Anthology of Essays on Nonkilling Literature

1. Concept

Deliberate killing is widespread globally and manifests itself in various forms (e.g., suicides, homicides, capital punishment, terrorism, wars, genocides). Moreover, the implications compound as the reality and possibility of taking human life is a “source and sustainer of other forms of violence” (Paige 9).

Unlike its counterpart, nonkilling inherently contributes to nonviolence and peace (Bhaneja, Peace Portraits 40-1). Despite the existence of individuals who believe killing is natural, inevitable, and acceptable (Sponsel 269-74), this tangible, quantifiable, and unambiguous phenomenon, terminologically coined by American political scientist and founder of the Center for Global Nonkilling (CGNK), Glenn D. Paige (1929-2017), is both conceivable (see Nonkilling Global Political Science) and has proven prevalent over space and time as demonstrated by cross-disciplinary research (see Towards a Nonkilling Paradigm).

In fact, more than the complementary paradigms of nonviolence or peace, Paige’s innovative nonkilling offers a concrete vision and measurable direction towards achieving a just and killing-free world (Bhaneja, Peace Portraits 40-41). Such a world, one “in which everyone has the right not to be killed and responsibility not to kill others,” according to Principle 13 of the 2007 Nobel Peace Laureates’ Charter for a World Without Violence, is also free of the consequences of killing.

A nonkilling society reveres human life and values and protects its sanctity (Bhaneja, “Aspects;” “Epilogue” 324). As Paige describes a nonkilling society,

It is a human community, smallest to largest, local to global, characterized by no killing of humans and no threats to kill; no weapons designed to kill humans and no justifications for using them; and no conditions of society dependent upon threat or use of killing force for maintenance or change. (21)

Simply put, it is one committed to the achievement of zero killing (Bhaneja, “Epilogue” 322), which requires “chang[ing] conditions conducive to lethality” (Paige 77). This nonkilling paradigm necessitates praxis in the Freirean sense of “reflection and action upon the world in order to transform it” (33).

A nonkilling society is supported and legitimized by a nonkilling culture, one that is universal, or in the words engraved on Paige’s memorial, that “crosses all the lines” (Bhaneja, Peace Portraits 58), transcending gender, race, religion, nationality, etc., raising us from tribalism to opening our hearts and minds in the broadest sense. 

It has already been argued elsewhere that a nonkilling world can be achieved via nonkilling research, policy, action, and education aimed at both preventing and reducing, if not altogether eliminating, deliberate killing at all levels from micro to macro (Bhaneja, Peace Portraits; Pim 15). Paige also highlights the important, transformative role of the arts, with their ability to “uplift the human spirit and imagination” (123), in contributing to nonkilling cultures (96). Nonkilling art, specifically as Paige states, “explores the spirit and practice of how to prevent, respond to, and to improve individual, social, and global well-being beyond killing” (Bhaneja, NKARC Letter, Sept. 2015 10).

Intending to build off the central question, Is nonkilling literature possible?, addressed previously by Balwant (Bill) Bhaneja in his article “Aspects of Nonkilling Literature” and through the Nonkilling Arts Research Committee (NKARC) newsletters (https://nonkilling.org/center/publications-media/nonkilling-arts/) he curated for the CGNK for over a decade (2012-2022), this modest collection of original essays on nonkilling works aims to clarify what makes nonkilling literature (i.e. nonkilling nonfiction and nonkilling fiction) a genre in itself and its subsets and, thereby, show that nonkilling literature also has a role to play in the necessarily creative and open-ended endeavor that is nonkilling.

Through each thought-provoking and heart-stirring piece, the reader should expect to discover the “principled nonkilling spirit” (Bhaneja, “Aspects”) within the artists who work intentionally or unintentionally “to hold mirror to us on what brings killing and nonkilling, and move us to contemplate on possibilities of transformation” (Bhaneja, NKARC Letter, Feb. 2014 1).

In search of parameters of nonkilling literature, Bhaneja reports a discussion with Paige about the four-part logic of nonkilling political analysis he suggests could be applied to arts (NKARC Letter, Apr. 2016 1). Paige’s typology emphasizes an understanding of the causes, conditions, and consequences of killing, nonkilling, and transitions between the two, as well as characteristics of nonkilling societies (73). This allows for ample imagination, creation, identification, analysis, recognition, and promotion of works with a nonkilling ethic, something Bhaneja advocates for (“Aspects”), and these unique essays strive to showcase.

