Skip navigation

Category Archives: IAFA

Deadline Approaching: Emerging Scholar Award

THE DAVID G. HARTWELL EMERGING SCHOLAR AWARD
(Originally named the Graduate Student Award, the award was renamed in 2016 to honor the late David. G. Hartwell.)

The International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts presents an annual award and stipend to the graduate student submitting the most outstanding paper at the Association’s conference. The award, and a check for $250, will be presented to the winner at the Awards Banquet on Saturday evening. Students must submit their completed paper (3500 words, excluding bibliography) and verification of student status by February 1, 2020.

CRITERIA & INSTRUCTIONS

1. The student will have had a paper accepted for presentation at the Conference. The paper submitted for the competition should be essentially the same as that presented at the conference. The maximum length for entries is 3500 words (about 2 pages over the recommended reading length of 8-9 pages). Students should be aware that funds are limited and that only one award will be given. The paper selected will be published in the Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, and therefore must not have been previously published or submitted for publication elsewhere. Please note that acceptance of a paper for the Conference does not guarantee an award.

2. It is the responsibility of the student to send a copy of the paper by 1 February 2020 to the 1st
VP Valorie Ebert (iafa.1vp@fantastic-arts.org), as well as a copy of the letter of acceptance and verification of student status. Submissions may be in Word, RTF, or PDF format.

3. The committee is looking for clear, coherent, and interesting writing. Essays should be solidly grounded in scholarly tradition, showing awareness of previous studies and of historical and theoretical contexts. Essays may use any suitable method of analysis, including historical and sociological approaches as well as those that originate in literary theory. Essays will be evaluated for their originality and quality of insight into the text.

The judges for the 2020 award will be:
Dr Mark Bould, UWE, Frenchay Campus
Chrissie Mains, Managing Editor, JFA
Kathryn Hume, Emerita Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of English, Penn State University

ICFA 41 Update & Hotel Information

ICFA 41

When: March 18–21, 2020

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

Guest Scholar: Stacy Alaimo, University of Oregon

Guest Author: Jeff VanderMeer

HOTEL UPDATE

Important: Please help the conference by staying when you can at the
conference hotel. The conference receives important perks and
concessions that rely on attendees’ staying in the conference hotel.
Please note that the room rate at the conference hotel is the same
regardless of the number of people who share it.

Info for conference hotel (Saturday and Sunday nights available only;
all else is SOLD OUT): https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/Location

Info for overflow conference hotel (Sheraton Suites Orlando Airport, a
short walk from the Marriott, $169 plus tax—higher than the Marriott
but less than the rack rate): Please see the email address associated with your membership for a direct link.

Hotel questions: Contact Jeri Zulli (jerzulli AT live.com), conference director.

THE PROGRAM

Presenters, did your plans change? If you had a paper accepted but you
know you cannot attend, please let your division head know so we can
remove you from the program.

Presenters, did you review the draft program? Division heads have sent
around the draft program to presenters. Please check it for
correctness of name, institution (if relevant), and paper title;
confirm you can make the date and time of your sessions; and check to
ensure you are not double booked. We have a high proportion of
two-person panels this year that we’re keen to consolidate, so if
you’re on a two-person panel, it’s likely your date and time will
change. Corrections are due to the 1VP, Valorie Ebert (iafa.1vp AT
fantastic-arts.org), by January 30, 2020. Read Val’s full note online:
https://www.fantastic-arts.org/2020/icfa-41-presenter-update/

Sched: Our first-time use of the Sched scheduling app last year was so
successful that we are going to use it again—and we will not be
preparing the paper Pocket Program. Full-size souvenir program
booklets featuring fabulous artwork will be available as usual.

VOLUNTEERING

I will email around an invitation to volunteer after the final
schedule is posted online, so people can feel confident in committing
to times. 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 spent volunteering. These may be used
for merch and meal tickets at this year’s convention, or they may be
held and put toward next year’s registration. IAFA Bucks may not be
used for this year’s registration, and they may not be used in the
book room, which is financially independent. Volunteering is a great
way for new attendees and grad students to make connections!

STUDENT CAUCUS AND MENTORING

The purpose of the Student Caucus (SCIAFA) is to foster and promote
growth, scholarship, and fellowship among the student members of the
IAFA and to address the needs of students working in the field of the
fantastic by establishing mentoring and other programs by coordinating
efforts with the main body of the IAFA. If you are a student member of
the IAFA, you are automatically a member of SCIAFA.

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. To
make the mentoring program successful, we need more mentors.
Interested mentors should email Kylie Korsnack (iafa.studentcaucus2 AT
fantastic-arts.org). Please title your email SCIAFA Mentorship
Program, and in your email, please answer the following questions:

What is your name, email address, and affiliation?
What are your main interests in the field of the fantastic?
What are your arrival and departure dates for the conference?
Are you currently planning to attend the conference reception on
Wednesday evening?*
Which role are you signing up for, mentor or mentee?

