« February 2007 | Main | April 2007 »
March 26, 2007
Guest Scholar Award
The International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts awarded its Guest Scholar Award to Jane Donawerth at this year's International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts (March 14-18, 2007). Jane Donawerth is a faculty member of University of Maryland. She is the author of Frankenstein's Daughters: Women Writing Science Fiction and co-editor with Carol Kolmerten of Utopian and Science Fiction by Women: Worlds of Difference. She is a University of Maryland Distinguished Scholar-Teacher and has held NEH and University of Wisconsin Humanities Center fellowships. She is currently working on editing a collection of sf by women in the early pulp magazines. Congratulations!
Posted by GrahamMurphy at 06:50 PM | Comments (0)
March 24, 2007
Lord Ruthven Assembly Award Announcement
The Lord Ruthven Assembly's awards for excellence in published works on vampire and revenant themes for 2006 were presented in March, 2007, at the International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts to Renfield: Slave of Dracula, by Barbara Hambly (Berkley), for fiction, and Slayers and their Vampires: A Cultural History of Killing the Dead, by Bruce McClelland (University of Michigan Press), for nonfiction.
Posted by GrahamMurphy at 12:46 PM | Comments (0)
March 23, 2007
IAFA Graduate Student Award Announcement
IAFA GRADUATE STUDENT AWARD
The International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts is pleased to announce the winner of the annual Graduate Student Award. The award, and a cheque for $250, was presented to the winner at the Awards Banquet on Saturday evening.
This year's winner was Richard Landon (University of Iowa) for his paper: "A Half-Naked Muscleman in Trunks: Charles Atlas, Superheroes, and Comic Book Masculinity."
While this essay was the clear winner for all three judges, three others were noted as deserving honorable mention (in no particular order/ranking):
"A Dark and Powerful Force: Female Sexuality in the 'Authentic' Horror Film" (Michael Blouin)
"Looking for Echoes of Medieval Poetry in Arda's Nature" (Stefan Ekman)
"Representations of Gypsiness in English-language Fantasy Literature" (Jeana Jorgensen)
This year's award committee consisted of Edward James, Darja Malcolm-Clark, and Jeffrey Weinstock.
The Graduate Student Award is open to all graduate students (master's and doctoral) at any stage of their programs every year. The student must 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 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.
Posted by GrahamMurphy at 10:10 AM | Comments (0)
March 22, 2007
William L. Crawford Fantasy Award Announcement
The IAFA Crawford Award recognizes an outstanding new fantasy writer. The award was established with the support of the late Andre Norton, who also helped establish the criteria and who continued to support the award over the years.
This year’s winner is M. Rickert for her collection Map of Dreams, published by Golden Gryphon. M. Rickert was on-hand at ICFA to accept the award and now joins an elite group of award winners. Congratulations.
Posted by GrahamMurphy at 02:07 PM | Comments (0)
Best Non-English Language Scholarly Essay on Fantasy in the Arts Award Announcement
The International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts (IAFA) is pleased to announce that its 1st Annual Award for Best Non-English Language Scholarly Essay on Fantasy in the Arts has been awarded to Carlos Abraham for "Las utopías literarias argentinas en el período 1850-1950" ("Argentine Literary Utopias in the Period from 1850-1950").
Carlos Abraham (1975) received his degree in Literature from the Universidad Nacional de La Plata in Argentina, where he is presently pursuing his doctorate. As a scholar, his primary interests are the Hispanic Baroque, and fantasy literature and related genres. He is perhaps best known for his widely acclaimed book Borges y la ciencia ficción (see link). He is also Editor of the scholarly journal Nautilus, and Co-Editor of the literary magazine Éxtasis.
As an author, Carlos has won various literary prizes, among them First Prize in Metrovías's 2005 Cuentos Cortos de Terror competition for best horror short story with his "El negocio de la anciana" ("The Old Woman's Business"). He has published numerous essays, short stories, poems, translations, articles, and reviews in venues such as La Brújula, La Nueva Avenida, Julio Cortázar, Proyección, Los Conspiradores de Siempre, Arkadin y Galaxia, Artifex, Fabricantes de sueños y Textos del trovador, El Día, Nueva Era, Series Monográficas and Cuadernos Angers-La Plata.
