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Announcing the Next IAFA President

It is my great pleasure to announce the election of the next President of the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts: Dr. Pawel Frelik.

A two-term Division Head of the IAFA, Paweł Frelik is Associate Professor and the Leader of Speculative Texts and Media Research Group at the American Studies Center, University of Warsaw, Poland. His teaching and research interests include science fiction, speculative visualities, and video games. He has published widely in these fields, serves on the boards of Science Fiction Studies (USA), Extrapolation (USA/UK), and Journal of Gaming and Virtual Worlds (UK), and is the co- editor of the New Dimensions in Science Fiction book series at the University of Wales Press. In 2013-2014, he was President of the Science Fiction Research Association, the first in the organization’s history from outside North America. In 2017, he was the first non-Anglophone recipient of the Thomas D. Clareson Award. Within IAFA, he has served as Science Fiction Division Head since 2017. Dr. Frelik will assume the presidency at the end of the 43rd ICFA in March.

Congratulations, Pawel!

Dale Knickerbocker
IAFA President

ICFA 43 FLASH PLAY FESTIVAL #6: Call for Plays

The Flash Plays will once again manifest in the Capri lounge at the Marriott Orlando Airport Lakeside! We invite you to submit your play for joyful consideration.

Here are the 2022 “given circumstances” to challenge you to theatrical creative heights:

No more than TEN pages

No more than THREE characters

Include one of the following props:

THE FEATHERS OF THE GOLDEN GOOSE

RODNEY THE FRIENDLY ROBOT

A SACK FULL OF DOLL HEADS

…and include the following line of dialogue

“Time has lost all meaning”

Flash plays should be submitted via email to kelli.shermeyer@gmail.com by March 1th.

The Flash Play performances are Friday, March 18th at 9:45pm.

And if you’re interested in joining the Flash Players on stage, please let us know!

—
Kelli Shermeyer, Ph.D. (she/her/hers)

Announcing Fix’s Second Annual Imagine 2200 Climate Fiction Contest

 


No fee, $8,700 prizes and publication from Fix, Grist’s solutions lab

Fix opens submissions for Imagine 2200 climate fiction contest

 

Submissions are now being accepted for Imagine 2200: Climate Fiction for Future Ancestors, the annual climate fiction contest from Fix, Grist’s solutions lab. There is no fee to enter. Submit your short story by May 5, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. PST.

 

Imagine 2200 seeks original short stories of 3,000 to 5,000 words that envision the next 180 years of clean, green, and just futures. Judges include Hugo Award-winning writer Arkady Martine, esteemed editor and author Sheree Reneé Thomas, and professor Grace L. Dillon, who coined the term “Indigenous futurism.” Imagine 2200 draws inspiration from Afrofuturism, as well as Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, disabled, feminist, and queer futures, and the genres of hopepunk and solarpunk.

 

While we’re looking for hopeful stories, we also don’t expect you to be overly optimistic or naive. One hundred and eighty years of equitable climate progress will require hard work, struggle, and adaptation, and we invite you to show those as well.

 

In addition, we’re especially interested in cultural authenticity (a deep sense of place, customs, cuisine, and more), rich characters with intersecting identities, and stories that challenge the status quo in which wealth and power are built on extraction, oppression, and violence.

 

The top three winners will be awarded $3,000, $2,000, and $1,000 respectively, and nine finalists will receive a $300 honorarium. Those 12 authors will be published in an immersive digital collection this fall. Conjure your wildest dreams for society — all the justice, resilience, and abundance you can imagine — and put those dreams on paper.

 

There’s no fee to enter, so if you’re ready to get writing, you can find our submissions portal here. If you’d like to get in touch, you can reach us at imaginefiction@grist.org.

 

About Grist

 

Grist is a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Our goal is to use the power of storytelling to illuminate the way toward a better world, inspire millions of people to walk that path with us, and show that the time for action is now.

 

Fix, Grist’s solutions lab, amplifies bold, equitable ideas for our climate future, and the people working towards them, in an effort to shift the climate narrative toward possibility. Through creative storytelling, network-building, and events, Fix explores the paths to a clean, green, just future, and brings together a growing community of climate visionaries — we call them Fixers — who are leading the way to a planet that works for everyone.

Reminder: Call for Applications: IAFA On-Site Technical Officer

Call for Applications: IAFA On-Site Technical Officer

The IAFA requests applications for individuals interested in becoming our On-Site Technical Officer. The person who occupies this position is responsible for all technology use for and at ICFA. This includes purchasing audio visual equipment, setting up and tearing down projectors/screens in the break out rooms, liaising with the Book Room coordinator for A/V storage, and liaising with hotel personnel for events that require equipment we don’t own. The duties usually run from Tuesday afternoon through Sunday morning and compensation is provided for the extra hotel nights needed. The Tech Officer also manages a team of volunteers who provide assistance for presenters who need help with the equipment throughout the conference. Although experience with tech is a plus, most of the necessary knowledge can be learned quickly. While occasionally the Tech Officer may miss a session or two to perform required duties, the Tech Officer generally can enjoy the majority of the conference as a regular attendee. The Tech Officer is appointed by the President, after formal discussion and majority vote of the other elected officers. The position is not subject to term limits, but appointments will be reviewed annually.

