International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts

We are less than a month away from ICFA 43!

Volunteers Needed

ICFA runs on volunteers. If you would like to help out with the Registration desk and/or AV, then please let us know and indicate your availability with this form: https://forms.gle/64ZDmD5Rwih6KxE3A Volunteers will be compensated per hour toward their registration costs.

Program Available

The draft program for the conference can be viewed at https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/

Virtual Presentations

Unfortunately, our conference center at ICFA is not equipped for virtual presentations, so we cannot offer the kind of hybrid conference that some other organizations have done. If you are scheduled to present, but find that you cannot attend in person, then please let us know so that we can remove you from the program. Please also look for details about the new all-virtual October Conference!

The October Conference

We will be hosting our first annual all-virtual October conference this year. Details about how to submit to this conference will be announced later this year, but they will be separate from ICFA submissions. If you find that you cannot attend ICFA after all, then you may re-submit your presentation for the October conference, but there is no guarantee of acceptance since the theme and scope may be different.

See you in March!

Emily Midkiff

IAFA Registrar

It is my great pleasure to announce the election of the next President of the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts: Dr. Pawel Frelik.

A two-term Division Head of the IAFA, Paweł Frelik is Associate Professor and the Leader of Speculative Texts and Media Research Group at the American Studies Center, University of Warsaw, Poland. His teaching and research interests include science fiction, speculative visualities, and video games. He has published widely in these fields, serves on the boards of Science Fiction Studies (USA), Extrapolation (USA/UK), and Journal of Gaming and Virtual Worlds (UK), and is the co- editor of the New Dimensions in Science Fiction book series at the University of Wales Press. In 2013-2014, he was President of the Science Fiction Research Association, the first in the organization’s history from outside North America. In 2017, he was the first non-Anglophone recipient of the Thomas D. Clareson Award. Within IAFA, he has served as Science Fiction Division Head since 2017. Dr. Frelik will assume the presidency at the end of the 43rd ICFA in March.

Congratulations, Pawel!

Dale Knickerbocker
IAFA President

The Flash Plays will once again manifest in the Capri lounge at the Marriott Orlando Airport Lakeside! We invite you to submit your play for joyful consideration.

Here are the 2022 “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:

THE FEATHERS OF THE GOLDEN GOOSE

RODNEY THE FRIENDLY ROBOT

A SACK FULL OF DOLL HEADS

…and include the following line of dialogue

“Time has lost all meaning”

Flash plays should be submitted via email to kelli.shermeyer@gmail.com by March 1th.

The Flash Play performances are Friday, March 18th at 9:45pm.

And if you’re interested in joining the Flash Players on stage, please let us know!

—
Kelli Shermeyer, Ph.D. (she/her/hers)

IAFA seeks to fill two or three positions for Conference Assistants

Running ICFA is a lot of work—so much so that if only one or two people are in charge of running the conference, those people inevitably get to enjoy very little of the actual conference. In an effort to spread the workload a bit—and to get more people trained on conference management—IAFA has decided to create a team to work with the Conference Director on organizing and running ICFA. We seek two candidates but will consider three, if there is enough interest and energy. Ideally, candidates will work as a team during the year (with regular zoom meetings) to prepare for the conference, interacting with the hotel, for example, and liaising with the board officers in charge of scheduling; at the conference, each candidate will be “Conference Person in charge for a day” over the three busy days of the conference (Thurs, Fri, Sat), freeing up the others to enjoy the conference on the days they are not in charge. Appointments are for one year and are renewable.

Interest in the future of IAFA is required.

Experience with meeting planning is a plus but not required.

Experience attending ICFA a few times is a plus but not required.

The flexibility to arrive on Tuesday before the conference and/or stay until the Monday after the conference is also a plus but not required.

What is required:

>ability to put in about 30-50 hours throughout the calendar year and to work for a portion of the conference, including at least one of the three major meal functions

>flexibility: an ability to adjust to changing circumstances and to think quickly

>stamina and a certain amount of strength: lifting, moving, and shifting stuff is often required

>above average attention to detail

In recognition of the sacrifice of time enjoying the conference this work will entail, conference assistants will receive:

>One night’s stay in the hotel will be covered by IAFA as compensation for the day spent working as Conference Person in Charge

>Another night’s stay in the hotel will be covered by IAFA if the assistant is asked to come a day early or stay a day late; two nights if both.

>50% discount on ICFA Registration

>A meal ticket to any food function at which the assistant is working

A sampling of the duties:

Work with hotel: review guest room lists; determine which meeting rooms are scheduled, when and how they are set, and review the Event Orders for accuracy; determine menus for functions and accommodate special dietary needs; check the meeting rooms every morning; monitor coffee breaks; check tickets at food functions.