We would also like to congratulate the authors of three essays selected for Honorable Mention:
Alfonso Merelo for "Filosofia y ciencia ficción: una aproximación" ("Philosophy and Science Fiction: an Approach")
Rocío Carrasco Carrasco and Elena Domínguez Romero for "Amenazas externas y monstruosidades internas: Planeta Prohibido(1956) de Wilcox y La Tempestad de Shakespeare" ("External Threats and Internal Monstrosities: Wilcox's Forbidden Planet (1956) and Shakespeare's The Tempest").
María Beatriz Cóceres for "Donde se detiene la mirada: Buzzati y la crónica policial" ("Where the Gaze Stops: Buzzati and the Police Chronicle")
Posted by GrahamMurphy at 07:26 AM | Comments (0)
March 11, 2007
Correction to Cultural Identity Caucus
On Thursday, March 15, Robin Reid will present the FemSpec awards on behalf of the Cultural Identity Caucus (CIC). The CIC is also hosting a “Writing about Sex” Roundtable on Friday, March 16 (2:45-3:45) in Intrepid. Come on out and exhibit your best sf/fantasy erotica! Finally, both Anita Nicholson and Robin Reid are looking for new blood for the group for the future. Let us know if you’re interested in joining.
Posted by GrahamMurphy at 04:56 PM | Comments (0)
March 06, 2007
Judges for Philip K. Dick Award Announced
Breaking News:
2007 Philip K. Dick Award Judges Announced
The five Philip K. Dick Award judges for distinguished science fiction published in paperback original format in the U.S.A. in the 2007 award year are:
Steve Miller
PO Box 179
Unity ME 04988-0179
Chris Moriarty
c/o Scott Hoffman
Folio Literary Management, LLC
505 8th Avenue, Suite 603
New York, NY 10018
Steven Piziks
8500 Ashton Court
Ypsilanti MI 48198-3614
Randy Schroeder
Department of English
Mount Royal College
4825 Mount Royal Gate S.W.
Calgary, AB T3E 6K6
CANADA
Ann Tonsor Zeddies
24 Waterview Rd.
West Chester, PA 19380-6384
Publishers who issue eligible titles during the calendar year 2007 are encouraged to provide copies to each of the judges as the books are published during the year. (All works of science fiction published originally in the US as paperbacks during the year 2007 are eligible.) The nominees will be announced in January, 2008.
The Philip K. Dick Award is sponsored by the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society. The sponsoring convention in Norwescon (the Northwest Science Fiction Society). The 2005 award was given to WAR SURF by M. M. Buckner (published by Ace Books) and a special citation was awarded to NATURAL HISTORY by Justina Robson (published by Bantam Spectra). The 2006 awards will be announced at Norwescon 30 on April 6, 2007.
For more information, contact the award administration:
David G. Hartwell (914) 769-5545.
Gordon Van Gelder (201) 876-2551
For more information about the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society,
http://www.psfs.org/: Contact Gary Feldbaum (215) 563-2511
For more information about Norwescon: http://www.norwescon.org/:
Contact NorthWest SF Society: (360) 438-0871
Posted by GrahamMurphy at 10:13 PM | Comments (0)
IAFA Election Results
Here are the results of the IAFA election, as submitted by Mike Levy to the listserv. Congratulations to Farah Mendlesohn and Christine Mains as they take over their respective duties.
Original Posting:
The results are in in the IAFA election.
Farah Mendlesohn was elected president.
Mendlesohn 51 votes
No Choice or Abstention 14
Joe Sanders 1 (write in)
Christine Mains was elected vice president
Mains 53 votes
Palumbo 13 votes
I hope you will join me in congratulating Farah Mendlesohn and Christine Mains and in thanking Donald Palumbo for running.
Mike Levy
Posted by GrahamMurphy at 10:05 PM | Comments (0)
Pictures from ICFA-27
In preparation for ICFA-28, Steve Hooley has provided the following link for pictures of ICFA-27. Thanks Steve.
Posted by GrahamMurphy at 09:07 AM | Comments (0)
March 05, 2007
Roundtable Readings
Regular attendees and careful perusers of the online program will know that each year we schedule a couple of roundtable discussions focused on particular readings. This year, the SF division is hosting a roundtable discussion of an article in Science Fiction Studies by Wendy Pearson, who will also be in attendance. The CC division (the new Communities and Cultures of the Fantastic Division, formerly part of the PCVA division) is sponsoring a discussion of two articles on gender issues in fandom cultures.
