International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts

Dear IAFA Members and Registered ICFA Attendees,

The ICFA will not be cancelled as there is not yet a widespread outbreak in the U.S. Obviously, the situation will continue to change; however, only in the most extreme case would we consider cancellation, due to our contractual obligations with the hotel. Both the Marriott and the IAFA are taking measures to minimize risk at the ICFA, as outlined in our last e-mail.

As of today, 3 March, this is the CDC threat assessment: “For the general American public, who are unlikely to be exposed to this virus at this time, the immediate health risk from COVID-19 is considered low. People in communities where ongoing community spread with the virus that causes COVID-19 has been reported are at elevated though still relatively low risk of exposure.” Keep up to date at: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/summary.html.

In Florida: according to the Florida Department of Public Health There are currently two confirmed and eight individuals are awaiting test results, none in the Orlando area. Florida Surgeon General Dr. Scott Rvikees said Florida is still considered low-risk. Keep up to date at: http://www.floridahealth.gov/.

Anyone at risk, or who thinks they may have been exposed to the virus, should certainly consider not traveling. If you feel that travel may jeopardize your health and need to cancel, please contact iafareg@gmail.com. Your registration fee, as well as any meal tickets or merchandise purchased, will be credited forward (it must be used within two years). If you want this year’s merchandise, we will send it to you. We will refund fees and purchases for anyone whose point of origin is a country where travel to or from has been restricted by any authority.

Important: If you have a reservation at the Marriott, please do not cancel your room directly with the hotel, but send your confirmation number to our Conference Director: jerizulli@live.com. If you cancel directly with the Marriott, we lose the room.

​We will certainly keep you up to date on any changes.

On behalf of the board and officers of the IAFA, our best wishes for your future health, and we hope to see you in Orlando!

Sincerely,
Dale Knickerbocker
IAFA President

Greetings from the Orlando Airport Marriott Lakeside!

I am down here making preparations for your arrival in just over two weeks. As part of our meetings with the hotel, we have been speaking with the general manager of the hotel, Mete Baykal, about the Marriott’s response to infection concerns over COVID-19. I share with you his response here:

We are currently closely monitoring the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and World Health Organization’s statements regarding the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) cases and following guidelines from these agencies as well as the local health department. The wellbeing of our guests and associates is of paramount importance. Operationally, we are reinforcing recommended measures on appropriate hygiene standards by Marriott International and following the guidelines of the CDC, the WHO, and local health authorities. Additionally, we make sure our associates understand the importance of frequent hand washing and they have been re-trained on using appropriate chemicals to sanitize our guestrooms, public areas, and the back of the house.

As of today, there is not a product made available which is designated to eliminate Coronavirus; therefore, we are currently using Ecolab Peroxide Multi Surface Cleaner and Disinfectant per Marriott International standards. According to the manufacturer, this product kills Norovirus, Influenza A and B virus, Salmonella enterica, MRSA among other organisms and is widely accepted by most establishments. This applies to the sleeping rooms as well.

I have also observed new sanitation stations at the lobby entrances, and the GM informs me these contain ethyl and isopropyl alcohol, in line with the latest CDC recommendations. The hotel is in the process of acquiring more of these stations. IAFA intends to supplement these stations with additional supplies for session rooms.

The CDC’s guidance for COVID-19 is here: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/php/risk-assessment.html

Please feel free to reach out to me with any concerns.

Jeri Zulli
Conference Director
iafa.confchair [at] fantastic-arts.org

ICFA 41 “Climate Change and the Anthropocene”

When: March 18–21, 2020

Where: Marriott Orlando Airport Hotel, Orlando, Florida, USA

Guest Scholar: Stacy Alaimo, University of Oregon

Guest Author: Jeff VanderMeer

WE ARE NOW IN REGISTRATION BLACKOUT.

The (draft) program is online! It’s linked at IAFA’s home page (https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/) and is continually updated.

Did your plans change? If you cannot attend after all, please email me at once.
Hotel: Both the conference hotel and the overflow hotel are sold out at conference rates; rooms may still be available at regular rates. The Marriott’s room block releases Wednesday; thereafter cancellations will not revert to us but to the hotel. Therefore, if you need to cancel rooms, gather together your confirmation numbers and dates, and email con director

Jeri Zulli (jerzulli AT live.com). Anyone canceling or needing a room should reach out at once.

Do you have an unpaid invoice? No worries! You can pay on site. However, I’ll be sending around an automated email to everyone with outstanding balances closer to the convention date, asking you to pay, in an attempt to ease the lines at reg. Of course you can log into your account and pay at any time. AmEx is not accepted on site.

MEALS

If you have decided that you wish to attend a particular meal that you haven’t signed up for, please email me at once. I can adjust your invoice to add these extras, but only within the next few days, because we have to commit meal numbers to the hotel.

Please also check your travel plans against the meals. If you discover that your travel plans mean that must miss a meal that you are signed up for, please email me at once.

Prepaid meal tickets are not refundable or exchangeable on site. Meal tickets will be available on site on a limited basis for purchase at a higher rate.

VOLUNTEERING

The volunteer form is live (https://forms.gle/w5STMcZonRB8RLB88). Volunteering is available for registration and AV. I will need people on Tuesday to help me prep packets and badges, so if your schedule permits, do please come early and help out. We pay 10 IAFA Bucks per hour for signed-up volunteers. More info available here: https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/Volunteer

MENTORS NEEDED FOR STUDENT CAUCUS

The student caucus offers a mentoring program for those who are new to IAFA. They match up students with a long-standing member of IAFA, who will orient them and introduce them to people at the conference. We need SEVEN more mentors! Full info here: https://www.fantastic-arts.org/2020/icfa-41-update-hotel-information/.

