International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts

On behalf of the Executive Board of IAFA, I would like to announce that we have decided upon a replacement for Susan George, who recently stepped down as Film and Television Division Head at the end of her term. The new Division Head will be Jeffrey Weinstock of Central Michigan University.

Jeffrey has been a member of IAFA since 1996, presenting papers on a wide variety of topics. He has edited several collections including books on South Park, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Blair Witch Project, and has an upcoming book on the films of M. Night Shyamalan, in addition to working in nineteenth and twentieth century American Literature. In service to IAFA, Jeffrey has served on the Graduate Student Paper Award committee, and is Reviews Editor for JFA. He brings to the position of division head a great deal of experience in conference planning and organizing.

The board was pleased with the response to the call for candidates for the position; three people expressed interest in the job, all of them well qualified. 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

The IAFA Board is pleased to announce the results of our most recent
elections:

2nd Vice-President: Sydney Duncan (unanimous)
Treasurer: William Clemente (re-elected; unanimous)

Our thanks to all those of you who participated in the election process
as candidates and/or voters. We wish all the best to our new/returning
members of the Board and look forward to seeing everyone at ICFA-30.

Graham J. Murphy

After five years of much-appreciated service as FM Division Head, Susan George is stepping aside to allow someone else the opportunity. The IAFA board, on behalf of the entire IAFA community, thanks Susan for the hard work that she has done in this position. Beginning after the conference in March 2009, we will need a new division head for Film & Television.

This is an open call for volunteers interested in being considered for the position. The Division Head is the person who sends out paper calls for his/her Division, collects and accepts paper proposals, creates paper sessions, helps to create panels, and passes the work s/he’s done on to the 1st Vice President for scheduling. This Division is responsible for all aspects of fantasy, science fiction, and horror in film and television. In past conferences, the FM Division has sponsored papers on television series such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The X-Files, Star Trek, and Battlestar Galactica, and films from every decade, from Hammer horror and Ed Wood science fiction to Gattaca, Grindhouse, and The Day After Tomorrow.

General qualifications include current membership with IAFA (at least a couple of years of experience with the organization and conference attendance so you have some understanding of how things work at the conference), comfort with computers, easy and dependable internet access, organizational skills, the ability to work as part of a group working together on the ‘big picture,’ a willingness to work through the transition with Susan beginning immediately, the ability to attend March conferences while you hold the position and to attend the Division Heads’ meeting run by the 1st VP at the conference, plus, of course, the time required to do the work involved. The most successful division heads also make a point throughout the year of watching for new ways to advertise their divisions and for emerging scholars to approach with calls for papers.

Specific qualifications for the FM Division Head include a comprehensive knowledge of the field, both of primary texts (films and television series focused on science fiction, fantasy, and horror) and of secondary texts (scholarship on these films and series as well as film and television more generally).

Division Heads hold office for a term of 3 years (with a probationary first year) with the possibility of renewal for a second 3-year term.

If you have questions about the position, you can either email Susan or speak with her at the conference in March. To apply for the position, please email both Chrissie Mains, 1st Vice President (cemains AT shaw.ca) and Susan George, outgoing FM Division Head (sageorge13 AT sbcglobal.net) with a brief statement about your interest in and qualifications for the job. The IAFA board of directors will consider all applications for the position.

The deadline for applications is May 1, 2009.

The ballot is now available for the upcoming IAFA election (Second Vice President, Treasurer). It is available from our IAFA website at www.iafa.org.

Nominations for election to the positions 2nd Vice-President and Treasurer of the IAFA are now closed. Below you will find the candidates’ statements. Ballots for these two elections will be made available shortly.

Sydney Duncan’s Candidate Statement for 2nd Vice President

I am interested in the position of Second Vice President of IAFA. I’ve been a member of our organization for about 10 years now, reading fiction and poetry at the conference, serving as panel chair, and presenting papers.

I have stepped in at the last moment at the conference on more than one occasion to moderate panels or host readings when the need arose. I read widely in the field and consider myself a knowledgeable participant in academic and creative conversations on the fantastic. I am dedicated to seeing that the level of creative participation at the conference remains high. I am well-suited to be graduate student liaison, having served for 3 years as the advisor to the English Graduate Organization (over 140 students) when I was at the University of Alabama.