To apply, please send a letter of application explaining why you are interested in volunteering for this position, describing your familiarity with the IAFA and the ICFA, and containing information about whatever technological knowledge and experience you possess that you feel may be useful, along with a current CV to IAFA President Dale Knickerbocker at knickerbockerd@ecu.edu by Feb. 7.

Call for Applications: IAFA Conference Assistants

IAFA seeks to fill two or three positions for Conference Assistants

Running ICFA is a lot of work—so much so that if only one or two people are in charge of running the conference, those people inevitably get to enjoy very little of the actual conference. In an effort to spread the workload a bit—and to get more people trained on conference management—IAFA has decided to create a team to work with the Conference Director on organizing and running ICFA. We seek two candidates but will consider three, if there is enough interest and energy. Ideally, candidates will work as a team during the year (with regular zoom meetings) to prepare for the conference, interacting with the hotel, for example, and liaising with the board officers in charge of scheduling; at the conference, each candidate will be “Conference Person in charge for a day” over the three busy days of the conference (Thurs, Fri, Sat), freeing up the others to enjoy the conference on the days they are not in charge. Appointments are for one year and are renewable.

Interest in the future of IAFA is required.

Experience with meeting planning is a plus but not required.

Experience attending ICFA a few times is a plus but not required.

The flexibility to arrive on Tuesday before the conference and/or stay until the Monday after the conference is also a plus but not required.

What is required:

>ability to put in about 30-50 hours throughout the calendar year and to work for a portion of the conference, including at least one of the three major meal functions

>flexibility: an ability to adjust to changing circumstances and to think quickly

>stamina and a certain amount of strength: lifting, moving, and shifting stuff is often required

>above average attention to detail

In recognition of the sacrifice of time enjoying the conference this work will entail, conference assistants will receive:

>One night’s stay in the hotel will be covered by IAFA as compensation for the day spent working as Conference Person in Charge

>Another night’s stay in the hotel will be covered by IAFA if the assistant is asked to come a day early or stay a day late; two nights if both.

>50% discount on ICFA Registration

>A meal ticket to any food function at which the assistant is working

A sampling of the duties:

Work with hotel: review guest room lists; determine which meeting rooms are scheduled, when and how they are set, and review the Event Orders for accuracy; determine menus for functions and accommodate special dietary needs; check the meeting rooms every morning; monitor coffee breaks; check tickets at food functions.

Work with First VP: ensure that session rooms are scheduled in alignment with the space we have contractually reserved.

Work with Registration Coordinator: keep track of food ticket sales in order to guarantee number of meals to hotel; organize place cards for reserved tables.

Work with Book Room Coordinator: ensure sufficient numbers of books for meal functions; help put books on meal tables

Work with the president: ensure that organization meetings are scheduled (such as Board meeting, Division Head meeting, JFA meeting) at appropriate times and that we have head counts for them.

Interested candidates: please submit cover letter detailing any relevant experience and CV or resume to Jeri Zulli, Conference Director, iafa.confchair@fantastic-arts.org, by February 4, 2022.

ICFA 43 Updates

ICFA 43: Fantastic Communities

When: March 16–19, 2022

Where: Marriott Orlando Airport Hotel, Orlando, Florida, USA

Guest Scholar: Farah Mendlesohn

Guest Author: Nisi Shawl

News:

Early registration will be extended until January 22nd this year!

Event details:

Membership and registration gateway: https://www.fantastic-arts.org/mnrgateway/

Cost: Regular member early registration is $110; it goes up to $135 on January 22, 2022; then up again to $165 on February 8. Students, there is no early registration fee break for you. Use the “normal” registration fee of $55, which goes up to $110 on February 8. Please note that the Friday Guest Scholar lunch is included with your registration fee. Those presenting must be IAFA members, which costs $85 for North American individual, $90 for international individual, and $60 for student individual.

Hotel Group Rate: Book your room by January 31st to take advantage of our rate.

Do you have an “overpayment” credit? (The system will tell you after you log in) Follow these steps to apply it to your registration or membership:

Step 1: After you enter your registration or membership information, continue to Payment
Step 2: Click “Pay Online” and then “Cancel”
Step 3: Click “View Profile” in the upper corner of the screen
Step 4: Select “Invoices and Payments”
Step 5: If you have a credit, there will be a yellow bar that says your remaining balance due after the credit is applied. Click “Settle” in that box and choose your open invoice to apply the credit to it.

Problems logging in? If the system fails to recognize your name/e-mail combination, don’t create a new profile. STOP and e-mail me. I can update your info.

Are you a joint membership holder? The joint membership administrator first must pay the IAFA membership fee through her own account. Then each person must log in individually and sign up for the conference. It’s best if the admin doesn’t do this through her account because the system populates the sign-up form, and it will mess up individual preferences, like division membership or dietary needs. If you want everything on one invoice, then generate invoices for each transaction (joint membership; individual conference attendance). Then STOP. Email me the invoice numbers and I will contact you with directions on how to pay with one transaction.

