Hello Everyone!

The Thirty-Eighth International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts is upon us, and the weather forecast for the week is absolutely beautiful, so it will be a welcome break for those of you coming from the north!  In addition to wishing you all safe travels, I wanted to send a few final reminders before the conference!

I will be on-site preparing for your arrival starting Monday, March 20, and I will open the registration desk early on Wednesday, so stop by and say hello and pick up your packet.

We need to finalize our guarantees to the hotel for the meals, so if you signed up to attend the Friday luncheon, but have changed your mind, or won’t be arriving in time, let me know as soon as possible, and I can make the adjustment in numbers.

If you are flying in,keep in mind that there is a free hotel shuttle that will bring you to the hotel if you need it.  Call 407-851-9000 and tell them which terminal you are at (Terminal A or Terminal B or tell them your airline).  They will instruct you to go to the shuttle pickup point, and they will send the shuttle for you.  There is normally about a ten-minute wait, however we have a very large group this year, so the wait may be a bit longer this year, but not by much.

If you arrive early on Monday or Tuesday, the book room can always use help unpacking, arranging, and pricing books. The wonderful, amazing book room staff will be working in Augusta A/B most of the day Monday and Tuesday, so if you simply cannot resist being away from books, this is the perfect way to spend a bit of time until the conference starts.

We still need some volunteers to work during the conference, so if you haven’t already signed up,and you would like to, you can find the volunteer survey here.

On Wednesday, March 22,2017, we have a few events that you might enjoy before and after the opening panels:

• ·         2:30 pm – 3:15 pm – Pre-Opening Refreshments in the Ballroom Foyer.
• ·         3:30 pm – 4:15 pm – Opening Ceremony in the Ballroom

• ·         8:00 pm – 8:30 pm. – Newcomer Meet-Up in Captiva A/B.
• ·         8:30 pm – 11:00 pm – Opening Reception in Capri.

If you are staying in town beyond the conference and are interested in visiting additional Orlando attractions, rental vehicles are available in the hotel lobby or at multiple locations near the airport.

ICFA is committed to being an accessible conference that supports the varied needs of our members. We understand how important it is for our attendees and panelists to feel comfortable and welcome.  The conference is held at the Orlando Marriott Lakeside Hotel. Members and attendees can find our accessibility policy here.

If you have any questions, please email me at iafareg AT gmail.com.

I will see you all in few days!

Regards,

Valorie

“The lesson of history is that no one learns.”

― Steven Erikson, Deadhouse Gates

“We humans do not understand compassion. In each moment of our lives, we betray it. Aye, we know of its worth, yet in knowing we then attach to it a value, we guard the giving of it, believing it must be earned, T’lan Imass. Compassion is priceless in the truest sense of the word. It must be given freely. In abundance.”

― Steven Erikson, Memories of Ice

“It is blasphemy to separate oneself from the earth and look down on it like a god. It is more than blasphemy; it is dangerous. We can never be gods, after all – but we can become something less than human with frightening ease.”

― N.K. Jemisin, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

“Tell them they can be great someday, like us. Tell them they belong among us, no matter how we treat them. Tell them they must earn the respect which everyone else receives by default. Them there is a standard for acceptance; that standard is simply perfection. Kill those who scoff at those contradictions, and tell the rest that the dead deserved annihilation for their weakness and doubt. Then they’ll break themselves trying for what they’ll never achieve”

― N.K. Jemisin, The Fifth Season

“What better way to destroy a civilization, society or a race than to set people into the wild oscillations which follow their turning over their judgment and decision-making faculties to a superhero?”

― Edward James, The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to take a moment to remind you of a few events sponsored by the Student Caucus that will take place during the conference next week. Please keep in mind that you do not have to be a member of the Student Caucus to attend these events. Everyone is welcome to both the Newcomer Meet-Up and Kathryn Hume’s job search panels. And any current student who is interested in being more actively involved with the Student Caucus is welcome to the meeting on Friday.

The Newcomer Meet-Up is on Wednesday, March 22nd from 8-8:30pm just before the Opening Reception.

The Student Caucus Meeting on Friday, March 24th at 6pm.

