Skip navigation

Category Archives: ICFA

IAFA Imagining Indigenous Futurisms Award Winner and Short List

Short List:

The Tangle by Rae Mariz

This story is an insightful, delightful evocation of the many unseen dimensions and worlds within our own universe.

The Good One by Allanah Hunt

Allanah Hunt’s evocation of the racist structures, values, and attitudes that come at Indigenous Australians daily, is powerful, deeply felt, and insightful.

Spirit Medicine by Gina McGuire

Gina McGuire has crafted a beautiful and heartful story about the complexity of maintaining indigenous healing traditions when crucial plants and practices needed to implement such traditions have been destroyed or compromised by colonialism.

Winner: Alina Pete for Telling the Soul of Mars

In poetic prose, Alina Pete is the sacred storyteller who, like her main character, captures the souls of Mars and Earth. She connects readers to the ancestors and to those we dream of who are yet to come. The story delves deeply into the power of indigenous traditions—of story-making, world building, and the transmission of culture across time and space. Pete speaks to the powerful resilience of Indigenous cultures, sciences, and traditional educational practices, while showing us how those traditions adapt and endure in the face of great challenges. From the first sentence, Pete’s story is a delight to read, full of beauty, wisdom, struggle, and hope. As we face the known and the unknown, as we continue to be at home in a wild and chaotic universe, Pete’s elegant narrative insists on the scared significance of storytelling to our humanity.

ICFA 44 is here! (Reminders, Policies, and Conference App)

Welcome to ICFA! We are excited to see you all at the Marriott Lakeside.

CANCELLATION POLICY

If you will not be attending, please let me know ASAP so I can cancel your registration in the computer system. We don’t give refunds this late but will credit you. You must use the credit within 2 years. If you don’t inform us of your desire to cancel before the start of the conference on Wednesday, you will not receive a credit.

REGISTRATION HOURS

The registration desk will be open for you to pick up your badge during the following hours:

Wednesday: 1pm-8pm

Thursday: 8am-6pm

Friday: 8am-6pm

Saturday: 8am-12pm

WE HAVE AN APP FOR THAT

The program will be available via the Sched app! Although we have optional hard-copy schedules in both long and short forms, the app will be continuously updated and therefore will be the most correct. You can also view the schedule online here (http://iaftfita.wildapricot.com), but the app will still be more up-to-date.

In a web browser…

Website: https://icfa44afrofuturism2023.sched.com/
Password: You can find the password in an email sent to the account associated with your Membership and Registration.
You will now be able to see a schedule of sessions, which you can filter.
From Schedule, you have several other options. Click around and have fun!

In the Sched app…

Download the app to your phone.
At the search prompt, type “icfa” and you should see and select the ICFA44 conference.
Password: You can find the password in an email sent to the account associated with your Membership and Registration.
The app view of sessions is like the pocket program. It is not as detailed as the web browser view.
If you have created an account, you can add and remove sessions from your personal schedule through the app. We encourage you to add a headshot to your profile.

IMPORTANT NOTES

This year’s hashtag is #ICFA44.
View ICFA Policies here
Please note that the hotel’s airport shuttle is not handicapped accessible.
Highly collectible merch featuring this year’s artwork will be available for purchase at the Registration desk. Meal tickets will be available for purchase until sold out ($48 for the luncheons and $65 for the banquet). Outstanding membership and registration fees must be paid before you can get your name tag. The Reg desk accepts cash, checks, and credit cards (but cannot take AmEx on site).

See you soon!

Emily Midkiff, IAFA Registrar (iafareg AT gmail.com)

ICFA Reminders and Theory Roundtable Reading

Only one week left before ICFA 44! Start planning your conference with the program available on our website’s main page here.

