June 26, 2008
Memories of ICFA
Hi all,
Here is a message from Judy McCormick (Conference Publications Officer) and David Hartwell (Book Exhibit Coordinator):
Attention, all regular attendees of ICFA – either recently or of old:
We need your help!
We (the Book Room crew),with the fiercely sentimental editorial and lay-out help of Judy Collins McCormick,are putting together a beautiful and stylish memory book for the 30th anniversary conference next spring, and we would like to get the work done this summer if at all possible.
So . . .
We need your photos!
If you have old photos of ICFA – black and white or color – we would like copies to consider for inclusion in this publication. The older the photos, the better, but please do not neglect the recent past.
Your options:
a)You may scan them at 300dpi and e-mail them to Judy at the address below;
b) You may send physical photos to Judy (e-mail her and ask for her other address), and she will scan them and send them back. (Be sure to include your other address.)
We do, of course, need for you to identify people in the photos,
since none of us look the way we used to.It would also help us if you could identify at which conference the photo was taken. And we want to credit the right people, so please let us know who took the picture.
And especially, we need your thoughts!
Yes, here’s the real pitch: We need you to write a personal reminiscence and send it to us, so that we can gather a spectrum of personal essays on what fun the conference has been, not to mention how provocative and interesting and important. We cannot promise to publish every single piece we get, but we can promise to put almost everything up on the internet on an anniversary site, including all those pictures.
Please, please, please, please, please:
E-mail a Word file to Judy at the address below;
In a cover e-mail, include your name, physical address, and phone number, as well as a mention of which conferences you have attended and whether or not you plan to attend ICFA 30. No anonymous submissions will be accepted.
Our current deadline is August 1st, but if you need a bit more time, let us know and we can probably arrange it.
If you are one of the fine people who wrote a piece for our 20th anniversary booklet, we encourage you to revise and expand that piece for the new book. If you are not one of those fine people, you are probably still a fine person, and we still want your reminiscences.
You can reach us for questions at dgh@tor.com and jarcm@insightbb.com
And if we don’t hear from you, we may email you personally — possibly several times — to “encourage” you.
Thanks!
David and Judy
Posted by GrahamMurphy at 10:32 AM | Comments (0)
February 22, 2008
Jamie Bishop Memorial Award Announcement
The International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts is pleased to announce the 2008 recipient of the Jamie Bishop Memorial Award for an Essay Not in English is Professor María Beatriz Cóceres for her award-winning essay “Poéticas del multireal: extrañamiento del motivo del doble en los cuentos de Julio Cortázar y Dino Buzzati” (“Poetics of the Multireal: Estrangement of the Double Motif in the Short Fiction of Julio Cortázar and Dino Buzzati”). Information on Professor Cóceres and an overview of the essay is available under the “Awards” tab on the IAFA website (www.iafa.org). Congratulations to all the candidates and to this year’s recipient.
Posted by GrahamMurphy at 05:30 AM | Comments (0)
January 14, 2008
Preliminary Nebula Ballot
The 2007 Preliminary Nebula Ballot Public Edition has been announced. It can be seen here.
Posted by GrahamMurphy at 07:05 AM | Comments (0)
December 11, 2007
Graduate Student Award for ICFA
IAFA GRADUATE STUDENT AWARD
The 29th International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts
The International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts is pleased to continue its annual award and stipend to the graduate student submitting the most outstanding paper at the Association's 2008 Conference, to be held at the Orlando Marriott Airport Hotel, Orlando, FL, March 19-23, 2008. The award, and a cheque for $250, will be presented to the winner at the Awards Banquet on Saturday evening.
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), excluding bibliography/works cited page. 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 2008 to the IAFA Student-Support Committee's Chair, as well as a copy of the letter of acceptance and verification of student status.
Submissions should be in MSWord or rich text format (rtf) files, sent as e-mail attachments to Robin Anne Reid, Student Support Committee Chair, at:
Robin_Reid@tamu-commerce.edu
rrede13@yahoo.com
Students may be in master's or doctoral programs, at any stage of their program (taking courses, taking exams, writing theses or dissertations), as long as they are currently enrolled. Verification of student status could be a letter of confirmation from a director or advisor, a copy of student ID, etc.
Support documents may be sent as attached files to the same address or sent by mail to:
Department of Literature and Languages
Texas A&M University-Commerce
Commerce, TX 75429
3. The committee is looking for good writing: clear, coherent, and
interesting. Essays should be solidly grounded in scholarly tradition, showing awareness of previous studies and of historical contexts. Essays may use any suitable method of analysis, including historical and sociological approaches as well as those which originate in literary theory. Judges tend to value the ability to examine materials from a theoretical perspective without simply plugging in a particular critical method. Essays should give a clear idea of the critical/theoretical framework within which the discussion will be situated, as well as identify primary and secondary texts for the discussion.