Looking forward to seeing you in Orlando!

Emily Midkiff, ICFA Registrar (iafareg@gmail.com)

Call for Applications: IAFA On-Site Technical Officer

Call for Applications: IAFA On-Site Technical Officer

The IAFA requests applications for individuals interested in becoming our On-Site Technical Officer. The person who occupies this position is responsible for all technology use for and at ICFA. This includes purchasing audio visual equipment, setting up and tearing down projectors/screens in the break out rooms, liaising with the Book Room coordinator for A/V storage, and liaising with hotel personnel for events that require equipment we don’t own. The duties usually run from Tuesday afternoon through Sunday morning and compensation is provided for the extra hotel nights needed. The Tech Officer also manages a team of volunteers who provide assistance for presenters who need help with the equipment throughout the conference. Although experience with tech is a plus, most of the necessary knowledge can be learned quickly. While occasionally the Tech Officer may miss a session or two to perform required duties, the Tech Officer generally can enjoy the majority of the conference as a regular attendee. The Tech Officer is appointed by the President, after formal discussion and majority vote of the other elected officers. The position is not subject to term limits, but appointments will be reviewed annually.

To apply, please send a letter of application explaining why you are interested in volunteering for this position, describing your familiarity with the IAFA and the ICFA, and containing information about whatever technological knowledge and experience you possess that you feel may be useful, along with a current CV to IAFA President Dale Knickerbocker at knickerbockerd@ecu.edu by Jan 21. The IAFA hopes to make an appointment by Feb. 7.

ICFA 43 Updates

ICFA Program

Because we extended the deadline for submissions, everything else also got pushed back a little including sending out acceptance letters and drafting the program. Unfortunately, there were some portal issues that delayed our progress even more. We are planning to have an entire draft of the program out to you all in early January. If you have not already heard from your division head, you will shortly. We are sorry for any inconvenience and thank you for your patience while we work things out. -Valorie Ebert, 1st Vice President

Travel Subventions

The IAFA Board is thrilled to renew its practice of providing travel subventions for students and other scholars who do not receive institutional funding. These are apportioned as follows:

2 scholars: one international (non-U.S.) at $700, one U.S. resident at $300.*

2 students: one international $700, one U.S. resident at $300.*

*U.S. residents living outside may receive a slight differential at the Board’s discretion due to higher air fares.

The selections will be made by the President in a blind draw, witnessed. To apply, please go to https://www.fantastic-arts.org/icfa-subvention-application/. Applications due by 15 January 2022.

Using Credits from 2020

To use your credit for registration or membership renewal, follow these steps:

Step 1: After you sign in and select the option to register/renew your membership, continue to Payment

Step 2: Click “Pay Online” and then “Cancel”

Step 3: Click “View Profile” in the upper corner of the screen

Step 4: Select “Invoices and Payments”

Step 5: There will be a yellow bar that says your remaining balance due after the credit is applied. Click “Settle” in that box and choose your open invoice to apply the credit to it.

ICFA 43 Travel Subventions

Dear ICFA Attendees:

The IAFA Board is thrilled to renew its practice of providing travel subventions for students and other scholars who do not receive institutional funding. These are apportioned as follows:

2 scholars: one international (non-U.S.) at $700, one U.S. resident at $300.*

2 students: one international $700, one U.S. resident at $300.*

*U.S. residents living outside may receive a slight differential at the Board’s discretion due to higher air fares.

The selections will be made by the President in a blind draw, witnessed.

To apply, please go to https://www.fantastic-arts.org/icfa-subvention-application/. Applications due by 15 January 2022.

We look forward to seeing you! And may the odds be ever in your favor.

Sincerely,

Dale Knickerbocker, IAFA President

Brian Attebery wins World Fantasy Award

Dear IAFA Community:

It is with great pride and pleasure that the IAFA announces that our own Brian Attebery has won a World Fantasy Award in the category “Special Award – Non-Professional” for his 16 years at the helm of the JFA! On behalf of all of us, congratulations Brian, and thank you for all you’ve done.

Following are his acceptance comments given in absentia:

I’ve always thought that fans and academics are natural allies, but I never expected to have an academic journal considered for a World Fantasy Award. The nomination was in my name, but the Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts is really a collective effort. Credit goes to the IAFA, which sponsors the Journal, to my editorial predecessors, and especially to the team of volunteer workers who have made the Journal into a meeting place for people who are deeply curious about the fantastic in all its forms—what John Clute calls Fantastika. That includes not only the people on the masthead—Associate Editors, Managing Editor Chrissie Mains, and my various Editorial Assistants over the years, but every contributor, everyone who has heard an interesting paper at a conference and suggested to its author that JFA might be a place to publish it, everyone who has served as a peer reviewer, and everyone whose advice I have sought over the last sixteen years. My thanks on their behalf for this recognition from another group who shares our passion.

Dale Knickerbocker
IAFA President