And the SCIAFA sponsored panels are ““Coping in Today’s Job Market: How to Find a Job” by Kathryn Hume. Part 1 is on Saturday, March 25th at 10:30am (before lunch) and Part 2 is on Saturday, March 25th at 2pm (after lunch).

Kathryn Hume recommends attending BOTH panels as they will cover different aspects of job search process and the documents needed in the application process. Kathryn Hume puts a lot of time and effort into these panels, and people who attended last year swear by it as being very helpful and informative. So please try your best to attend. Even if you can’t attend both try to attend one of them.

I look forward to meeting you all at the conference. See you then!

Sincerely,

Amanda

Dear ICFA attendees,

We regretfully announce that N.K. Jemisin will be unable to join us at the conference in two weeks due to the death of her mother​. Nonetheless, we intend to honor and celebrate her work as planned, in addition to the fine work of our other guests, Steven Erikson and Edward James. We will feature seven panels that include papers discussing Jemisin’s work, including two focused exclusively on it. Her presence will thus be felt at the conference, although she is unable to come in person.

The conference will cancel only one event out of more than 150 total sessions, so while we will miss the opportunity to meet with and hear from N.K. Jemisin, we trust your conference experience will be an excellent one. I’m sure that you join us in sending our condolences to her during this difficult time.

Best wishes,

Sherryl Vint

President, IAFA Board of Directors

ICFA 38 – Fantastic Epics

22 March – 26 March 2017

Hello Everyone!

As the Thirty-Eighth International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts nears, I wanted to send out a few last minute reminders!  

IMPORTANT DATES:

The on-line system will be closed temporarily as of March 1, 2017 so that the conference committee can commit to the hotel for space and meal requirements. The system will open again for on-site registration on March 22, 2017.

Please note that date changes for registration purposes are reckoned by local time in Orlando, Florida. 

If you haven’t already done so, you can renew your membership and register for the conference here.  

Although you can join the association even if you don’t attend the conference, current IAFA membership is required if you are presenting a paper at the conference, so you should join the association or renew your membership before attempting to register for the conference if you are presenting a paper.  

A list of all fees associated with the conference can be found here and a “How To” guide for membership renewal can be found here, and a “How To” guide for registering and paying for the conference can be found here. 

DISCUSSION LIST: 

All IAFA members are invited to join the IAFA listserv. You may do so by clicking here.  

VOLUNTEERING:

Interested in helping us make ICFA 38 a success? We are looking for volunteers to assist with the book room, registration desk, and A/V. Please use the survey link below to let us know when and where you would like to help. If you know of other people attending the conference that would like to volunteer and earn ICFA bucks to help them keep coming back, please share the survey with them. If you have questions or concerns, please contact Valorie Ebert, Membership and Registration Coordinator (iafareg ATgmail.com).

Please Note: We need extra volunteers to help load and unload the book room.  If you plan on being at the hotel Monday and/or aren’t leaving until the following Sunday or Monday and would like to help with this important task, please indicate your willingness on the volunteer survey or please contact Valorie Ebert, Membership and Registration Coordinator (iafareg AT gmail.com)..

** Book Room Set Up normally begins at 8:00 a.m. on Monday morning.  They need all the help they can get, so if you are at the conference early on Monday, stop by and lend a hand.

** Book Room Breakdown normally begins at 8:00 a.m. on Sunday morning.  Again, they need all the help they can get, so if you are an early riser, go lend a hand.

You can find the volunteer survey here.

Social Media:

If you are on Facebook you can connect with IAFA here.  In addition, if you are a student you can also join the Student Caucus Facebook page here.

Please follow us on Twitter here!

If you have any questions or need any help with membership renewal or registration, please email me at iafareg AT gmail.com.

We look forward to seeing you in March!

Regards,

Valorie

“The lesson of history is that no one learns.”

― Steven Erikson, Deadhouse Gates

“We humans do not understand compassion. In each moment of our lives, we betray it. Aye, we know of its worth, yet in knowing we then attach to it a value, we guard the giving of it, believing it must be earned, T’lan Imass. Compassion is priceless in the truest sense of the word. It must be given freely. In abundance.”

