Skip navigation

Monthly Archives: July 2020

Call for IAFA Volunteers

The Executive Board of the IAFA is interested in receiving input on how we can more effectively reach out to and engage with authors and scholars who are Black, Indigenous, or belong to other communities of People of Color (BIPOC), and to increase BIPOC membership in the organization. We do not want to do this in a top-down manner, but by inviting interested BIPOC IAFA members to collaborate in the formation of a committee to advise us on how to do so. I therefore encourage those interested in being part of such an initiative to send an e-mail to me at iafa.president@fantastic-arts.org.

Dale Knickerbocker
IAFA President

News from the IAFA Board

2021 ICFA: I’m sure you are all curious as to how plans are going for next year’s conference. At its June meeting, the Board discussed options for various possible scenarios and contingency plans. We believe it is still too early to make any decisions. We will meet virtually again during the fall. The ICFA will happen in one form or another.

Registration fees are frozen for next year and, for 2021 only, in light of the probable travel uncertainties there will be no late registration pricing. This may have to be revisited should circumstances change (such as the conference being held virtually).

The submissions portal for the 42nd ICFA, “Climate Change and the Anthropocene” (March 17-20, 2021), will open on 1 September and close 8 November 2020.

Other News:
The theme of the 44th ICFA (2023) will be “The Black Fantastic: The African Diaspora and the Speculative Genres”.

Beginning in 2021, the IAFA will offer an additional travel grant specifically for a Black conference attendee.

The Student Caucus of the IAFA elected Samantha Baugus to be its Representative, and Shelby Cadwell to be the Vice Representative. Congratulations to both!

The IAFA is now officially the proud home of the Imagining Indigenous Futurisms Award! https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/Imagining-Indigenous-Futurisms-Award/. We had planned on announcing this years winner at the ICFA, but…

Planning for the conference co-sponsored with the Centre for Studies of the Fantastic at the University of Glasgow for July 2021 continues and is going well.

LINK to the meeting minutes may be found at: https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/MembersOnly/. (sign into your membership account to access them).

Dale Knickerbocker
President

Call for Submissions: 2021 Jamie Bishop Memorial Award

Call for Submissions: 2021 Jamie Bishop Memorial Award

The International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts announces its 15th 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 English equivalent), 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 15, 2020. Essays may be submitted prior to the deadline.

The winner of this year’s Bishop Award will be announced at the 42nd International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts, to be held in Orlando, Florida (USA) March 17–20, 2021.

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