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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

CFP: The 43rd International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts, Deadline Extended to 15 November

Update: The IAFA Executive Board has decided to extend the submission deadline for the March 2022 ICFA until 11:59 p.m. November 15, Eastern U.S. time.

The 43rd International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts

FANTASTIC COMMUNITIES

March 16-20, 2022

Orlando Marriott Lakeside Airport Hotel

The Oxford English Dictionary defines “community” as the sharing of something: a geographically or politically defined space, an activity (professional or not), a mentality (attitude or interest), an identity (voluntary or inherent), or a legal or economic interest (e.g., ownership, “a commonality of goods”). The fantastic may arguably be understood as a metaphorical collective space occupied by communities that self-identify  based on a shared interest in the creation, appreciate and/or study of the fantastic arts, activities that frequently have financial and sometimes legal dimensions.

The theme of the 2022 ICFA will be fantastic communities. The IAFA invites proposals for papers, paper sessions, panels and roundtables on the representation of communities in works belonging to the fantastic genres in any media, or on any aspect of one or more fantastic communities. Why do they exist, what do they do, what challenges and/or opportunities do they face, or how do they and their members interact internally or with other communities. This topic includes both the representation of communities in works belonging to the fantastic genres in all media and the various communities that exist within its creation, mediation, interpretation, valorization and consumption. Examples of such communities would be the creators of narrative, film, music, gaming and other arts; the enterprises that develop, fabricate, market and provide the product to consumers (publishing, film and television, music and video game production companies—both commercial and non-profit—, as well as translators and editors); the various groups constituting the category of consumers: readers, viewers, gamers, listeners and the others commonly known collectively as “fandom”. Commercial and not-for-profit scholarly presses, magazines and literary reviews, scholarly journals, editors, and scholars and critics also form part of the world of fantastic communities. Within each segment of this world, communities self-organize into collectives such as fan clubs, creative or scholarly organizations and trade groups, to cite but a few examples. These are many times organized around identities of nation, language, gender, race, ethnicity or even ideology. The activities of these communities are equally multitudinous and diverse: from producing works to evaluating, developing and delivering them to a public; sharing information, common interests and opinions; and judging or interpreting works in the fantastic.

Topics may include, but are not limited to:

  • Analyses of how “communities” are represented in fantastic works. Why are they represented a certain way, in a certain place, at a certain time?
  • Relations of power in representation of community in fantastic works: race, gender, class, ethnicity, nationality; mechanisms of exclusion, exploitation, appropriation, etc.
  • Relations of power are at play within or between fantastic communities. What challenges and opportunities do communities face in achieving greater social justice within its ranks or without? Examples of topics of interest would be challenges or best practices regarding acceptance/rejection of works or scholarship (gatekeeping), reviews, awards; the job market, salaries, promotions and positions in leadership, and equity in funding opportunities.
  • How new media technologies and platforms (podcasts, blogs, fan sites, informational web sites) has been used by and shaped by fantastic communities. Have they changed the nature of the fantastic itself, how it is conceived, perceived or defined and if so, how?
  • Economic factors and fantastic communities: the effects of globalized neoliberalism.
  • Politics, ideologies and fantastic communities. How have they changed the nature and functioning of a fantastic community or communities?
  • Fantastic communities and the nation state: to what extent is national identity still relevant in our ever-more globalized world? Is there an “international canon”? Can one be created?
  • Fantastic communities and languages: What is the relationship between language and the creation, development, and delivery of fantastic arts? Is a global fandom possible and, if so, how can it be created? How does the creative community go about marketing to other cultures? What are the roles of the production/publishing companies, editors and translators in this process, what challenges and opportunities do they face?
  • COVID-19 and fantastic communities: How has the pandemic affected and changes the nature of fantastic communities and how they operate? What are the challenges and opportunities created by it? What might the future hold?

We also welcome proposals for individual papers and for academic sessions and panels on any aspect of the fantastic in any media.  We encourage work from institutionally affiliated scholars, independent scholars, international scholars who work on the fantastic in languages other than English, and students.

The conference will feature Guest of Honor Nisi Shawl and Guest Scholar Farah Mendlesohn. We encourage proposals that engage the work of these two distinguished guests.

The submissions portal is open (https://www.fantastic-arts.org/icfa-submissions/) and the deadline is 11/15/2021. Further instructions regarding submissions will be available at this link, including instructions regarding how to prepare submissions, IAFA’s Division Structure and Division Head contact information where questions may be sent.