*Please inform us if your plans change!

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/

WE’VE NOTICED SOME PROBLEMS

We updated our database when we switched from a yearly membership
structure to a calendar year structure. This caused two problems.
First, some first name–last name combos got switched. This has mostly
been corrected, but if you receive a wrongly addressed email, please
let me know the correct name, and I can fix it. Second, the term of
membership is sometimes incorrect. If you notice your term is off by a
year, let me know. I’ve been changing these manually when I notice
them.

Some folks seem to have two accounts registered under different email addresses. I can merge your two
accounts; just tell me the email address you prefer.

If you have any questions or need any help with membership renewal or
registration, please let me know. I’m here to help.

Looking forward to seeing you in March!

Karen Hellekson

IAFA Membership Registrar

https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/

iafareg AT gmail.com

ICFA 41 Presenter Update

Dear All,

Just a quick note. You should have received a copy of the draft program from your Division Head.

If you could please check the program for the following:

1. Your name, institution, and paper title.

We have tried to make sure that everything is correct, but some formatting errors may have crept in.

2. The time and day of your sessions.

We believe that we have accommodated all the stated scheduling requests that your Division Heads forwarded (and they have already checked for these, but with a program this full, errors may have crept in); however, if there is a conflict or significant issue, please let us know and we will try to accommodate you.

3. Please also check in case you have been “double booked.”

We don’t believe anyone has been double booked, but another pair of eyes doesn’t hurt.

This year we have a number of two-person panels due to certain presenters already emailing to withdraw. We will try to consolidate some of these panels, so if you are in one of these two person sessions please be aware that the times and dates may change as we try to put your paper into a full session. If you are in a two-person session, could you please email your Division Head and the 1st VP (iafa.1vp@fantastic-arts.org), and we will try to organize a full session for you.

If you could please get any responses to us by Thursday, 30th January, we would greatly appreciate it. We should then be able to get the program finalized by Monday, 3rd February. As you can see, the program this year is full of wonderful and interesting sessions. Thank you all for making the conference what it is.

We are looking forward to seeing you in Orlando.

Valorie Ebert
First Vice President, International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts (IAFA.org)

ICFA 41 Update: Conference Hotel Almost Sold Out

If you’ve signed up for ICFA 41 “Climate Change and the Anthropocene” already, and your hotel reservations are solid, thank you! You are all set.

For those of you who have not yet signed up, naturally get on that before late reg begins on January 31 (link: https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/registration).

The conference hotel, the Marriott Orlando Airport Lakeside, is almost sold out. If you need to cancel any of your room nights, please pull together the dates and confirmation numbers, and contact Jeri Zulli (jerzulli[at]live.com), the conference director, so she can provide rooms for those hoping to get in.

Likewise, for those of you hoping to get in, please reach out to Jeri directly.

See you in March!

–Karen Hellekson, IAFA Registrar (iafareg[at]gmail.com)

IAFA Election Results

It is my pleasure to announce the results of the elections for the positions of Second Vice President and Public Information Officer of the IAFA.

But first, on behalf of the IAFA Executive Borad and Officers, I’d like to express our gratitude to the Election Committee for organizing them: Student Caucus Representative Wendy Wood, Registrar Karen Hellekson, and the committee Chair Immediate Past President Sherryl Vint. Our thanks also goes out to Chief Technology Officer Mike Smith for setting up the voting IT.

Most of all, thank you to all IAFA members who took time to vote in these important elections!

David M. Higgins was elected Second Vice President.

Skye Cervone was elected Public Information Officer.

Both positions are three-year terms.

Congratulations to both!

For those of you unaware of what these positions entail, see the following—and consider running in the future!

Second Vice President

The Second Vice President oversees and develops the programming track of creative guests, maintaining a current email list, contacting writers to solicit proposals, organizing sessions, and consulting the First Vice President to schedule the creative track. The Second Vice President also collects biographies and photos of the invited attending writers for publication in the program book and passes this information on to the Program Book Coordinator. The Second Vice President is elected by majority vote of the IAFA members who participate in the election.

Public Information Officer

The Public Information Officer edits and distributes promotional materials and forms publicity liaisons with other organizations where appropriate. The Public Information Officer maintains and regularly updates the website and blog, creates and distributes information from the Board such as the Call for Papers and election material, and contributes photos and promotional copy to the IAFA website. The Public Information Officer maintains and regularly updates the social media feeds, responds to inquiries via the social media feeds, and monitors the IAFA’s public image on social media. The Public Information Officer takes Executive Board minutes, disseminates them, archives them, and makes them available for archival use. The Public Information Officer is the recorder of motions and amendments at official meetings. The Public Information Officer maintains the IAFA electronic archive. The Public Information Officer is elected by majority vote of the IAFA members who participate in the election.