Posted by GrahamMurphy at 03:29 PM | Comments (0)
October 22, 2007
The Fantastic and MLA
For those of you attending MLA in '07, this might be of interest:
Modern Language Association -- national conference in Chicago, December 2007
Panel number and title: #458. Science Fiction in the “Third” World
Saturday, 29 December, 10:15–11:30 a.m., Michigan B, Sheraton Chicago Hotels and Towers
Program arranged by the Discussion Group on Science Fiction and Utopian and Fantastic Literature
Presiding: Rachel Haywood Ferreira, Iowa State Univ.
1. “A Fence against the Other: Utopian and Science Fiction in West Africa,” Tiziana Morosetti, Univ. of Bologna
2. “Gender Anarchy and Gender Anarchism: A Look Back at the Argentine Future with Ana María Shua and Angélica Gorodischer,” Patrick O’Connor, Oberlin Coll.
3. “Keri Hulme’s Utopian Remythification in The Bone People,” Sharon R. Wilson, Univ. of Northern Colorado
Posted by GrahamMurphy at 03:25 PM | Comments (0)
October 12, 2007
WorldCon 2009
Congratulations to Montréal for winning the 2009 WorldCon bid [and I'm particularly thrilled as it's only a few hours drive away for me :-)]. Anticipation, the 67th World Science Fiction Convention, Montréal, Québec, will be held Thursday 6 August - Monday 10 August, 2009 at Palais des congrès de Montréal. The attendees include:
Neil Gaiman - Guest of Honour
Elisabeth Vonarburg - Invitée d'honneur
Taral Wayne - Fan Guest of Honour
David Hartwell - Editor Guest of Honour
Tom Doherty - Publisher Guest of Honour
Julie Czerneda - Master of Ceremonies
More information can be found at the Anticipation website.
Devention 3, the 66th World Science Fiction Convention, will be held in Denver, Colorado, from Wednesday 6 August - Sunday 10 August, 2008.
Posted by GrahamMurphy at 06:46 AM | Comments (0)
September 20, 2007
Robert Jordan's Passing
The death of Robert Jordan is making international headlines, so click on over to www.locusmag.com for the many links to obituaries that lament the loss of a key figure in the field of the fantastic.
Posted by GrahamMurphy at 08:49 PM | Comments (0)
September 13, 2007
Jamie Bishop Memorial Award
The International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts Announces its
****The Jamie Bishop Memorial Award for an Essay Not in English** *
(Formerly the Annual Award for the Best Non-English Language Scholarly Essay on the Fantastic)
We define the fantastic to include science fiction, folklore, and related genres in literature, drama, film, art and graphic design, and related disciplines.
Prize: $250 U.S. and one year’s free membership in the IAFA to be awarded at the International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts in March 2008. Winning essay to be published online at the IAFA website.
Deadline: October 31, 2007
We consider essays of up to 10,000 words (including notes and bibliography). Essays may be unpublished scholarship submitted by the author, or already published work nominated either by the author or another scholar (in which case the author’s permission should be obtained before submission). An abstract in English must accompany all submissions. Submissions may be made electronically (preferred) in MS Word, Word Perfect, or RTF format, or by mail.
Please direct all inquiries and submissions to:
Dale Knickerbocker
Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures East Carolina University Greenville, NC 27858 USA
knickerbockerd@ecu.edu
Fax: 252-328-6233
Posted by GrahamMurphy at 12:01 PM | Comments (0)
September 04, 2007
Hugo Awards Announcement
Locus Online has information pertaining to the recent Hugo Awards, including such winners as Vernor Vinge (our Guest of Honor for the upcoming ICFA-29), Tim Pratt, Robert Reed, and Julie Phillips. The link is here.
For information on other awards, including the Chelsey Awards and the Prometheus Awards, please click here.
Posted by GrahamMurphy at 06:22 AM | Comments (0)
Alice Borchardt (1939-2007); Joe L. Hensley (1926-2007)
SFWorld.com has information pertaining to the recent passings of both Alice Borchardt (1939-2007) and Joe L. Hensley. The link is here.