I have excellent computer skills, organizational skills, and a deep commitment to IAFA. I get along well with everyone in the IAFA organizational structure, both past and present. I have excellent relationships with many of the writers who regularly attend the conference and know many more from the convention circuit who are not regular attendees – but might be someday. I am eager to become more involved in IAFA, which I think is growing in new and interesting ways, and I am excited about opportunities to help the organization improve. I am in a secure tenure-track position at Frostburg State University, where service to professional organizations off-campus is considered of great value, so I have solid institutional support to take on the duties of Second Vice President.

I hope the IAFA membership will give me strong consideration as a candidate for Second Vice President.

Sydney Duncan; Assistant Professor of English; Frostburg State University

William Clemente’s Candidate Statement for Treasurer

Serving as Treasurer for the past three years taught me a great deal not only about keeping the records but also about the IAFA. I enjoyed the experience and am happy to run again for the position. I will continue to work hard to ensure accurate and open records of the organization’s accounts.

William Clemente; Professor of English; Peru State College

On behalf of the Executive Board of IAFA, I would like to announce that we have decided upon a replacement for Joe Sutliff Sanders, who has just stepped down as CYA Division Head at the end of his three-year term. The new Division Head for The Fantastic in Children’s and Young Adult Literature and Art will be Amie Rose Rotruck of Hollins University.

Amie is a longstanding member of IAFA, who has been presenting papers and participating on panels in the CYA Division since its inception. She has an MA in Children’s Literature from Hollins University and is currently completing an MFA at Hollins. She also has a BS in Writing for Children and the Certificate of Children’s Literature from the University of Pittsburgh. Her first book, Bronze Dragon Codex, a middle grade fantasy novel in the “Practical Guide to Dragons Adventure” series, will be out in June.

Joe will be staying on board through the end of the conference in 2009 to serve as a mentor, so we expect that the transition will go very smoothly.

The board was pleased with the response to the call for candidates for the position; four people expressed interest in the job, all of them well qualified. 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

Having more than ably served out his three-year term as CYA Division Head, Joe Sutliff Sanders has decided not to stand for another three-year term but instead to step down in order to devote his time to other research interests. We’re very sorry to accept Joe’s resignation, and we thank him profusely for the wonderful job that he has done over the past three years. Of course, Joe’s departure means that we are in immediate need of a new CYA Division Head.

This is an open call for volunteers interested in being considered for the position.

The Division Head is the person who sends out paper calls for his/her Division, collects and accepts paper proposals, creates paper sessions, helps to create panels, and passes the work s/he’s done on to the 1st Vice President for scheduling. This Division is responsible for all aspects of fantasy, science fiction, and horror in literature and art that is marketed primarily to children and young adults. In past conferences, the CYA Division has sponsored papers on the work of J.K. Rowling, Alan Garner, Edward Eager, Lewis Carroll, Lois Lowry, C. S. Lewis, L. Frank Baum, Kenneth Grahame, Philip Pullman, Robin McKinley, David Almond, Megan Whalen Turner, Maurice Sendak, and many more authors and illlustrators.

Qualifications include current membership with IAFA (at least a couple of years of experience with the organization and conference attendance so you have some understanding of how things work at the conference), comfort with computers, easy and dependable internet access, organizational skills, the ability to work as part of a group working together on the ‘big picture,’ a willingness to work through the transition with Joe beginning immediately, the ability to attend March conferences while you hold the position and to attend the Division Heads’ meeting run by the 1st VP at the conference, plus, of course, the time required to do the work involved. The most successful division heads also make a point throughout the year of watching for new ways to advertise their divisions and for emerging scholars to approach with calls for papers. Division Heads hold office for a term of 3 years (with a probationary first year) with the possibility of renewal for a second 3-year term.

If you’re interested in taking on the work of CYA Division Head, please contact both Chrissie Mains, 1st Vice President (cemains AT shaw.ca) and Joe Sutliff Sanders, outgoing CYA Division Head (dr.joess AT gmail.com) with a brief statement about your interest in and qualifications for the job. The IAFA board of directors will consider all applications for the position.

The deadline for applications is May 12, 2008.

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