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Author Archives: Stacie Hanes

Call for Applicants: Head of the Science Fiction and International Fantastic Divisions

The International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts is accepting applications for two positions: Head of the Science Fiction and International Fantastic Divisions. Those interested in applying must send a cover letter explaining their interest in and qualifications for the position, and a current CV, to the First Vice-President, Dale Knickerbocker (knickerbockerd@ecu.edu), no later than 15 May 2015. Division Heads are appointed by the President, on the recommendation of the First Vice-President, who chairs the Council of Division Heads, after formal discussion and majority vote of the Board. The three-year term will begin immediately following the 37th ICFA, so the people selected will be able to observe the outgoing Head the year before beginning their duties.

Each Division Head organizes and supervises all conference activity within a subdivision of fantastic scholarship. Division Heads work under the guidance of the First Vice-President. Division Heads are responsible for recruiting session proposals and papers and are responsible for formatting these to the requirements of the First Vice-President. Division Heads are responsible for forwarding all information to the First Vice-President in a timely fashion. Division Heads have the responsibility to check the draft program for accuracy and AV needs. Division Heads are expected to liaise with other Division Heads and the First Vice-President. The First Vice-President is the final arbiter of the program under the aegis of the Executive Board. At the conference the Division Heads oversee sessions in their respective Divisions and collect suggestions for future topics, special guests, etc.

CfP: Monsters of Film, Fiction, and Fable — Edited Collection

Monsters of Film, Fiction, and Fable: The Cultural Links between the Human and Inhuman

This proposed collection will explore the cultural implications of and the societal fears and desires associated with the literal monsters of fiction, television, and movies. Long tied to ideas of the Other, the inhuman have represented societal fears for centuries. While this depiction of inhuman as Other still persists today, postmodern times also saw a radical shift in the portrayals and long-held associations. The postmodern monster is by no means soft and cuddly; nevertheless, its depiction has evolved. Veering from the traditional, “us vs. them” dynamic, many contemporary works illustrate what posthuman theorists refer to as the “them” in “us” correlation. These new monsters, often found in urban fantasy, eradicate the stark separation between human and inhuman as audiences search for the similarities between themselves and their much beloved monster characters. The shifted portrayal also means that these select, postmodern monsters no longer highlight cultural fears, but rather cultural hopes, dreams, desires, and even humanity’s own inhumanity. This does not mean that the pure monsters of horror are eradicated in contemporary renderings. Instead, they too have evolved over the course of the 20th and 21st century, highlighting everything from socioeconomic anxieties to issues related to humanity and human nature.

Given the many and varied implications of the inhuman in media and their long and diverse history, this volume will examine the cultural connotations of the monstrous, focusing specifically on the monsters of modernism and postmodernism.

In particular, we are looking to fill in certain gaps, and welcome articles related to the following monsters:

– Ghosts
– Leviathons/behemoths—anything from Mothra to Dragons
– Science Fiction related monsters such as artificial intelligence and cyborgs

The proposal for this collection is in progress, and will be submitted once selections are made.

Please email the following to Lisa Wenger Bro (lisa.bro@mga.edu) by Thursday, April 30:
– a 300-350 word abstract
– a brief biography
– the estimated length of the full article
– the number of illustrations, if any, you will use (note, it will be up to individual authors to secure rights to images)

Full articles will be due by June 30. All accepted articles will be peer-reviewed.

CFP: 2015 Midwest Modern Language Association Conference – Arts and Sciences

Columbus, Ohio November 12-15, 2015

Intersections of Art and Science in the Long Nineteenth Century

 

We welcome papers that explore the intersection of “art” and “science” in the long nineteenth century. From Keats’s enigmatic intonation “beauty is truth, truth beauty,” to Ruskin’s declaration that “high art differs from low art in possessing an excess of beauty in addition to its truth, not in possessing excess of beauty inconsistent with truth,” to the aestheticism of the fin de siècle, the nineteenth century witnessed a fraught renegotiation of the relationships between knowledge, art, and science. If the opposition between C.P. Snow’s “two cultures” is one legacy of the nineteenth century, we aim to take seriously the “and” of “arts and sciences,” highlighting the consonances and mutualities as well as the disjunctions that characterized the period.