Reminders:

Presentations are only 15 minutes long and the guidelines for presenting can be found here: https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/Policies
If you need to cancel, please let me know ASAP. We don’t give refunds this late but I will assign you a credit good for 2 years. If you don’t inform me of your desire to cancel before the start of the conference, you will not be eligible for the credit.
Don’t forget to pack your fancy reusable badge holder! Stick it in your suitcase right now (or you can buy a new one at the Registration desk for $5)
Read the text for the theory reading roundtable workshop in session #29 (info below)

Theory reading roundtable workshop information

The ICFA theory reading roundtable workshop (session #29) takes place on Thursday, March 16, from 2:30-4:00 p.m. in the COVE room.

In honor of this year’s theme, “Afrofuturism,” we’re sharing “Black Media Philosophy and Technoculture Readings” from DISTRIBUTED BLACKNESS: AFRICAN AMERICAN CYBERCULTURES (2020, NYU P) by Andre Brock Jr. and ON BLACK MEDIA PHILOSOPHY (2022, U of California P) by Armond R. Towns.

The readings can be found in a password protected section of the IAFA blog. Please check the email account associated with your Membership and Registration for the link and password. Please do not share the link or password with anyone.

The specific chapters which are all together in this single file are:

Brock Ch. 1, “Distributive Blackness: Ayo Technology! Texts, Identities, and Blackness” and Ch. 3, “‘The Black Purpose of Space Travel’: Black Twitter and Black Technoculture”
Towns Ch. 2, “Black Escapism on the Underground (Black) Anthropocene” and Ch. 4, “Black ‘Matter’ Lives: Michael Brown and Digital Afterlives”

See you in Orlando!

Emily Midkiff

IAFA Registration and Membership Coordinator

SCIAFA Call for ICFA 44 Mentors

The Student Caucus (SCIAFA) is in dire need of mentors for their mentorship program. Mentors are expected to meet with their assigned mentees and help them navigate the conference if needed. There is no minimum amount of experience required to be a mentor. Please contact Amélie Hurkens (amelie.hurkens@engelska.uu.se) to volunteer as a mentor.

ICFA 44 Guest of Honor Update

The International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts is honored and proud to announce that Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki will be Guest of Honor in absentia for the ICFA 44, whose theme is Afrofuturism. His recorded presentations and live-streamed commentary will be available for exclusive viewing by those in attendance at conference events.

2023 IAFA Imagining Indigenous Futurisms Award, Deadline December 1, 2023

The IAFA Imagining Indigenous Futurisms Award recognizes emerging authors who use science fiction to address issues of Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination.

 

 

To be considered for the award, submit the following:

200-word statement with background & goals in writing SF

4,000-word maximum writing sample addressing Indigenous perspectives

Deadline: December 1, 2023

Send your materials as attachments to Professor Grace L. Dillon (dillong@pdx.edu)

Use Word Document or PDF format

Name and Page numbers on story and bio

Double space the story and use 12-point font

Proof the work for typos and other errors.

The contest winner will be announced at the ICFA Awards Banquet and on the Imagining Indigenous Futurisms Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/349927541693986. Not a member? Think about joining!

This year’s judge: acclaimed author Andrea Hairston

The Master of Poisons https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250260543

Other Novels:

Will Do Magic for Small Change and Redwood and Wildfire

Published by Aqueduct Press at http://www.aqueductpress.com/

Website: http://www.andreahairston.com

 

Visit the IFF Award Page here: https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/Imagining-Indigenous-Futurisms-Award/

Call for ICFA 44 Volunteers

ICFA runs on volunteers! If you’re looking for a way to contribute to the IAFA or help fund your ICFA 44 trip, please consider offering some time to help us run the conference. Volunteering is compensated at a rate of $10 per hour, which is  refunded to your card (against the cost of your registration) following the conference. You can volunteer for as little as 2 hours!

Fill out the volunteer form here to indicate your availability during the conference: https://forms.gle/YsrTTnchjUh5i5Lm9

Gratefully,

Emily Midkiff

Call for Interim Technology Officer

The International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts is accepting applications for the position of Interim Chief Technology Officer.