Posted by GrahamMurphy at 06:17 AM | Comments (0)
August 21, 2007
IAFA and Facebook
My involvement with Facebook is, to put it lightly, a bare minimum; however, Stacie Hanes has been so kind as to establish the IAFA on Facebook. So, for those facebookers (is that even a term? what is the term for those actively participating in Facebook?), the link is:
http://kent.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2249636821
There's also one for the SFRA as well (a little courteous plug to our fellow association). It's at:
http://kent.facebook.com/group.php?gid=224968681
Finally, Kathryn Cramer has set one up for NYRSF at:
http://kent.facebook.com/group.php?gid=4719447319&ref=mf.
Posted by GrahamMurphy at 05:01 PM | Comments (0)
July 10, 2007
Awards Information Update
Locus Online reports Ben Bova's Titan is the winner of the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best SF novel published in 2006 and Robert Charles Wilson's "The Cartesian Theathre" is the winner of the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for best short fiction of the year. The awards were this weekend at the Campbell Conference in Kansas City, Missouri.
In addition, the Rhysling Awards for best SF/Fantasy/Horror poetry of 2006 went to Rich Ristow for "The Graven Idol's Godheart" (short poem) and Mike Allen for "The Journey to Kailash" (long poem). The awards were announced last weekend at ReaderCon.
For more information, please click here.
Posted by GrahamMurphy at 07:35 AM | Comments (0)
July 03, 2007
Fred Saberhagen: 1930-2007
Locus Online has news regarding the death of sf and fantasy author Fred Saberhagan. For more information, please click here.
Posted by GrahamMurphy at 07:15 PM | Comments (0)
June 29, 2007
Announcement: The Jamie Bishop Memorial Award for an Essay Not in English
The IAFA is proud to announce that the annual award given for best essay not in English has been officially renamed The Jamie Bishop Memorial Award for an Essay Not in English. Jamie taught German at Virginia Tech and his fantastic artwork has been the cover art for books by Michael Jasper and Michael Bishop. Jamie’s impressive electronic portfolio can be found at http://www.memory39.com/.
Posted by GrahamMurphy at 07:53 AM | Comments (0)
June 19, 2007
Awards Information Update (Mythopoeic, Ditmar, and Lambda)
Locus Online has posted the finalists for Mythopoeic Awards as well as the winners for both the Ditmar Awards and the Lambda Literary Awards. The link is here.
Posted by GrahamMurphy at 08:16 AM | Comments (0)
Locus Awards Winners
Locus Online has its list of Locus Awards Winners, including Vernor Vinge's Rainbows End (Best Science Fiction Novel), Ellen Kushner's The Privilege of the Sword(Best Fantasy Novel), and a variety of other awards. The link is here.
Posted by GrahamMurphy at 08:10 AM | Comments (0)
June 01, 2007
John W. Campbell Memorial Award Finalists
As reported on Locus Online, the finalists for the 2006 John W. Campbell Memorial Award are:
Ben Bova: Titan
Nick DiChario: A Small and Remarkable Life
David Louis Edelman: Infoquake
M. John Harrison: Nova Swing
Jack McDevitt: Odyssey
James Morrow: The Last Witchfinder
Justina Robson: Living Next Door to the God of Love
Barbara Sapergia: Dry
Karl Schroeder: Sun of Suns
Charles Stross: Glasshouse
Vernor Vinge: Rainbows End
Jo Walton: Farthing
Peter Watts: Blindsight
The award will be handed out at the Campbell Conference and Awards Ceremony in Kansas City, Missouri, July 6-8, 2007. Good luck to all the nominees.
Posted by GrahamMurphy at 11:33 AM | Comments (0)
May 31, 2007
Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award Finalists
As reported on Locus Online, the finalists for the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award are:
Paolo Bacigalupi: "Yello Card Man"
Flynn, Michael F. Flynn: "Dawn, and Sunset, and the Colours of the Earth"
Jeffrey Ford: "Botch Town"
Ian McDonald: "The Djinn's Wife"
Paul Melko: "The Walls of the Universe"
Robert Reed: "A Billion Eves"
M. Rickert: "You Have Never Been Here"
Benjamin Rosenbaum: "The House Beyond Your Sky"
Christopher Rowe: "Another Word for Map Is Faith"
William Shunn: "Inclination"
Michael Swanwick: "Lord Weary's Empire"
Robert Charles Wilson: "The Cartesian Theater"
Robert Charles Wilson: "Julian: A Christmas Story"
Good luck to all the nominees. The award will be handed out at the Campbell Conference and Awards Ceremony in Kansas City, Missouri, July 6-8, 2007.
Posted by GrahamMurphy at 05:03 PM | Comments (0)
April 22, 2007
Locus Awards Announcement
The finalists for the Locus Awards are listed here here and the winners will be announced on June 16 at the Locus Awards Ceremony in Seattle (during the Science Fiction Museum's Hall of Fame weekend). Good luck to all the nominees in the various categories.