 

We are interested in artistic representations, practices, and engagements with the empirical sciences, and in the epistemological shifts that constructed the “artistic” and the “empirical.” Examples are countless. Coleridge collaborated with his physician-superintendent James Gillman on The Theory of Life. John Constable’s cloud studies are renowned for their meteorological rigor. George Eliot represented medical doctors as modern heroes in a sociologically-inflected novelistic form. Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote letters to Nature magazine. Erasmus Darwin’s poem The Botanic Garden makes significant contributions to Linnaean taxonomy, while Byron’s doctor John Polidori founded the vampire genre. Indeed, scientific practice depends upon forms of representation, and artistic practice necessarily involves knowledge-work.

 

Paper topics might include:

—The intersection of art and science in historical and biological museums and collections

—The cooperation of artists and scientists in investigating the supernatural, from the Ghost Club to occultism

—The formal and aesthetic dimensions of scientific practice, representation, and dissemination

—Literature and the emergence of the human sciences via the rise of realism

—Curricular and disciplinary shifts at Oxbridge and the Dissenting Academies, the incursion of the German University model, and how these phenomena led to the separation of art and science

—The cultural politics of specialization and the lingering figure of the generalist “man of letters”

—Developments in book production, publishing, selling, purchasing, and collecting; the transformation from eighteenth-century “bibliomania” to nineteenth-century bibliography

 

Alternatively, take a philological or genealogical approach:

—How does this period reify “arts” and “sciences” into distinct disciplines and epistemologies? How did literature become narrowly associated with belles-lettres? Chart the transition from “natural philosophy” to science as we now conceive of it.

 

We also welcome proposals that reflect upon nineteenth-century arts and sciences by way of contemporary disciplinary questions:

—How do quantitative and/or digital methods help us understand the productions of the nineteenth century—and the relationship between art and science they embody—anew?

 

250-word abstracts are due by April 5th, and should include name, institutional affiliation, email address, and paper title.

Send to Andrew Welch at awelch2@luc.edu

CfP: Tales Beyond Borders

The registration deadline for the Tales Beyond Borders conference and workshop, all of which focus on the intercultural role of fantasy literature and speculative fiction, is now approaching (20th March 2015). Tales Beyond Borders is a two-day international conference (24th-25th April) and a postgraduate/early career researcher workshop (23rd April), organized by the ‘Reading the Fantastic’ Graduate Research Group at the University of Leeds. We have four keynote speakers: Dr Nicola Bown (Birkbeck, University of London) and Dr Alaric Hall (University of Leeds), whose research deals with Victorian fantasy and medieval fantasy respectively, will represent the academic aspect of working with the fantastic; science-fiction and fantasy writer (and multiple Arthur C. Clarke award nominee) Justina Robson and Peter Stevenson, a professional illustrator,  musician, storyteller from Aberystwyth Arts Centre and Kingston Art College, will provide a complementary perspective on working in the creative field of the fantastic.

 

We’re excited to be welcoming 36 panel speakers,  from nine different countries,  to the two main conference days (Friday 24th – Saturday 25th April, 2015) of Tales Beyond Borders. Panel speakers will be discussing a wide variety of topics and issues, including the use of modern techniques of digital illustration and animation to bring Malaysian and Thai folktales to new audiences, the balance of political and scientific investigations of fantasy, issues around Queer and ‘strange’ physicalities in speculative fiction, and difficulties of translation, reception, and interpretation in contemporary sci fi and dystopic fiction.

