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February 28, 2005
Roundtable Readings on Website
The readings for the SF Theory Roundtable and the PCVA Theory Roundtable are now available on the IAFA website.
Because these articles are copyrighted, they are password protected. To read these articles, go to www.iafa.org/icfa26/locked/. You will be prompted for a username (icfa-26) and a password (s3x3s). Once you have entered this information, you will be able to read the two articles.
Thanks to Robin Reid and Kristina Busse for supplying the articles and Len Hatfield for arranging the website access.
Posted by ChrissieMains at 12:44 AM | Comments (0)
February 21, 2005
Still room at SFRA June 2005
The official deadline for submitting proposals was February 1, but if you're pondering attending SFRA in Las Vegas in June, 2005, there's still room available on the program.
Contact Dave Mead (dave.mead AT mail.tamucc.edu) or Peter Lowentrout (plowen2 AT aol.com).
Posted by ChrissieMains at 01:08 PM | Comments (0)
Getting Comfortable at ICFA
I'd like to second Robin Reid's message, which is full of good advice, by emphasizing that most people at ICFA are very approachable. Conference veterans, both senior professors and graduate students, will be happy to talk with you about your paper or their paper, variant editions of Dracula or the latest Neil Gaiman/Dave McKean comic collaboration, the application of Baudrillard to cyberpunk, or the relevance of Spivak to slash fiction; somewhere at ICFA will be at least a half dozen people who talk your language and share your passion. Trust me--I know this to be true from personal experience. When I attended my first ICFA back in the mid-1980's, knowing no one, I soon made friendships and professional connections that are still with me to this day.
A lot of wonderful scholarship is put on display at ICFA, but that's only half the story. The conversations are at least as important. And then there's the guest of honor's talk, and the book room, and the scholar's talk, and the luncheons and banquets, and the free books, and the many, many author readings, and the silent auction, and the swimming pool, and the play, and the mentoring program, and the parties, and Donald Morse's reading of the menu at each meal (you'll understand this last better after you've experienced it).
I've been to many other conferences, but none of them is quite like ICFA. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Mike Levy
IAFA president
Posted by ChrissieMains at 01:07 PM | Comments (0)
Mentors Needed for ICFA26
Dear all,
ICFA-26 is approaching and there is still need for a few more mentors to help out in the IAFA/SCIAFA mentoring program. So if you are a seasoned (or reasonably seasoned) ICFA participant who wouldn't mind helping a new student participant find their way around the conference, I'd appreciate it if you sent an e-mail, including the following information, to stefan.ekman AT englund.lu.se:
§ Your name.
§ Your e-mail address.
§ Your institutional affiliation.
§ Your main interests in the field of the fantastic.
§ When you will be arriving at the conference.
§ When you will be departing from the conference.
§ Whether you are currently planning to attend the conference reception on Wednesday evening.
More information about the mentoring program can be found on the Student Caucus web site and at the IAFA NewsBlog (scroll down).
More mentees are of course still welcome; if you want to participate in that capacity, add that pice of information as well :-).
Best regards,
Stefan Ekman
Student Caucus Rep.
Posted by ChrissieMains at 01:04 PM | Comments (0)
February 20, 2005
SF Division Highlights
SF Division/ICFA 26
Robin Anne Reid, Division Head
Unless you have a handy time travel device tucked away in a pocket universe, you will not be able to attend all the SF sessions since there is such a rich variety offered this year. Since a number had to be double-scheduled, herein is a Guide to the Multiple Galaxies of SF events at ICFA 26!
This group of events includes roundtables, panels, and a lecture by our Guest of Honor, Rudy Rucker, as well as a paper session on his work and the work of our permanent GoH, Brian Aldiss. Some of these events tend to be more interactive and present more of a chance to share ideas, but all will be fascinating.
Session 25: SF Theory Round Table (Thursday 2:30 Gulfstar) Read Chapter 1 of Justine Larbalestier's The Battle of the Sexes in Science Fiction (copy on the website and copies at the registration desk). Len Hatfield, Joan Gordon, and Robin Anne Reid will lead a no-doubt wide ranging and fantastic discussion on this work.
Session 28 Panel: Science Fiction and Poetry (Thursday 2:30 Atlantic). Albert Goldbarth, David Lunde, Judith Kerman, Joe Haldeman, and Michael Arnzen will be discussion science fiction and poetry.