 

The duties involved in the position include:

  • inputting the conference program into the Sched app and continuing to update it with errata
  • managing the IAFA and the Board listservs  
  • ongoing technical maintenance of the IAFA website (running on WildApricot) 
  • managing email forwarders for the Board and officers 
  • supporting, in a limited capacity, the VICFA team 

Except for populating Sched with the program, which requires a stretch of time before the conference, most duties are low-intensity outside the March conference window, which requires more sustained attention. 

Prospective candidates do not need to have specific experience in the duties listed above but must feel securely comfortable with digital technologies and be willing to learn (the learning curve for all duties is not particularly steep). 

The appointed candidate will be trained by the IAFA CTO and will begin their duties immediately upon appointment, most likely around February 25. The length of the appointment is not fully clear at this time but may extend until the end of the calendar year with a possibility of becoming (semi)permanent.

Those interested in applying must send a brief statement of interest in, and qualifications for, the position to the IAFA President, Pawel Frelik (p.frelik@uw.edu.pl), no later than February 20, 2023.

2023 IAFA Crawford Award and Shortlist Announced

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

2/7/2023

2023 IAFA Crawford Award and Shortlist Announced

 

The winner of the 2023 Crawford Award, presented annually by the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts for a first book of fantasy published the prior year, is Simon Jimenez for his novel The Spear Cuts Through Water (Del Rey). Jimenez had previously published a well-received science fiction novel, The Vanished Birds (2020), but The Spear Cuts Through Water is his first fantasy book, making it eligible for the award.

The awards committee also named a shortlist including Maya Deane, Wrath Goddess Sing (William Morrow), Naseem Jamnia, The Bruising of Qilwa (Tachyon), Alex Jennings, The Ballad of Perilous Graves (Redhook), and Jacob Kerr, The Green Man of Eshwood Hall (Serpent’s Tail)

Participating in this year’s nomination and selection process were Cheryl Morgan, Karen Burnham, Niall Harrison, Liza Trombi, Candas Jane Dorsey, and Mimi Mondal. The award is administered by Gary K. Wolfe and will be presented at a banquet March 18, during the 44rd International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts in Orlando, Florida.

Also at the banquet, the IAFA Distinguished Scholarship Award will be presented to the conference’s guest scholar Isiah Lavender III.  The International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts, or ICFA, is held annually in Orlando, Florida.  This year’s conference, March 15-18, on the theme of Afrofuturism, will feature Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki as Guest of Honor.

Call for Fantasy Literature Division Head

The International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts is accepting applications for the position of Division Head of the Fantasy Literature (FL) Division. (Please see the division description below.)

Division Heads are appointed by the President on the recommendation of the First Vice President, who chairs the Council of Division Heads after formal discussion and a majority vote of the Board. The term is for three years. The incoming FL Division Head will begin full Division Head duties immediately following the conference in March of 2023. The Division Head term runs for three years.

The incoming FL Division Head will begin their term in March of 2023 and end the term in March of 2026.

Division Heads may have an opportunity to extend their term.

Each Division Head organizes and supervises all conference activity within a subdivision of fantastic scholarship. Division Heads work under the guidance of the First Vice President. Division Heads are responsible for recruiting session proposals and papers and are responsible for formatting these to the requirements of the First Vice President. Division Heads are responsible for forwarding all information to the First Vice President in a timely fashion. Division Heads have the responsibility to check the draft program for accuracy and AV needs. Division Heads are expected to liaise with other Division Heads and the First Vice President. The First Vice President is the final arbiter of the program under the aegis of the Executive Board. At the conference, the Division Heads oversee sessions in their respective Divisions and collect suggestions for future topics, special guests, etc.

Those interested in applying must send a cover letter explaining their interest in, and qualifications for, the position, and a current CV, to the First Vice President, Valorie Ebert at iafa.1vp@fantastic-arts.org, no later than March 1, 2023.

Fantasy Literature (FL) – The Fantasy Literature division welcomes critical scholarship on all aspects of fantasy literature (broadly defined to mean anything from genre fantasy to magic realism), including, but not restricted to, criticism on works by fantasy authors writing in English, interdisciplinary approaches to the genre, and scholarship on fantasy theory.