 

Our one-day workshop (open to both conference attendees and non-attendees) will explore the use of fantasy as a point of career engagement and public impact, aiming to provide practical skills as well as increase knowledge of current projects. Participants will pursue in-depth investigations with different speakers in three separate sessions focusing on fantasy and community engagement, fantasy and digital engagement, and fantasy and pedagogical engagement. Workshop sessions will involve presentations of current projects, discussion of strategies, and training in problem-solving using focused small-group work and feedback from speakers including Dr Laura Anderson (University of Leeds), who will focus on ‘Curious Encounters: Organising Public Engagement Activities Across Disciplines’;  Cath Heinemeyer (York St John University and York Theatre Royal), who will present on ‘Telling Tales with Teenagers: Stories from the Front Line’; Heather Robbins (the Sussex Centre for Folklore, Fairy Tales and Fantasy, University of Chichester), who will talk about ‘Folklore, Fairy Tales, Fantasy and Facebook’, Dr. Sarah Copeland (University of Bradford), who will discuss ‘Community Digital Storytelling: Engendering Activism through Narrative’, Dr Xavier Aldana Reyes (Manchester Metropolitan University and the Manchester Centre for Gothic Studies), who will address ‘Gothic Pedagogies: Challenges, Strategies and Design of Modern and Contemporary Gothic Units’ and Peter Stevenson (Storyteller and Illustrator), who will explore the complexities of ‘Teaching Visual and Performative Storytelling’.

 

More information about these initiatives, including schedule, speaker and registration/payment information, can be found on our site:www.readingthefantastic.wordpress.com.

ICFA 36 Program Available Now

A link to the program is available at the top of the ICFA 36 conference page.

 

2015 Crawford Award

For the first time in its 30-year history, the William L. Crawford Fantasy Award, presented annually by the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts for an outstanding first fantasy book, has resulted in a tie. The winners for 2015, each of whom will receive the full award, are Zen Cho for her story collection Spirits Abroad (Buku Fixi) and Stephanie Feldman for her novel The Angel of Losses (Ecco).

According to award administrator Gary K. Wolfe, both books won broad support from the nominating committee, which felt both were deserving of the award. The other books included on this year’s Crawford shortlist are Ghalib Islam, Fire in the Unnameable Country  (Hamish Hamilton); Sarah Tolmie, The Stone Boatmen (Aqueduct); Greg Bechtel, Boundary Problems (Freehand Books); and

Jessie Burton, The Miniaturist  (Ecco).

 

Participating in this year’s nomination and selection process were Farah Mendlesohn, Ellen Klages, Graham Sleight, Karen Burnham, Candas Jane Dorsey, Jedediah Berry, Niall Harrison, and last year’s winner Sofia Samatar.  The award will be presented on March 21 during the 36th International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts in Orlando, Florida. The IAFA’s Distinguished Scholarship Award will be presented to Colin Milburn, and the Jamie Bishop Memorial Award for a work of scholarship written in a language other than English will go to Fernando Ángel Moreno, Mikel Peregrina, and Steven Bermúdez Antúnez. Awards for student scholarship will be announced later.

Hotel Registration Deadline

Dear ICFA Attendees:

The hotel deadline is fast approaching, and rooms will not be available at the conference rate after February 6–and will probably not be available at any rate.

2015 Jamie Bishop Award Winners

The 2015 Winners of the Jamie Bishop Award are Fernando Ángel Moreno, Mikel Peregrina, and Steven Bermúdez Antúnez.

The Finalists are Sophie Beaulé,Teresa López Pellisa, Francisca Noguerol.

Further information can be found on the Jamie Bishop Memorial Award page.

CfP: “Speculative Humanities: Steampunk to Afrofuturism.” SHORT NOTICE

2015 Conference: Abstracts due Sunday, January 18, 2015

The submission deadline for panel and individual presentation abstracts for the 2015 Humanities Conference is Sunday, January 19, 2015. Please email abstracts (250-300 words) to both of the conference co-chairs: Prof. Jennifer Wager (jwager@essex.edu) and Prof. Rebecca Williams (wrebecca@essex.edu) by Sunday, January 18, 2015.

Call For Papers
On March 11-12, 2015, the Humanities Division at Essex County College will host its Spring 2015 Conference, “Speculative Humanities: Steampunk to Afrofuturism.” This two-day conference offers space for writers, musicians, artists, and academicians to explore, expand upon, and rethink the implications of speculative humanities. This year’s conference will feature a special emphasis on the life, work, and influence of Octavia E. Butler.