Work with First VP: ensure that session rooms are scheduled in alignment with the space we have contractually reserved.

Work with Registration Coordinator: keep track of food ticket sales in order to guarantee number of meals to hotel; organize place cards for reserved tables.

Work with Book Room Coordinator: ensure sufficient numbers of books for meal functions; help put books on meal tables

Work with the president: ensure that organization meetings are scheduled (such as Board meeting, Division Head meeting, JFA meeting) at appropriate times and that we have head counts for them.

Interested candidates: please submit cover letter detailing any relevant experience and CV or resume to Jeri Zulli, Conference Director, iafa.confchair@fantastic-arts.org, by February 4, 2022.

ICFA 43: Fantastic Communities

When: March 16–19, 2022

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

Guest Scholar: Farah Mendlesohn

Guest Author: Nisi Shawl

News:

Early registration will be extended until January 22nd this year!

Event details:

Membership and registration gateway: https://www.fantastic-arts.org/mnrgateway/

Cost: Regular member early registration is $110; it goes up to $135 on January 22, 2022; then up again to $165 on February 8. Students, there is no early registration fee break for you. Use the “normal” registration fee of $55, which goes up to $110 on February 8. Please note that the Friday Guest Scholar lunch is included with your registration fee. Those presenting must be IAFA members, which costs $85 for North American individual, $90 for international individual, and $60 for student individual.

Hotel Group Rate: Book your room by January 31st to take advantage of our rate.

Do you have an “overpayment” credit? (The system will tell you after you log in) Follow these steps to apply it to your registration or membership:

Step 1: After you enter your registration or membership information, continue to Payment
Step 2: Click “Pay Online” and then “Cancel”
Step 3: Click “View Profile” in the upper corner of the screen
Step 4: Select “Invoices and Payments”
Step 5: If you have a credit, there will be a yellow bar that says your remaining balance due after the credit is applied. Click “Settle” in that box and choose your open invoice to apply the credit to it.

Problems logging in? If the system fails to recognize your name/e-mail combination, don’t create a new profile. STOP and e-mail me. I 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. It’s best if the admin doesn’t do this through her account because the system populates the sign-up form, and it will mess up individual preferences, like division membership or dietary needs. If you want everything on one invoice, then generate invoices for each transaction (joint membership; individual conference attendance). Then STOP. Email me the invoice numbers and I will contact you with directions on how to pay with one transaction.

Looking forward to seeing you in Orlando!

Emily Midkiff, ICFA Registrar (iafareg@gmail.com)

ICFA Program

Because we extended the deadline for submissions, everything else also got pushed back a little including sending out acceptance letters and drafting the program. Unfortunately, there were some portal issues that delayed our progress even more. We are planning to have an entire draft of the program out to you all in early January. If you have not already heard from your division head, you will shortly. We are sorry for any inconvenience and thank you for your patience while we work things out. -Valorie Ebert, 1st Vice President

Travel Subventions

The IAFA Board is thrilled to renew its practice of providing travel subventions for students and other scholars who do not receive institutional funding. These are apportioned as follows:

2 scholars: one international (non-U.S.) at $700, one U.S. resident at $300.*

2 students: one international $700, one U.S. resident at $300.*

*U.S. residents living outside may receive a slight differential at the Board’s discretion due to higher air fares.

The selections will be made by the President in a blind draw, witnessed. To apply, please go to https://www.fantastic-arts.org/icfa-subvention-application/. Applications due by 15 January 2022.

Using Credits from 2020

To use your credit for registration or membership renewal, follow these steps:

Step 1: After you sign in and select the option to register/renew your membership, continue to Payment

Step 2: Click “Pay Online” and then “Cancel”

Step 3: Click “View Profile” in the upper corner of the screen

Step 4: Select “Invoices and Payments”

Step 5: There will be a yellow bar that says your remaining balance due after the credit is applied. Click “Settle” in that box and choose your open invoice to apply the credit to it.

Dear ICFA Attendees:

The IAFA Board is thrilled to renew its practice of providing travel subventions for students and other scholars who do not receive institutional funding. These are apportioned as follows:

2 scholars: one international (non-U.S.) at $700, one U.S. resident at $300.*

2 students: one international $700, one U.S. resident at $300.*

*U.S. residents living outside may receive a slight differential at the Board’s discretion due to higher air fares.

The selections will be made by the President in a blind draw, witnessed.

To apply, please go to https://www.fantastic-arts.org/icfa-subvention-application/. Applications due by 15 January 2022.

We look forward to seeing you! And may the odds be ever in your favor.

Sincerely,

Dale Knickerbocker, IAFA President