GUEST OF HONOR: Nisi Shawl

Multiple award-winning author and editor Nisi Shawl is best known for fiction dealing with gender, race, and colonialism, including the 2016 Nebula Award finalist Everfair, an alternate and more optimistic history of Africa’s Congo region.  They’re the co-author of Writing the Other: A Practical Approach, a standard text teaching techniques for inclusive representation in fiction, and a co-founder of the Carl Brandon Society, an inclusivity-focused nonprofit.  They’re also a critic and essayist, with work appearing in Ms. Magazine, the Washington Post, Uncanny Magazine, and other periodicals, and as the introduction to a volume of the Library of America.  They have spoken at Duke University, Spelman College, Sarah Lawrence College, University of Hawaii Manoa, and many other institutions, both in person and online.

Shawl has edited and co-edited several anthologies, including Strange Matings: Science Fiction, Feminism, African American Voices, and Octavia E. Butler; Stories for Chip: A Tribute to Samuel R. Delany; and New Suns: Speculative Fiction by People of Color.  Their short story collection Filter House is a co-winner of the Otherwise Award, formerly the James Tiptree, Jr. Award.  Additional awards include the Kate Wilhelm Solstice Award, the World Fantasy Award, two Locus Awards, and an inaugural 2020 FIYAH Magazine Ignyte Award.  They have served for over two decades on the board of the Clarion West Writers Workshop.  Both Shawl and their cat, Minnie, like to watch birds–but for very different reasons.

GUEST SCHOLAR: Farah Mendlesohn

Farah Mendlesohn won a Hugo with Edward James in 2005 for The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature. She is also the author of Diana Wynne Jones: The Fantastic Tradition and Children’s Literature, Rhetorics of Fantasy, with Edward James, A Short History of Fantasy, The Inter-galactic Playground: A Critical Study of Children’s and Teens’ Science Fiction, with Michael M. Levy (President of IAFA from 2004 to 2007) Children’s Fantasy Literature: An Introduction, which won the World Fantasy Award and the Mythopeic Award in 2017. In 2019 year she published, The Pleasant Profession of Robert A. Heinlein, and and her book, Creating Memory: Historical Fiction and the English Civil Wars was published in 2020. She was President of IAFA from 2007 to 2010.

*Join us in Orlando in 2022.  We will add your intellectual and creative distinctiveness to our own.  Resistance is futile.*

March ICFA Update

Dear Members of the Fantastic Community:

ICFA in March:

After a highly successful live symposium in October, the Executive Board of the IAFA has decided that, if conditions remain essentially the same (hopefully they will improve) we intend to go forward with ICFA at the Marriott Orl​ando Airport Lakeside planned from March 16-20, 2022. There have been no reports of COVID 19 symptoms or positive tests from the symposium attendees. The return of international travel is a hopeful sign that we are past the worst of the pandemic. Of course, should conditions worsen to the point where travel is once again restricted, we would likely change to a virtual format in March. In any event, we will also hold a virtual conference in October 2022 as previously announced. Details will be available for this event early in 2022. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Room reservations:

Because of upheavals at the Marriott due to the pandemic, some patterns are shifted this year, and we are not yet ready to make hotel room information available. We will provide information on how to reserve guest rooms as soon as we can, and rest assured there will be enough.

Sincerely.
Dale

Dale Knickerbocker
President, International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts (IAFA.org)

Final call for submissions: 2022 Jamie Bishop Memorial Award

Final Call for Submissions: 2022 Jamie Bishop Memorial Award

The International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts announces its 16th annual Jamie Bishop Memorial Award for a critical essay on the fantastic originally written in a language other than English.

The IAFA defines the fantastic to include science fiction, folklore, and related genres in literature, drama, film, art and graphic design, and related disciplines. For more information regarding the Bishop Award and a list of past winners, see https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/Bishop-award-winners-list .

Submission criteria:

· Essays should be of high scholarly quality, as if for publication in an academic journal.

· We consider essays from 3,000–10,000 words in length (or the equivalent for nonalphabetic languages), 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).

· Essays must have been written and (when applicable) published in the original language within the last three years prior to submission.

· An ABSTRACT in English and an English translation of the essay’s TITLE must accompany all submissions. The submitted essay DOES NOT have to be translated into English.

· Only one essay per designated author(s) may be submitted each year.

· Submissions must be made electronically in .pdf or Microsoft Word format (.doc, .docx), to the email address noted below.

Deadline for receipt of submissions: October 25, 2021. Essays may be submitted prior to the deadline.

The winner of this year’s Bishop Award will be announced at the 43rd International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts, March 16–20, 2022.

Prize: $250 US and one year’s free membership in the IAFA. Winning essays may be posted on the IAFA website in the original language and/or considered for publication in the Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts (http://www.fantastic-arts.org/jfa/) should they be translated into English.

Please direct all inquiries and submissions to:

Terry Harpold

iafa.bishopaward@fantastic-arts.org