Posted by GrahamMurphy at 05:20 PM | Comments (0)
April 20, 2007
Jamie Bishop, Victim of Virginia Tech Shootings
It is with a heavy heart that we announce Jamie Bishop, son to SF author and New York Review of Science Fiction friend and contributor Michael Bishop, was among the slain at Virginia Tech. Jamie was a cover artist for Golden Gryphon Press and taught German at Virginia Tech where his classroom was part of the second wave of violence that rocked the university. The Jamie Bishop and Jocelyne Couture-Nowak Scholarships have been set up and will be awarded annually to German and French majors at Virginia Tech. Donations may be made payable to the Virginia Tech Foundation for the Jamie Bishop Scholarship (for German Majors) or the Jocelyne Couture-Nowak Scholarship (for French majors). A full news story can be found here.
Posted by GrahamMurphy at 04:37 PM | Comments (0)
April 12, 2007
Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007)
As reported by the New York Times, Kurt Vonnegut died on April 11th. The full story can be found here.
Posted by GrahamMurphy at 07:03 AM | Comments (0)
April 09, 2007
Philip K. Dick Award Announcement
It was announced at Norwescon 30, in SeaTac, Washington, that the winner for the distinguished original science fiction paperback published for the first time during 2006 in the U.S.A. is:
Spin Control by Chris Moriarty (Bantam Spectra)
Special citation was given to:
Carnival by Elizabeth Bear (Bantam Spectra)
The Philip K. Dick Award is presented annually for distinguished science fiction published in paperback original form in the United States. The award is sponsored by the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society. The 2006 judges were Geary Gravel, Anne Harris, Christine Mains (chair), Kristine Smith, and Mark W. Tiedemann.
The 2007 judges are Steve Miller, Chris Moriarty, Steven Piziks, Randy Schroeder, and Ann Tonsor Zeddies.
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 03:41 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)
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 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)
February 13, 2007
Hal Hall's SF/Fantasy Research Database
SCIENCE FICTION DATABASE REACHES MILESTONE
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Research Database developed at Texas A&M University reached a significant milestone with the loading of the updated database December 31, 2007. The database provides author, title, and subject access to over 75,000 individual items about the fields of science fiction, fantasy, and related material, drawn from books, journals, newspapers, fanzines, the internet, and occasionally unpublished manuscripts.
The database is based heavily upon the Science Fiction and Fantasy Research Collection in the Cushing Memorial Library and Archives and collections in the Sterling C. Evans Library at Texas A&M , with the substantial assistance of the Interlibrary Loan department of the University Libraries. Material acquired for indexing from other sources is archived in Science Fiction: Collected Papers, the research file of compiler and science fiction curator Hal W. Hall. That archive is housed in the Cushing Library Science Fiction and Fantasy Research Collection.
In addition to the files of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Research Database, the Cushing Library Science Fiction Research Collection houses over 25,000 books, some 90% of the science fiction and fantasy magazines published in English, and manuscripts and papers of many science fiction and fantasy writers. The total collection numbers over 43,000 published items, and several hundred linear feet of archival material.
The Cushing Library is open daily from 8:00 am to 7:00 pm Monday through Friday, and Saturday 9:00 am to 1:00 pm, during the regular semester. For more information, contact Hal W. Hall at the Cushing Library: 979-862-1840 or email hhall AT lib-gw. tamu.edu
Hal W. Hall
Curator, Science Fiction Research Collection
Cushing Library
Texas A&M University
5000 TAMU
College Station TX 77843-5000
Editor, Science Fiction and Fantasy Research Database
(979) 862-1840 (with voice mail)
FAX (979) 845-1441
E-Mail: Hal-Hall AT TAMU.EDU
Posted by ChrissieMains at 07:18 PM | Comments (0)
December 14, 2006
SFRA 2007 - CFP
Call for Papers and Panels at SFRA 2007
The Science Fiction Research Association
Westin Crown Center Hotel,
Kansas City, Missouri
July 5-7, 2007.
Papers on any SF-related topic are welcome. Papers on our guest authors Fred Pohl, James Gunn, or Allen Steele are particularly encouraged, as are papers on Robert A. Heinlein and the conference theme, Celebrating the Golden Age of Science Fiction.
Deadline for Proposal Submission: April 1, 2007.
Conference Participants do not have to be members of SFRA.
