Ars Medica Volume 17, Issue 1 has now been published. We thank all our contributors and our dedicated readers for your continued interest in Ars Medica.
Have a wonderful summer,
The Editorial Team
Read more about Ars Medica Volume 17, Issue 1Medicine (broadly speaking) is argued to aim toward futures shaped by cure. Within this curative imaginary—the interpretive framework, practices, and disciplinary matrix that orient toward cure as the only rational possibility—disability is uncontroversially a problem to be solved and medical intervention is inevitable and desirable. Such an imaginary arguably structures the field of solid organ transplantation to a great degree, as transplant technologies are seen as a “bridge to the future,” an opportunity for a “second chance” at life, and a curative intervention for irremediable end-organ damage. But as much as solid organ transplantation is indebted to promises of a future cure, the central challenges that span this field undercut the seemingly straightforward relationship between transplant and cure. These include issues relating to waitlisting as well as adherence to complex post-transplant regimens, and challenges with long-term survivorship and the threat of graft failure. These issues and challenges reveal transplant medicine to also be a site of deep ambivalence and tension with respect to futurity and the possibility of having an “afterward” to transplant. Simultaneously, the contours of the curative imaginary are often part of the taken-for-granted aspects of daily routines and practices of biomedicine and not easily captured for analysis or critical reflection.
In this special issue of Ars Medica, we invite submissions of narrative, fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry, prose, visual art, soundscapes, and other digital art that draw out, reflect on, and interrogate frictional relations with cure that are embedded within the field of transplantation. The issue aims to consider what alternative futures might materialize when transplant medicine is brought into conversation with disability arts. Submissions might explore:
Submissions should be prepared in digital format (.docx) for review and sent to the attention of Kelly Fritsch and Suze Berkhout [chloe.wong.mers@gmail.com] by July 15, 2023. Details regarding submission preparation and general information about Ars Medica can be found at ars-medica.ca
Contributors will be paid according to CARFAC/Writer's Union Rates (subject to change, in accordance with CARFAC rates). CARFAC'S current fee schedule: https://carfac-raav.ca/2022-en/2022-en-2/.
Feel free to contact us with queries or ideas in advance of the deadline: chloe.wong.mers@gmail.com. We are committed to working within a universal design and accessibility framework.
Suze Berkhout, Kelly Fritsch, & Chloe Wong-Mersereau
Read more about Ars Medica Special Issue Call for Submissions: Frictions of Futurity, Curative Tensions, and Artistic Reimaginings of TransplantationAbout the Journal
Ars Medica is one of Canada’s first health humanities journals. Launched in 2004, we transitioned in 2014 to a web-only format. Ars Medica provides an online venue for dialogue, meaning-making, and the representation of experiences of the body, health, wellness, and encounters within the medical system. Content includes narratives from patients and health care workers, including fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and visual art. We also include sections on writing by and about children, international health, and other voices routinely silenced in the healthcare system.