― Steven Erikson, Memories of Ice

“It is blasphemy to separate oneself from the earth and look down on it like a god. It is more than blasphemy; it is dangerous. We can never be gods, after all – but we can become something less than human with frightening ease.”

― N.K. Jemisin, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

“Tell them they can be great someday, like us. Tell them they belong among us, no matter how we treat them. Tell them they must earn the respect which everyone else receives by default. Them there is a standard for acceptance; that standard is simply perfection. Kill those who scoff at those contradictions, and tell the rest that the dead deserved annihilation for their weakness and doubt. Then they’ll break themselves trying for what they’ll never achieve”

― N.K. Jemisin, The Fifth Season

“What better way to destroy a civilization, society or a race than to set people into the wild oscillations which follow their turning over their judgment and decision-making faculties to a superhero?”

― Edward James, The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction

Ladies and Gentlemen,

There is an extension on the application for the SCIAFA Writing Workshop. Applications are now due by Sun, Feb 26th. Full information about the workshop and the application can be found below.

Please be aware that you do not have to be a member of the Student Caucus to participate. This workshop is open to anyone.

One of the main events sponsored by the IAFA Student Caucus is the SCIAFA Writing Workshop that takes place during ICFA. It is a chance for graduate students to share their written work with a professional in the field and receive invaluable feedback and advice as they work to improve their writing and shift from conference papers to publications. In the past, this workshop has been run by such people as Sherryl Vint, Ritch Calvin, and Brian Attebery. This year we are pleased to announce that the workshop will be run by Christine Mains.

Christine Mains has taught SF, Fantasy, and popular culture at the University of Calgary and Mount Royal University. She is a past Vice President of the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts and is currently an Associate Editor for Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts. She has published on SF television and on the works of Patricia McKillip and Charles de Lint. She moonlights as a freelance editor of fiction and academic writing.

The workshop will focus on issues to consider when revising conference papers or dissertation chapters into articles that might be submitted to JFA or other journals. The workshop is capped at 10 participants. It will be held in the last timeslot of the conference: Saturday, March 25, from 4-5:30pm. To apply for the workshop, please submit a two-page writing sample and the following information no later than Friday, February 10.

-your name
-your preferred email address
-your institutional affiliation and adviser
-what stage you’re at in your program
-your dissertation or thesis topic (1-2 sentences)
-the issues or problems in your writing you’d most like to address (1-2 sentences)
-the title(s) of academic journals you’re most interested in submitting to

Submissions should be sent to cemains@shaw.ca

Prior to the workshop, participants will need to send their paper submissions (~5000 words) no later than March 10 (this could be your conference presentation paper or any other paper you would like to work on for possible publication); they will also need to bring two copies of the paper to the workshop for peer review.

Any questions may be addressed to both Christine Mains at cemains@shaw.ca and Amanda Rudd at rudd.am@gmail.com.

Hello ICFA 38 Attendees!

We look forward to another exciting conference, and, as the Marriott has filled to capacity again this year, we have every expectation of a successful event!

In the event that you missed the deadline for the Marriott, we have secured a few rooms at the Sheraton next door. Please contact Jeri Zulli at jerzulli@live.com in the next week if you would like to book a room at the Sheraton.

If anyone has a last minute change of plans and needs to cancel a room at the Marriott, please contact us instead of the hotel, so we can pass it on to another attendee who is hoping for a room. (Cancellations with the hotel directly will no longer return that room to IAFA’s room block.)

Thanks

Jeri Zulli
jerzulli@live.com

Announcing: The Return of the Flash Play Festival!

One Night Only—Friday, March 24
9:45-10:45 p.m.

In the festive Capri Room of the Orlando Airport Marriott

Hosted by Marco Palmieri
Directed by Carrie J. Cole and Kelli Shermeyer
Written and performed by some of your favorite academics, authors, and editors

Your challenge is to write a ten-minute play (roughly ten pages of dialogue) which MUST INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:
No more than THREE performers
One of THREE props—(a BAT, a MECHANICAL ARM, a CURSED MAP)
The following line:
“I think we can agree this did NOT go as planned.”