Send a copy of your proposal to the Program Co-Chairs (send two letters/emails):
BOTH
Professor Philip Snyder
SFRA Proposal
66 Waterford Circle
Rochester, NY 14618
psnyder AT monroecc.edu
AND
Carolyn Wendell
SFRA Proposal
279 Newcastle Road Rochester,
NY 14610-1336
cwendell AT rochester.rr.com
Posted by ChrissieMains at 01:36 PM | Comments (0)
August 04, 2006
NEMLA Panel on Octavia Butler
Shaping the Future of Octavia Butler: Towards Understanding Her Legacy
Call for Papers
Panel Title:
Shaping the Future of Octavia Butler: Towards Understanding Her Legacy
38th Convention,
Northeast Modern Language Association (NeMLA)
March 1-4, 2007
Baltimore, MD
The recent, tragic death of Octavia Butler occasions comments about her legacy. A recipient of a MacArthur "genius" grant and the Nebula and Hugo awards, and a rare voice in a genre dominated by white men, Butler has drawn much critical attention. This panel seeks to identify and trace Butler's characteristic concerns: the individual and the community, the mobility of identity, the semi-permeable barrier between self and Other, the voice of the liminal, and the nebulous and changing loci of race, gender and sexuality.
Ultimately, the panel will attempt to define the importance of Butler’s oeuvre:
*To what extent did she help to humanize science fiction, to raise questions of humanity in a genre that is often more concerned with plot and theme or the end of humanity altogether?
*How did her voice influence science fiction, African-American literature, “serious” fiction?
*What new possibilities did her work open up in any or all of these genres?
*How did her view of the self influence other writers and/or foreground discussions of the nature of self?
*To what extent did she write from the margins? To what extent bring the margin into the center?
*What new ground did she break, and what lasting effects has she had on other writers and on the various genres within which she worked?
These are preliminary questions, of course, and they rise as well from certain assumptions about the nature of literature and of humanity. Papers that question the validity of these questions as they pertain to the work of Octavia Butler will also be given serious consideration; the panel seeks to open up a discussion rather than deliver a summative judgment. We welcome papers that examine characteristic themes in any work or her opus as a whole.
Please submit 250-500 word abstracts by September 15 to Shari Evans, either as a word attachment to sevans@umassd.edu, or in hard copy to
Shari Evans
Assistant Professor of English
University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth
285 Old Westport Road
North Dartmouth, MA 02747-2300.
For further information on NEMLA and the convention, please see the NEMLA website: www.nemla.org.
Posted by ChrissieMains at 04:20 PM | Comments (0)
July 09, 2006
SFS - Special Issue on The Animal
Science Fictions Studies invites proposals for a special issue on The Animal, exploring the variety of ways that science fiction may be analysed from the perspective of animal studies. Animals are among the oldest metaphors through which humanity has defined itself. We welcome both papers that deal with representations of animals and the metaphorical use of the category of speciesism to enforce social boundaries and establish a humanist subject, and also papers that consider our changing material relationships with animals as they are mediated by changing technologies. Science fiction's long history of engaging with themes of alterity and of narrating the social consequences of technological change point to the many fruitful intersections of the genre with animal studies research.
Proposals might consider, but are not limited to, some of the following conjunctions of animal studies and science fiction:
o Manufactured animals as commodities, workers, or tools within the sf world, including manufactured 'lab tool' animals such as Oncomouse
o Animal-like aliens as companions, family members, pets or comrades of humans
o Animal-like aliens as competition or threat, invading force, vermin, or predator of humans
o Representations of humans as animals from the point of view of alien species
o Challenges to the species boundary through human/animal hybrids
o Darwinian stories especially those dealing with non-human primates including proto-human species
o Animals and nature seen as resource for human projects including scientific experimentation
o Stories of animal cognition, including uplift stories or those in which animals naturally evolve to a point beyond humans
o New technological relationships with animals and their implications (factory farming, gene splicing, xenotransplantation, pharming, etc.)
Please send abstracts of no more than 500 words by September 30, 2006 to:
Sherryl Vint
Department of English
St. Francis Xavier University
P.O. Box 5000
Antigonish, NS B2G 2W5
Canada
FAX (902) 867-5400
svint AT stfx.ca
Posted by ChrissieMains at 10:57 PM | Comments (0)
IAFA International Scholarship Award
Dale Knickerbocker, Division Head for International Fantastic Literatures, would like to announce a new award sponsored by the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts.
The International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts Announces its
1st Annual Award for the Best Non-English Language Scholarly Essay on the Fantastic
We define the fantastic to include science fiction, folklore, and related genres in literature, drama, film, art and graphic design, and related disciplines.