NETWORKING

Conference hashtag: #ICFA41
IAFA Listserv: http://lists.iafa.org/listinfo.cgi/iafa-l-iafa.org
IAFA on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FantasticArts/?fref=ts
IAFA on Twitter: https://twitter.com/iafa_tw?lang=en
Student Caucus (SCIAFA) on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/833849033305627/

If you have any questions or need any help, please reach out. I’ll send around a final email closer to the con date with useful info.

See you in March!

Karen Hellekson

IAFA Membership Registrar

https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/

iafareg AT gmail.com

The Student Caucus is in need of mentors!

The Student Caucus offers a mentoring program for those who are new to ICFA. They match up students who are new to ICFA with a long-standing member who will help introduce them to people at the conference. We already have some great students signed up for the program, but we need more mentors. If you will be at the conference on Wednesday night, and are willing to mentor a student — we need you!

To be a mentor, please email Kylie Korsnack at iafa.studentcaucus2@fantastic-arts.org. Please title your email SCIAFA Mentorship Program, and in your email, please answer the following questions:

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?

(*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?

ICFA FLASH PLAY FESTIVAL #5: Call for Plays

Counting down to ICFA with eager anticipation? What better way to fill the time than to write a play!

Here are the 2020 “given circumstances” to challenge you to theatrical creative heights:

No more than TEN pages
No more than THREE characters
Include one of the following props:
A SEVERED HAND
A GIANT EYE
A LEVITATION WAND
…and include the following line of dialogue
“Contrary to popular belief, I don’t enjoy being right about this stuff”

Flash plays should be submitted via email to carriejcole@gmail.com by March 8th.
The Flash Play performances are Friday, March 20th at 9:00pm.

ICFA 41 “Climate Change and the Anthropocene” is fast approaching! Do
consider volunteering.

A volunteer team puts the conference on, and you can be part of it.
Volunteering is a great way to meet fellow IAFA members, gaze
awestruck at your favorite author guests, and see what goes on behind
the scenes.

Volunteers help at the registration desk, checking people in and
selling merch; and in the AV area, setting up and troubleshooting
equipment. We also need people to help set out complimentary books at
each table setting before meals. Registration always needs volunteers
on the Tuesday before the conference, to prepare attendee badges.

The draft program is available linked from the org’s home page:
https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/

The volunteer signup form is here: https://forms.gle/w5STMcZonRB8RLB88

Signed-up volunteers receive 10 IAFA Bucks for each hour spent
volunteering. These may be spent on the current year’s meal tickets,
which are sold to volunteers at the cheaper prepaid rate, and/or on
any merch. Or you can save your IAFA Bucks and put them toward next
year’s registration. IAFA Bucks are good for 2 years after earning
them.

REMINDER: We are in late registration right now. Reg blackout is
February 22, so you have to sign up BEFORE that date.

I hope to see you in March!

–Karen Hellekson, IAFA Registrar

Theory Roundtable*, Georges Bataille’s
“Theoretical Introduction” to La part maudite
/ The Accursed Share: An Essay on General Economy

The IAFA International Fantastic Division is sponsoring a theory roundtable at ICFA #41 on the “Theoretical Introduction” to French philosopher Georges Bataille’s La part maudite / The Accursed Share: An Essay on General Economy (1967, English trans. 1988), a political-economic book that presents a speculative theory of energy. Sean Singh Matharoo of UC Riverside will serve as facilitator; he plans for the session to proceed as follows:

First, following a short introduction during which Sean will position Bataille in the distinct histories of philosophy and literary studies, he will point out some key passages and terminology—including Bataille’s concepts of waste, “base materialism,” sacrifice, and generosity—which attendees will unpack together.

Second, attendees will explore, and together discuss answers to, these questions:

• To what extent does Bataille’s political economy allow us to confront the unsettling reality that anthropogenic climate change is a universal problem that disproportionately impacts the nonhuman—the opposite of Anthropos, the white European rational human Man?
• Does Bataille’s political economy gift us any tools with which we might transgress the capitalist economy of use and exchange that exploits nonhumans for energy?
• And, finally: How might we return to the study of the fantastic in the arts after reading Bataille in the contexts of anthropogenic climate change and the Anthropocenic energy crisis?

All ICFA #41 registrants are welcome, regardless of theoretical background. Though this article is available without cost online, those who want access to a publisher-approved version for the duration of the conference can visit the secure site https://www.fantastic-arts.org/theory-roundtable-readings/. [IF Division presenters and chairs of IF sessions for ICFA #41, as well as anyone who has presented in IF sessions for the past few ICFAs, are receiving the password to this URL over email, with apologies for cross-posting.]

To get that password (if you are not a current or recent-past IF Division presenter) or ask any other questions about this Roundtable or reading, contact: Sean Singh Matharoo (smath006@ucr.edu).

*As of the 1/25/20 ICFA #41 program draft, this Roundtable is scheduled for session #84 on Fri. 3/20/20, from 8:30-10:00 am, in Vista D (downstairs). However, this date, time, & place might change, so check the latest program draft closer to the conference start time.