Dale Knickerbocker

ICFA 41 Scholar Travel Grants Announced!

Dear IAFA Members,

On behalf of the Board, I am happy to announce the names of the winners of our random, double-blind drawing: each name was assigned a number, the numbers were placed in a hat from which the drawing was made. The president did the drawing and filmed it. The film is available upon request.

Please remember that donations will make it possible for even more awards to be given next year! https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/Donate

International Scholar, $700: Megan Suttie

International Student, $700: Mark Buchanan

Domestic Scholar, $300: Sarah Mack

Domestic Student, $300: Jacob Hawk

Payment: Recipients will receive a check in the appropriate amount at the end of the conference.

I look forward to seeing you all in March!

Dale Knickerbocker

ICFA 41 Hotel Update & Conference Information

Conference Hotel: We encourage you to stay at the conference hotel, as it accrues benefits to the organization. The price is the same no matter how many people share the room. The hotel has just released a number of double rooms to us.

The hotel usually sells out, so if you haven’t already, do please book immediately: https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/Location

You can also find a direct link to book in the email account associated with your membership.

If you have already booked elsewhere, please consider trying to switching over to the Marriott.

Membership and registration: https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/

Please note that the Friday Guest Scholar lunch is included with your registration fee. The other meals cost extra.

Membership term: The membership term has been changed to calendar year. If you suspect that the system did something goofy and the year is off, contact the Registrar to research and fix.

Price list (registration fee increases on January 14, 2020): https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/resources/Documents/ICFA-41-price-summary.pdf

Merch: All merch is now the same price: $20 per piece. Only one size of tote will be available this year. If you realize you would prefer another piece of merch, you can freely exchange it, as there is no price difference.

Problems logging in? What if the system fails to recognize your name/e-mail combination? Don’t create a new profile. STOP and e-mail the Registration and Membership Coordinator, Karen Hellekson. She can update your info.

Are you a joint membership holder? The joint membership administrator first must pay the IAFA membership fee through her own account. Then each person must log in individually and sign up for the conference. If you need to break up a joint membership, email the Registrar, who can handle that bit of paperwork for you. Do you have a credit? (The system will tell you.) Sign up as usual, which will generate an invoice. Then STOP. Do not pay. Instead, email Karen with the invoice number and tell her to apply your credit. She will then contact you with any outstanding balance.

New Division Head: Please welcome Carrie Cole as the shadow VPAA Division Head!

IAFA Elections

IAFA Members,

Please check the email account associated with your membership for election information.

Deadline ICFA 41 Grant Applications for Scholars

Reminder for those of you attending the 2020 ICFA: Applications for grants for scholars are due Dec.15. All scholars who are not receiving financial support from their institution/employer are eligible, and ALL students are eligible.

For more information and to apply, visit: https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/page-1820560

Search for Associate Conference Director

The IAFA is searching for an Associate Conference Director to assist the Conference Director in liaising with the hotel, and in the myriad other tasks involved in running a conference. The person must be local to the Orlando area.

We are asking your help in distributing the position ad to individuals who may be qualified and interested, and anywhere at your university or workplace you think such a person might see it. Inquiries should be directed to iafa.confchair@fantastic-arts.org

See position advertisement below and attached for details.

Thank you very much for your assistance in this effort to keep the ICFA the unique event that it is.

Academic trade association that meets every year in Orlando, Florida in March is seeking to hire a part-time worker with conference planning experience to assist with conference management. The conference currently meets at the Orlando Airport Marriott Lakeside; there are approximately 500 attendees and 100 sessions, as well as large food functions. There are no exhibits.

The ideal candidate will have experience in all areas of conference management, including registration. The position will require about 100 hours of work from January through the conference in March as well as attendance at a board meeting during the first weekend in June, with the ability to be on site Tuesday through Saturday of the conference to assist with on-site oversight. Note: in 2020, these dates are March 17-21.

Duties BEFORE conference include liaising with hotel: for program (for example, reviewing program against hotel contract to ensure we are using the rooms for which we are contracted), for guest rooms (keeping track of our room usage and dealing with overflow hotel as needed), for meals (for example, processing special food requests and making sure the Marriott is prepared for special needs). Duties ON SITE include room checks (making sure rooms are ready for functions assigned morning, afternoon, and evening), overseeing coffee breaks (to decide when/if to order more), liaising with and helping with registration, liaising with A/V, general assistance at food functions (for example, making sure special meals get where they’re going) and general hotel troubleshooting. Compensation $2500-$5000, depending on experience and starting date.

Application should include a cover letter, a one-page statement of previous event planning experience , and a letter of reference from someone familiar with the candidate’s work in these capacities to iafa.confchair@fantastic-arts.org.