Prize: $250 U.S. and one year’s free membership in the IAFA to be awarded at the International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts in March 2007
Winning essay to be published online at the IAFA website
Deadline for consideration: November 30, 2006
Essays may be unpublished scholarship submitted by the author, or already published work nominated either by the author or another scholar (in which case the author’s permission should be obtained before submission). An abstract in English must accompany all submissions. Submissions may be made electronically (preferred) in MS Word, Word Perfect, or RTF format, or by mail.
Please direct all inquiries and submissions to:
Dale Knickerbocker
Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures
East Carolina University
Greenville, NC 27858
USA
knickerbockerd AT ecu.edu
Fax: 252-328-6233
The following is a list of those who have volunteered to serve as judges:
German
David Dickens, Professor of German, Washington and Lee University (up through 19th c)
Viveke Rutzou Petersen, Associate Professor of Women´s Studies, Drake University (women and fantasy)
Elizabeth Borchardt, Professor of German, University of Minnesota at Morris (19th-20th cc, film)
French
Amy J. Ransom, Associate Professor of Modern Languages, Anna Maria College, Paxton MA (Quebecois)
Stephanie Perrais, ABD Penn State University (19th-Early 20th centuries)
Helen Pilinovsky, ABD Columbia University (Fairy Tales, Folklore)
Charlene Gill, Texas State University, (comics/graphic)
Alfred Fralin, Professor of Romance Languages (French, Spanish, Italian), Washington and Lee (20th c.)
Japanese
Antonia Levi, Associate Professor of Japanese History, Portland State (manga, anime)
Miri Nakamura, ABD Stanford (19th c.)
Hiroko Chiba, Associate Professor of Modern Languages, DePauw University (20th c.)
Sarah E. Thompson, PhD, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, (visual arts)
Northern Europe
Edward James, Professor of History, University College, Dublin Ireland (medieval, SF)
Irma Hirsjarvi, ABD, Jyväskylä University (Finnish, general Scandinavian)
K.A. Laity, Assistant Professor of English, University of Houston (Medieval, Folklore, Fairy Tale-Finnish)
Stefan Ekman, ABD, (Swedish, general Scandinavian)
Hispanic
Andrea Bell, Professor of Spanish, Hamline University (Latin American SF, esp. Venezuela)
Yolanda Molina-Gavila´n, Associate Professor of Spanish, Eckerd College (Peninsular and Latin American SF)
Rafael Montes, Assistant Professor of Spanish, St. Thomas University (Latin American SF, esp. Mexico)
Juan Carlos Toledano, Assitant Professor of Hispanic Studies, Lewis and Clark College (Latin American SF, esp. Cuba)
Sharon Sieber, Professor of Spanish, Idaho State University, (Latin American fantasy, esp. Argentina)
Robin McAllister, Professor of Spanish, Sacred Heart University (Latin American fantasy, esp. Argentina, Southern Cone)
Dale Knickerbocker, Associate Professor of Hispanic Studies, East Carolina University (Peninsular fantasy & SF)
Pablo Brescia, Assistant Professor of Hispanic Languages and Literatures, University of South Florida (Latin American fantasy)
Maria Aline Ferreira, Associate Professor, University of Aveiro, Portugal (Portuguese, Spanish, Italian fantasy)
Posted by ChrissieMains at 10:28 PM | Comments (0)
March 26, 2006
Links of Interest Related to the Conference Theme
From Kelly Searsmith:
The Fantastic in Outsider Art Panel Follow-Up
At ICFA-27’s Fantastic in Outsider Art panel (session 36), Gary K. Wolfe and Peter Straub mentioned the work of Henry Darger (1892-1972), who was then unknown to many of us present. Since returning home, I’ve been reading about Darger around the web, and want to share some resources with others. I’ve also collected some Outsider Art resources, some new and some that I’ve long enjoyed.
These are prefaced with the Emily Dickinson poem I attempted to quote at the session’s Q & A, as I made the case for Dickinson’s counting as an outsider writer in her time:
To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee,—
One clover, and a bee,
And revery.
The revery alone will do
If bees are few.
_____
Darger Resources:
Sara Ayer’s excellent Henry Darger Page serves as a good first stop.
Chicago’s Carl Hammer Gallery currently has an extensive online display of Darger’s art, to accompany an installation. An approximate chronology of Darger’s life, and a short essay entitled REALMS OF THE UNREAL by Stephen Prokopoff, are available there as well.
General Outsider Art Resources:
Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art.
The American Visionary Art Museum gives a fine site for online exploration.
In the UK, Henry Boxer Gallery does similar work (an online artist list is provided).
_____
More Outsider Art in Other Media:
Two media of outsider art I especially love, but which we did not discuss in detail, are architecture (sometimes called “extreme homes”) and automobiles (also known as “art cars”).
