On behalf of the Executive Board of IAFA, I would like to announce that we have decided upon a replacement for Chuck Nelson, who will be stepping down as FE Division Head following the conference in March 2008. The new Division Head for Fantastic Literatures in English will be Stefan Ekman of Lund University, Sweden.
Stefan is a longstanding member of IAFA, who has been attending the conference for many years. In addition to presenting papers on Tolkien, de Lint, Gaiman, Vess, and others, he has ably chaired sessions and moderated panels. He has also contributed to the association in other ways, formerly as the Student Caucus Representative and most recently as the web designer for IAFA’s new website. He has worked closely with Chuck over the years, and we expect that the transition will go very smoothly.
The board was extremely pleased with the response to the call for candidates for the position; eight people expressed interest in the job, and the board had a very difficult time making a decision from amongst so many qualified candidates. We thank all of the candidates and hope that all will find other ways in which to continue to contribute to the success of the conference and of the association.
Chrissie Mains
1VP, IAFA