Session 55: Science Lecture (Friday 2:45 Bertram) will feature the guest of honor, Rudy Rucker, on "The Lifebox, the Seashell and the Soul."
Session: 88: Rudy Rucker and Brian Aldiss (Saturday 2:00 Bertram) with presentations by Loren Means and John Roche.
Session 93: Panel: PMLA Special Issue (Saturday 2:00 Atlantic) Marleen Barr, Carl Freedman, Jeri Zulli, John Clute, and Eileen Gunn discuss issues relating to scholarship on SF, focusing on the PMLA Special issue.
Having special connections to the theme of this years conference are these four paper sessions featuring a range of disciplinary approaches to SF and analyses which foreground the blurring boundaries between genres of the fantastic and "realism."
Session 18: Philosophy, Aesthetics and the Fantastic (Thursday 10:30 Intrepid) with presentations by John Garrison, Donna Ross Hooley, and Chris Tonelli.
Session 33: Blurred Boundaries and Slipstreams (Thursday 4:00 Gulfstar) with presentations by Faye Ringel, Steen Christiansen, and Grace L. Dillon that will range from medievalisms to slipstream to scarification.
Session 66: Cultural Ideologies and Ambivalence in SF (Friday 4:00 Intrepid) blurs boundaries by having presentations by Art Evans, Carl Yoke, and Robin McAllister on Jules Verne, William Gibson, and Daina Chaviano.
Session 75: Blurring the Boundaries Between SF and Realism (Saturday 8:30 a.m. Intrepid) with presentations questioning genre borders by Wilma Shires, Edward Carmien, and Heidi Robbins.
These two paper sessions feature presentations on some of the authors in Golden Age SF and the later challenges to the genre of SF during the sixties and seventies, covering major authors and issues during these decades.
Session 7: Culture, Conflict, and Controversy in Sixties and Seventies SF (Thursday 8:30 Bertram) with presentations by Rob Latham, David M. Higgins, and Jenny Bonnevier.
Session 43: From Cold Equations to Capitalism: Fifties SF (Friday 8:30 a.m. Donzi) with presentations by Michael Underwood, James Landau, and Amelia Beamer.
These four paper sessions all include presentations that foreground contemporary critical theories such as feminist, gender and queer theory, postcolonialism, Afro-futurism, and cover topics such as the origins of science fiction, feminist fabulations, cyberpunk and cyber-subjectivity, and the conditions for queer sf erotica. Authors analyzed include (but are not limited to!) Margaret Atwood, William Gibson, David Brin, and Walter Mosley.
Critical Theory & Multiple Approaches to SF (Paper Sessions)
Session 14: Feminist Fabulations (Thursday 10:30 Hatteras) with presentations by Audrey Johnson, Marleen Barr, and Janice M. Bogstad.
Session 34: Postcolonialism, Cyber-subjectivity, and Afro-futurism (Thursday 4:00 Intrepid) with presentations by John Rieder, Larissa Lai, and Isiah Lavender III.
Session 72: William Gibson (Saturday 8:30 a.m. Bertram) with presentations by Amy E. Eoff, Lisa Swanstrom, and Carol McGuirk.
Session 98: Intimate Adventure and Queer Erotica (Saturday 4:00 Gulfstar) with presentations by Jean Lorrah, Patricia Melzer, and Norman Stroh.
Posted by ChrissieMains at 06:26 PM | Comments (0)
Observations and a Question from Irma
"These have been important to me:
1. Sharing the hotel costs is possible, as is looking for roommates through the iafa-list;
2. The lunch and banquet system, with piles of free books, and wonderful guest of honour speeches;
3. The total lack of shops near the hotel, meaning, unfortunately, a lack of pharmacy things" (ed. note: this is less of a problem for those with rental cars, of course).
And a question from Irma to other longtime conference-goers:
"Actually I would be interested to know how you could get to the beach without a car."
Anyone have any ideas?
Posted by ChrissieMains at 03:26 PM | Comments (0)
Advice to Newcomers from Robin Reid
The first time at a conference is like a visit to a new country. Each academic conference has its own culture. If this conference is your first one ever, the experience is even more frightening. The temptation will be to hide away in your room and to scurry to your session and maybe a few others and then to take cover. That's understandable--I did it myself at my first major conference (which was attended by about 1800 scholars!). But even ICFA, much smaller in terms of numbers (much more interesting in terms of focus and covering a much larger scope and area of disciplines than many academic conferences) can seem intimidating. Everybody around you will seem to know people and have others to talk to, while you alone are left to lurk in the hallways.