The extreme homes that would count as outsider art (rather than as insider architectural experiment) are those that are, of course, hand built by untrained, impassioned, and often eccentric folks who just have to manifest the vision in their heads. I especially like these media because the home and car are American icons for masculine success and family values (the home at least, and cars of a certain, sensible kind). So, how subversive of these outsider artists to give such status symbols their own spin.
_____
Examples of Outsider Architecture:
Leonard Knight’s Salvation Mountain in Nilund, California
Edward Leedskalnin’s Coral Castle of Homestead Florida (not far south of Ft Lauderdale): (with a moving story about Ed’s motivation for the project)
Earl Young’s Mushroom House in Charlevoix, Michigan
Howard Solomon’s Homemade Castle in Ona, Florida
Mary Lou Gulley’s Mystery Castle of Phoenix Arizona(with a particularly moving story about why her father may have built it)
Links to Art Car Examples:
Fairy Tale Studies and Fictions
Attending the International Conference for the Fantastic in the Arts always inspires me, especially to the return of a subject of central and lasting interest: fairy-tale studies and new fairy tale art. In honor of this renewed burst of inspiration, I'm sharing a list of good starter resources in this area:
Professional Contacts and Contexts
Scholarly Journals
Marvels & Tales: Journal of Fairy-Tale Studies (published by Wayne State University Press)
The Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts (focuses on international and interdisciplinary treatments of the fantastic in the arts; housed at Idaho State University)
Extrapolation (housed at University of Texas at Brownsville; focuses on popular, contemporary fantasy and sci fi criticism)
Folklore (international journal of folklore and folkloristics)
Journal of the American Folklore Society (book reviews available online)
The Journal of Popular Culture (published by Blackwell; bi-monthly)
Organizations
Mythic Imagination Institute (with annual Mythic Journeys Convention); for the Mythic Passages newsletter, see here
The Mythopoeic Society (also holds an annual convention; prints Mythlore, Mythprint, and Mythic Circle; and runs the Mythopoeic Press)
Endicott Studios (with an online journal in the mythic arts), the creation of Terri Windling
SurLaLune fairy tale pages (with an introduction to fairy tale studies, discussion board, list of fairy tale authors, online store, and electronic texts of selected annotated tales), the creation of Heidi Anne Heiner
The Folklore Society (based in London; awards the annual Katharine Briggs Folklore Award)
The American Folklore Society (which publishes a journal under its name)
Academic Discussion Lists
The International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts (based in the USA)
Fantastic: Fantasy and Science Fiction Research Network (based in Australia)
New Fairy Tale Fiction and Popular Columns
Realms of Fantasy (with its famous, and very good, Folkroots column)
The Fairy Tale Review (Kate Bernheimer’s new contemporary literary fairy tale annual, with an outstanding Board of Directors to recommend it, in addition to her own presence as editor)
Cabinet des Fees (online and soon to be in print literary review of fairy tale fiction – you go Helen!)
Mytholog (quarterly review publishing mythic and folkloric poetry and fiction, essays, and illustration)
The Mythic Circle (review of The Mythopoeic Society, publishing poetry and fiction)
Ellen Datlow (editor of many fairy-tale oriented and friendly fantasy anthologies)
Electronic Traditional Tales Archives
Grimms’ Tales (all 209, but rough copy)
D.L. Ashliman’s Folktexts (folk and mythology, with a special section on Germanic sagas and legends)
Rick Walton’s Folk and Fairytales library
Les contes de Madame d’Aulnoy (twelve, en Francais)
University of Maryland (includes selected texts of Hans Christian Andersen, Arabian Nights, Grimm, Tom Thumb, Irish Fairy Tales, and Lang)
Other Electronic Resources
Irish Literature, Mythology, Folklore and Drama (created by the web editor of the Luminarium, Anniina Jokinen)
Mythology Web (which bills itself as is the premier spot on the web for information about folklore, myths and legends)
Bibliography of Folktale Motif Indexes (Sith Thompson's multi-volume compilation is the standard reference)
Posted by ChrissieMains at 06:27 PM | Comments (0)
February 24, 2006
CfP: Deadline March 15 for MLA panel
Fantasy Fictions in the 21st Century
Although science fiction and fantasy are frequently paired in literary criticism, science fiction has often seemed to garner the bulk of both popular and critical attention -- from the overwhelming popularity of films like Terminator 2 and The Matrix to Fredric Jameson's recent theorization of the science fiction genre in Archaeologies of the Future. Moreover, while 1980s and 1990s sci-fi films and video games increasingly capitalized on the future-chic of cutting-edge technology -- usually signaled by heroines with avant-garde haircuts and PVC costumes -- fantasy seemed relegated to a terminally un-hip and de-eroticized land of role-playing games, medieval robes and magical animals. Yet the avid consumption of new and revitalized fantasy fictions in the past several years suggests a transformation of this dynamic, one that seemingly leaves behind the cyberpunk dystopias of the 1990s in favor of the studied archaism of Phillip Pullman, J.R. Tolkien, Susannah Clarke and many others.