This anthology, the first intentionally devoted to nonkilling literature, strives to recognize the primacy of existence, deepen our understanding of (non)killing, and call for a paradigm shift to “replace the assumption of lethal inescapability with the premise of nonkilling potentiality” (Pim 21) in a way never done before. “Nonkilling is the measure of human progress” (Paige, CGNK), and the emergence of this new literary genre and its field of inquiry heralds another promising advancement in that direction. Thank you for joining this movement!

2. Works Cited

Bhaneja, Balwant. “Aspects of Nonkilling Literature.” Humanising Language Teaching vol. 23, no. 5, Oct. 2021. https://www.hltmag.co.uk/oct21/aspects-of-nonkilling-literature.

______. “Epilogue: The Scientific Nature of Nonkilling Movement.” Give Nonkilling a Chance: Are Nonkilling Societies Possible? edited by Anoop Swarup, Konark Publishers, 2019, pp. 321-32.

______. Nonkilling Arts Research Committee [NKARC] Letter Feb. 2014. https://nonkilling.org/center/publications-media/nonkilling-arts/.

______. Nonkilling Arts Research Committee [NKARC] Letter Sept. 2015. https://nonkilling.org/center/publications-media/nonkilling-arts/.

______. Nonkilling Arts Research Committee [NKARC] Letter Apr. 2016. https://nonkilling.org/center/publications-media/nonkilling-arts/.

______. Nonkilling Arts Research Committee [NKARC] Letter July 2016. https://nonkilling.org/center/publications-media/nonkilling-arts/.

______. Peace Portraits: Pathways to Nonkilling - A Memoir. Creighton University & Center for Global Nonkilling, 2022.

Center for Global Nonkilling [CGNK], 2025. https://nonkilling.org/center/.

Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Penguin Books, 1970.

Nobel Laureates for Peace. Charter for a World Without Violence. Rome: 8th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, 15 Dec. 2007.

Paige, Glenn D. Nonkilling Global Political Science. Center for Global Nonkilling, 2009.

Pim, Joám Evans, editor. Towards a Nonkilling Paradigm. Center for Global Nonkilling, 2009.

Sponsel, Leslie E. “One Anthropologist’s Answer to Glenn D. Paige’s Question Challenging Peace Studies.” Journal of Peace Education, vol. 15, no. 3, 2018, pp. 267-87. https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/cjpe20/15/3.

Note: All published CGNK materials are available free on the organization’s website. For those new to the nonkilling community and/or the intersection between literature and the nonkilling paradigm, the Nonkilling Arts Research Committee [NKARC] Letter and “Aspects of Nonkilling Literature” are recommended reading.

3. Categories

●       PART 1: Essays on Nonkilling Fiction

○       Nonkilling poetry

○       Nonkilling novels

○       Nonkilling short stories

○       Nonkilling tales

○       Nonkilling drama/theater

○       Nonkilling comics

●       PART II: Essays on Nonkilling Non-fiction

○       Nonkilling (auto)biographies/memoirs

○       Nonkilling historical accounts

...

4. Essay Format

●       Editable doc (Word, Google) file: A4 paper, 2.5 cm/1 inch margins

●       Title (Times New Roman, 14 point, maximum 10 words, centered)

●       By Name, Affiliation (Times New Roman, 12 point, centered)

●       Section headings (Times New Roman, 12 point, bold, numbered sequentially, left-justified)

●       Manuscript body (Times New Roman, 12 point, single-spaced, justified)

○       Introduction

○       Body

○       Discussion

○       Conclusion

○    Works Cited

●      Word count: 3,000-5,000 words excluding Works Cited

●   Style: MLA 9th ( https://libraryguides.mcgill.ca/ld.php?content_id=37556597 ; https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_in_text_citations_the_basics.html )

●       Back matter/Cover letter contents:

○       Category (nonkilling nonfiction, nonkilling fiction)

○   Abstract (250 words)

○       Key words (for indexing) (maximum 5)

○       Bio (50 words, 3rd person, email)

5. Expression of Interest and Submission

●   To express your interest in submission, please send an email by 15 November 2025.

●   Please submit your draft essay by email by 31 January 2026. 

●   Emails including the subject line “Anthology of Nonkilling Literature” should be sent to:

○   Jocelyn Wright, Professor of English Language and Literature, Mokpo National University, jocelynmnu@yahoo.com and

○   Balwant (Bill) Bhaneja, Senior Advisor, Center for Global Nonkilling, billbhaneja@rogers.com 

www.nonkilling.org