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Monthly Archives: September 2007

Post Conference IAFA Universal Tour

Sunday after the conference there will be an opportunity to visit Universal’s Theme Park for an IAFA Group Rate of $67US that includes bus transportation and discounted admission to the site. The bus will leave the hotel at 9:30 am, deliver people to Universal, and then pick them up at 6:00 pm to return to the hotel. There is a minimum requirement of 30 people and there are 40 spaces in total, so first come first serve. If we are unable to meet our minimum requirement by February 1st we will be forced to cancel this social outing. Conference registrants, their partners, and families are all eligible for this tour.

IAFA 2008 Membership & ICFA-29 Conference Pre-Registration Form Posted

The IAFA 2008 Membership & ICFA-29 Conference Pre-Registration Form is now posted on the new IAFA website at www.iafa.org under “Conference Info.” Also, please note the Sunday Group Outing to Universal Studios. See you all in Orlando.

Jamie Bishop Memorial Award-Winning Essay

The 2007 Jamie Bishop Memorial Award for an Essay Not in English was awarded to Carlos Abraham for “Las utopías literarias argentinas en el período 1850-1950.” A .pdf of the award-winning essay is now posted on the IAFA website under the “Awards” link.

New Website Launched

If you’ve accessed this blog through the IAFA website (is there really another way to access it?) then you’ve obviously seen the new website. We are thrilled to have launched the new site and encourage you to take a look at the information that has been posted. Updates will continue as need, notably the Registration form for ICFA2008 which will be posted shortly.

Call for Candidates: FE Division Head

Chuck Nelson, after many years of able and much-appreciated service as Division Head for Fantastic Literature in English, has decided to step down effective March 2008 (immediately following the conference).

The Division Head is the person who sends out paper calls for his/her Division, collects and accepts paper proposals, creates paper sessions, helps to create panels, and passes the work s/he’s done on to the 1st Vice President for scheduling. This Division is responsible for all aspects of the fantastic in British, American, and Commonwealth Literature that are not covered by divisions such as Horror and Children’s/Young Adult. In past conferences, the FE Division has sponsored papers on the work of Shakespeare, Tolkien, Gaiman, McKillip, Holdstock, Twain, Mieville, Aldiss, Lewis, MacDonald, and many other authors, as well as papers on theories of the fantastic and fantasy literature.

Qualifications include current membership with IAFA (at least a couple of years’ experience with the organization so you have some understanding of how things work at the conference), easy and dependable internet access and comfort level with computers, organizational skills, the ability to work as part of a group working together on the ‘big picture’, a willingness to work through the transition with Chuck beginning this fall, the ability to attend March conferences while you hold the position and to attend the Division Heads’ meeting run by the 1st VP at the conference, plus, of course, the time to do the work involved. Division Heads hold office for a term of 3 years (with a probationary first year) with the possibility of renewal for a second 3-year term.

If you’re interested in taking on the work of FE Division Head, please contact both Chrissie Mains, 1st Vice President (cemains@shaw.ca) and Chuck Nelson, outgoing FE Division Head cwnelson@mtu.edu) with a brief statement about your interest in and qualifications for the job. The IAFA board of directors will consider all applications for the position.

The deadline for applications is October 15, 2007.

Chrissie Mains

Robert Jordan’s Passing

The death of Robert Jordan is making international headlines, so click on over to www.locusmag.com for the many links to obituaries that lament the loss of a key figure in the field of the fantastic.

Jamie Bishop Memorial Award

The International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts Announces its

****The Jamie Bishop Memorial Award for an Essay Not in English***
(Formerly the Annual Award for the Best Non-English Language Scholarly Essay on the Fantastic)

We define the fantastic to include science fiction, folklore, and related genres in literature, drama, film, art and graphic design, and related disciplines.

Prize: $250 U.S. and one year’s free membership in the IAFA to be awarded at the International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts in March 2008. Winning essay to be published online at the IAFA website.

Deadline: October 31, 2007

We consider essays of up to 10,000 words (including notes and bibliography). Essays may be unpublished scholarship submitted by the author, or already published work nominated either by the author or another scholar (in which case the author’s permission should be obtained before submission). An abstract in English must accompany all submissions. Submissions may be made electronically (preferred) in MS Word, Word Perfect, or RTF format, or by mail.

Please direct all inquiries and submissions to:

Dale Knickerbocker
Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures East Carolina University Greenville, NC 27858 USA

knickerbockerd@ecu.edu
Fax: 252-328-6233

Hugo Awards Announcement

Locus Online has information pertaining to the recent Hugo Awards, including such winners as Vernor Vinge (our Guest of Honor for the upcoming ICFA-29), Tim Pratt, Robert Reed, and Julie Phillips. The link is here.

For information on other awards, including the Chelsey Awards and the Prometheus Awards, please click here.

Alice Borchardt (1939-2007); Joe L. Hensley (1926-2007)

SFWorld.com has information pertaining to the recent passings of both Alice Borchardt (1939-2007) and Joe L. Hensley. The link is here.