Following the usual practice, we have made these readings available prior to the conference so that anyone wishing to attend and participate can read the articles in time to formulate comments and questions. If you surf on over to the main webpage (www.iafa.org) and scroll down the page, you'll find a link to the roundtable readings. Click on that link and you'll be able to click on pdf copies of the CC readings or click on a link that will take you to the SFS site for a copy of the Pearson article (we'd like to thank Art Evans and Veronica Hollinger of SFS for allowing us to link to their site).
Thanks to Len for doing the uploading and linking, and to Barb Lucas and Sherryl Vint for co-ordinating availability of the articles.
Posted by ChrissieMains at 11:05 PM | Comments (0)
March 04, 2007
Fantasy Matters Conference
Call for Papers: Fantasy Matters conference,
November 16-18, 2007
University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Submission Deadline: May 31, 2007
Fantasy literature is everywhere these days. Whether its Eragon at the box office or the latest Harry Potter at the bookstore, fantasy literature seems to have captured the publics imagination and run away with it. In spite of, or perhaps because of this popularity, however, fantasy literature still isnt taken as seriously as other, more canonical literature.
This conference takes the position that fantasy literature does matter, and plays an important role not only in popular culture, but also in the realm of literature itself. Neil Gaiman, author of the Sandman series of graphic novels, and Jack Zipes, noted scholar of fairy tales and folklore, will be the keynote speakers at the conference.
All papers related to fantasy literature are welcome, but participants are encouraged to consider the question of the importance of fantasy literature when forming their submissions. We also welcome authors to participate in this discussion, either by serving on panels or by sharing their own creative works.
Potential panel discussions include:
* The relationship between fantasy literature and "canonical" literature
* The role of fantasy literature in childhood
* Narrative strategies in fantasy literature
* Issues of race, gender, and sexuality in fantasy literature
* The use of source material in fantasy literature
* The relationship between fantasy literature and its adaptation(s) in film
Scholars of fantasy literature at any level (fan, undergraduate, graduate, or professional) are invited to submit abstract proposals of 250 words. Scholars should plan for a 15-minute presentation with 5 minutes for questions; they may also submit entire panels for consideration, planning for three 15-minute papers per panel.
Authors of fantasy literature who would like to present their work are encouraged to submit a 5-page sample of the piece they intend to read. Authors should plan for a 30-minute reading.
All submissions should be sent to
submissions AT fantasymatters.org.
For further information, please visit www.fantasymatters.org or send questions to inquiries AT fantasymatters.org.
Those submitting proposals will be notified of their status by July 31, 2007.
Posted by ChrissieMains at 09:12 PM | Comments (0)
ICFA 28 - Pre-Conference Event
Farah Mendlesohn has asked me to pass along the following announcement about a special event taking place before the official start of the conference:
For all you early arrivals.....
Join us for Elevens's and the wit and wisdom of Brian Aldiss.
By the miracle of Radio 4, Listen Again and the ipod of Edward James, we present:
Brian Aldiss on Desert Islands Discs
Boardroom at 11a.m. on Wednesday, March 14
Posted by ChrissieMains at 09:11 PM | Comments (0)
Hotel Update from Donald Morse
Thanks to all of you who did check on their reservations. It looks now that most (and I hope all) of the Wyndham reservations have made their way into the Hilton system.
The hotel is sold out Friday and Saturday nights. This has been true in the past but happened earlier this year. We did anticipate this somewhat which is why the emphasis on registering with the hotel well in advance of the deadline of 9 February. As it was we were able to keep reservations open through 16 February but that was a stretch and not always consistent. The hotel's web page lists some other hotels in the area and we have posted a listing for potential roommates. I'm terribly sorry for the trouble and inconvenience any of you are experiencing.
I believe the large number of conferees this year demonstrates that we've outgrown the Ft Lauderdale Hilton after some 20 years. I will be discussing this and other issues at the business meeting.
See you soon for a great conference!!
Donald Morse
IAFA Conference Chair
Posted by ChrissieMains at 09:07 PM | Comments (0)