and Medicine reviews only unpublished manuscripts that are not simultaneously under review for publication elsewhere. For more information about the journal, see the website listed below.

Deadline for submissions: January 15, 2003