My advice would be to attend the newcomer events--to sign up for a mentor, to keep an eye out for those other people who look as if they are attending for the first time. And remember that we all share a common interest in the fantastic. Come a few minutes early to sessions, and stay after. Network. Talk to the presenters (don't we all love to hear that someone enjoyed our presentation!) Talk to the other audience members. Try to be there for more than just the day you're presenting if at all possible. Don't ignore the opportunities at the luncheons and around the pool and the lounges during the days and in the evenings to meet and hang out with others, especially if you recognize them from sessions, if they're working or writing in areas that you are also interested in. Some of the best connections and friendships start up in between the official events.
And the fastest way to start meeting people is to volunteer. All academic conferences are run by academics, most of us volunteering to do this professional service. Seek out your Division Head and talk to them: maybe you'd like to organize whole paper session in your field of interest next time, or suggest a panel discussion topic and then organize the event. Attend the business meeting and see what parts of the conference need volunteers. Getting involved in running things will guarantee you more involvement and interaction as well as people approving of you! If you enjoy the conference and plan to make this area one of your scholarship and/or teaching areas, you'll want to attend again, and you'll find that your second and third time things are different. You're no longer a newcomer, you know more of the language and the people.
Posted by ChrissieMains at 03:24 PM | Comments (0)
February 18, 2005
Publishing Opportunities at ICFA26
58. Publishing Opportunities (Friday 2:45 Intrepid)
Robin Anne Reid
Although listed under the SF Programming Track, this session will be of interest to those who work with ANY genre or medium of the fantastic, focusing on women writers and artists or on gender.
This session is intended as a working/brainstorming session for those interested in contributing to Greenwood Press' Women in Science Fiction and Fantasy: An Encyclopedia. I signed the contract to edit the Encyclopedia in January 2005. Official calls for contributors will be going out with more specific information in a few months, but this session is your chance to get involved early. If you cannot make the session, feel free to grab me at the conference and give me your contact information!
PROJECT INFORMATION: Greenwood has specified a multi-genre and multi-media focus for the project which will produce the first general reference work focusing on women's contributions to science fiction and fantasy in fiction, nonfiction, film, television, art, comics, graphic novels, and music. The two-volume work will be 350,000 words long. Volume 1 (approx 175,000 words) will be a collection of thematic essays. Volume 2 (175,000 words) will be the A-to-Z component. Along with the primary focus on the women writers and artists, the Encyclopedia will also include entries on how the topics of "women" and "gender" have been dealt with by major male writers and artists in science fiction and fantasy. The focus is primarily but not exclusively on work in English from the 19th century to the present, covering fiction, nonfiction, film, television, art, comics, graphics novels and music. Background entries will draw on existing international scholarship on feminism, women writers and fantastic genres to cover major writers in other languages and national traditions. Background entries will also address fantasy by and about women from the Middle Ages through the 1800's.
Posted by ChrissieMains at 08:11 PM | Comments (0)
February 13, 2005
ICFA26 Program Update
The schedule for ICFA 26 has been re-uploaded to the website. This is the version that will appear in the printed program.
Inevitably, there will be changes as we get closer to the conference, as a few papers are withdrawn or emergencies arise. But any such changes will be listed on the errata sheet included in registration packages.
Posted by ChrissieMains at 01:22 PM | Comments (0)
February 01, 2005
ICFA 26 Program Uploaded
The program for ICFA 26 is now available for review on the website; just go to www.iafa.org and click on the link for ICFA26 Program (in Progress).
Keep in mind that the program is still undergoing minor tweaks and revisions, so there will likely be changes in the coming weeks. The authoritative version of the program will be that listed in the printed program book and accompanying errata sheet, which will be part of the package you receive when you arrive at the Registration Desk in March.
Please review your own information carefully, and contact Farah Mendlesohn (farah.sf AT gmail.com) with any corrections to the spelling of your name, or your institutional affiliation, or other information. We've done our best to make sure that all of the information is complete and accurate, but there have been a lot of steps between your submission of a proposal to the Division Head and this version of the program.
Posted by ChrissieMains at 04:04 PM | Comments (0)