Deadline for submission: WEDNESDAY, 3/1. Send your plays (and any questions you may have) to carriejcole@gmail.com with the subject line “ICFA Flash Play Festival”.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to take this opportunity to remind you all that the deadline to apply for the SCIAFA Writing Workshop is coming up on Friday, Feb 10th. The Writing Workshop is a wonderful opportunity to work with a professional to improve your writing and prepare for publication. Here again is the information about the workshop and the particulars for applying:

One of the main events sponsored by the IAFA Student Caucus is the SCIAFA Writing Workshop that takes place during ICFA. It is a chance for graduate students to share their written work with a professional in the field and receive invaluable feedback and advice as they work to improve their writing and shift from conference papers to publications. In the past, this workshop has been run by such people as Sherryl Vint, Ritch Calvin, and Brian Attebery. This year we are pleased to announce that the workshop will be run by Christine Mains.

Christine Mains has taught SF, Fantasy, and popular culture at the University of Calgary and Mount Royal University. She is a past Vice President of the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts and is currently an Associate Editor for Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts. She has published on SF television and on the works of Patricia McKillip and Charles de Lint. She moonlights as a freelance editor of fiction and academic writing.

The workshop will focus on issues to consider when revising conference papers or dissertation chapters into articles that might be submitted to JFA or other journals. The workshop is capped at 10 participants. It will be held in the last time-slot of the conference: Saturday, March 25, from 4-5:30pm. To apply for the workshop, please submit a two-page writing sample and the following information no later than Friday, February 10.

-your name
-your preferred email address
-your institutional affiliation and adviser
-what stage you’re at in your program
-your dissertation or thesis topic (1-2 sentences)
-the issues or problems in your writing you’d most like to address (1-2 sentences)
-the title(s) of academic journals you’re most interested in submitting to

Submissions should be sent to cemains@shaw.ca

Prior to the workshop, participants will need to send their full paper submissions (~5000 words) no later than March 10. They will also need to bring two copies of the paper to the workshop for peer review.

Any questions may be addressed to both Christine Mains at cemains@shaw.ca and Amanda Rudd at rudd.am@gmail.com

—
Amanda Rudd
PhD Candidate in English and American Literature
University of Houston

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As we get closer to ICFA 38, I would like to take this opportunity to ask you to consider being a mentor for the Mentorship Program sponsored by the SCIAFA. At this time we have far more mentees signed up for the program than mentors. If you have attended ICFA before, and wish to help newcomers to the conference, I encourage you to sign up to be a mentor.

Please find the full details about the mentorship program below:

SCIAFA Mentoring Program

Since 2001, the IAFA Student Caucus (SCIAFA) has sponsored a Mentoring Program aimed at helping student scholars to find their way around ICFA, discover the natural friendliness of the conference as quickly as possible, use ICFA as an entrance into existing scholarly communities concerned with the fantastic, and leave with both fond memories of the supporting organization and plans to return.
The success of this program depends upon its volunteer participants, and this is your chance to sign up as either a mentor or mentee. IAFA and SCIAFA will be co-sponsoring a designated space where mentors and mentees can meet at the opening Conference Reception on Wednesday evening, March 22, 2016. Attendance at this meeting is the primary task to be undertaken by both mentor and mentee. If you would like to take part in the program in either role but are unable to attend the opening reception, we encourage you to sign up anyway and arrange a more convenient meeting time with your partner. The current SCIAFA representatives will match the mentor-mentee pairs. For this reason, if you interested in joining this program, please answer the following questions and send them to the SCIAFA representatives, Amanda Rudd (rudd.am@gmail.com) and Sarah Fish (srfish36@gmail.com), as soon as possible. Please fill out this information in order to sign up for either position.

1. What is your name?
2. What is your e-mail address?
3. What is your institutional affiliation?
4. What would you consider to be your main interests in the field of the fantastic?
5. When will you be arriving at the conference?
6. When will you be departing from the conference?
7. Are you currently planning to attend the conference reception on Wednesday evening? (*Last year we had a large number of mentees say “yes” and not show up, which creates embarrassments. Please inform us if your plans change and make every effort to follow through with whatever you commit.)
8. Which role are you signing up for, mentor or mentee?

—
Amanda Rudd
PhD Candidate in English and American Literature
University of Houston