Speculative humanities encompasses a diverse array of works, from the  18th century mysticism of Swedenborg to the 20th century spiritual teachings of Gurdjieff, along with the 19th century texts of authors such as Mary Shelley, Samuel Butler, and Jules Verne to the 20th and 21st century works of H.G. Wells, Octavia E. Butler, Margaret Atwood, Samuel Delany, Cormac McCarthy, and L.A. Banks. The revolutionary wave sweeping across Europe during the 19th century along with the publication of texts such as The Communist Manifesto influenced generations of writers to produce works featuring both urban utopias and dystopian metropolises. Historical and fictional texts include post-apocalyptic narratives, invasion literature, steampunk, Afrofuturism, fantasy, fan fiction, fabulist, anime, horror, and what was once categorized as science fiction.

Open to all humanities disciplines–literature, music, history, religion, philosophy, art, architecture, theater, dance, and media–we invite papers, panel presentations, screenings, and performances of works that can be included in the admittedly broad category of “speculative humanities.” We welcome interactive, unorthodox panels, screenings, exhibits, musical performances, and other presentations related to our central theme. Papers on the works of Octavia E. Butler are especially encouraged for submission.

Please email (abstracts of 250-300 words) for panels and individual presentations to both of the conference co-chairs: Prof. Jennifer Wager (jwager@essex.edu) and Prof. Rebecca Williams (wrebecca@essex.edu) by Sunday, January 16, 2015.

CfP: Monstrum Volume 1: Issue 1

For Goya, ‘Fantasy abandoned by reason produces impossible monsters: united with her, she is the mother of the arts and the origin of their marvels’, though some see his etching as revealing the dark undercurrents of Enlightenment. The monster, according to Jeffrey Jerome Cohen, offers ways of understanding the cultures which bear them; ‘the monstrum is etymologically “that which reveals”’.
The inaugural issue of the journal Monstrum will showcase the kinds of cultural themes which will be revealed in this new venture from Spectral Visions Press of the University of Sunderland. The journal is a refereed academic journal and invites original articles on all aspects of monsters and the monstrous. The perspective is that of literary studies but, in keeping with the boundary-defying nature of the monster, welcomes an interdisciplinary approach that may draw on (among others) cultural studies, philosophy, psychology, anthropology, and the history of ideas, and which explores monstrosity in a variety of genres and media.
Proposals for individual or collaborative papers are invited on the cultural meanings of representations of monsters and the idea of the monstrous via diverse theoretical approaches in literature from realist fiction, drama, and poetry through the Gothic novel, modernism, horror, SF, fantasy, paranormal romance, comedy, YA and children’s literature to myth, epic, and folklore (or in such other media as film, TV, comics, or video games).
Possible topics might include (but are not limited to):

  • Monsters and the Other (racial, ethnic, sexual, ideological, etc.
  • Monsters and the Self (what we are and what is repressed)
  • Reason, the fantastic, and the monstrous
  • The monstrous human
  • Monstrous taxonomies (how monsters escape and confuse classificatory systems)
  • The sympathetic monster and the Demon Lover
  • The Eternal Return of the Monster (how the form of the monster both endures and mutates)
  • The inanimate monster (architecture, machinery, and landscape; colossuses both natural and cultural)
  • Monstrous scales (size and sublimity; the monstrously gigantic or the insidiously microbial
  • Species of monster: vampires, werewolves, zombies, ogres, dragons, basilisks, dinosaurs, sharks, giant squid, aliens, mutants, half-breeds, perverts, criminals, terrorists
  • Infamous monsters: Lycaon, Medusa, Lamia, Satan, Lilith, Gargantua, Dracula, Frankenstein’s creature, King Kong, Godzilla, Hitler, Hannibal Lecter, Cthulhu, Moby Dick, the Daleks

Please send electronic copies of proposals (approx. 500 words) and a brief biography (100 words) in MS Word format by 31 January 2014 to each of:

We will notify you over acceptance shortly after. Completed articles of approximately 6,000 words, formatted in MHRA style, will be due by 30 April 2015.