For a proposed special session at the 2006 MLA convention, I welcome papers exploring the significance of this contemporary surge in the fantasy genre as it appears in both literature and film. Approaches of interest include but are not limited to the following:
* Neo-medievalism and other temporal/historical interventions of fantasy fictions
* Relationship between new/recently adapted work and fantasy genre theory
* Fantasy fictions and the posthuman
* The queerness of fantasy and slash fantasy
* The centrality of England and "English magic" in contemporary fantasy
* Fantasy and the role/position of children, children's lit and childishness
* The role of adaptation and the literature/film nexus
* Fantasy and/vs. technoscience
* The race politics of contemporary fantasy
* Nostalgia, gender and patriarchy in new/adapted fantasies
* Fantasy and the postsecular
* The conjunction of high-tech films and low-tech utopias
* Ecocriticism and fantasy
Please send a 1-page abstract and brief CV by March 15 to Jane Elliott (je509@york.ac.uk)
Jane Elliott
Department of English and Related Literature
University of York
Heslington, York UK YO10 5DD
Tel: (44) 1904 433366
Fax: (44) 1904 433372
je509@york.ac.uk
Posted by ChrissieMains at 04:00 PM | Comments (0)
January 08, 2006
CfP: Women in SF & Fantasy: An Encyclopedia
CALL FOR CONTRIBUTORS
Greenwood Press
Planned Completion Date: January 2007
The 2-volume, illustrated Women in Science Fiction and Fantasy: An Encyclopedia is scheduled to be published by Greenwood Press in 2007. The Editor is seeking contributors for unassigned entries.
The focus will be primarily but not exclusively on work in English from the 19th century to the present, covering fiction, nonfiction, film, television, art, comics, graphic novels, music and poetry.
Volume I (175,000 words) will consist of essays. The longer pieces will provide socio-historical context, analysis, and background information on key themes that cross genre boundaries. Two possible schemas are being considered for this volume. The final editorial choice will depend to some extent on the scholarship and interests of the chosen contributors. One approach is multi-genre essays, tightly focused in period. An alternate approach is single-genre essays covering larger historical periods. Scholars chosen to write essays are invited to do some of the A-Z entries relating to their essays.
Volume II (175,000 words) will consist of the A-Z component. Alphabetically organized entries will focus narrowly on key figures and issues. Categories, which can apply to any of the media covered by the work, will include (but are not limited to): single entries on significant writers/artists/composers (primarily women but some men); group and background entries on a range of writers/artists/composers not covered in single entries; and single and group entries on characters and character types, genres, historical periods, national traditions, and major themes.
Background entries will draw on existing international scholarship in feminism, women writers and fantastic genres to cover major writers in other languages and national traditions. Other background entries will also address fantasy by and about women from the Middle Ages through the 1800's. Entries on how the topics of "women" and "gender" have been dealt with by male writers and artists in science fiction and fantasy will also be included.
Candidates must be willing to write thematic essays totaling 5000 words and/or entries ranging from 250-1000 words. Preference will be given to college professors, published writers, and advanced graduate students, but others qualified to write about women in science fiction, fantasy, and related genres in work in English from the 19th century to the present, covering fiction, nonfiction, film, television, art, comics, graphic novels, music and poetry will also be considered.
This project is interdisciplinary with a women's studies focus, so the editor is especially interested in soliciting writers in the following fields: communications and media studies, cultural studies, ethnic studies, film and television studies, gender studies, history, literature, media studies, multicultural studies, sociology, and women's studies. Scholars in other fields working with the fantastic are also encouraged to participate.
Deadline for submissions: September 1, 2006
This deadline is firm.
Greenwood has contracted for a $5000 budget for honorariums to all contributors plus 100 copies of the published work for contributors.
Compensation for accepted essays/entries will be the 2-volume set of the encyclopedia, which will be sent to contributors at publication, plus an honorarium. The amount may increase depending upon number of writers involved in project:
Thematic essays: $250
Entries: $50-$100 (depending on length)
Additionally, there is a $5000 budget for permissions and reproduction fees for up to 50 black/white illustrations (reproductions of book and magazine covers, art, etc.) Contributing scholars are encouraged to submit illustrations with permissions to support their essays or key figures and themes.
If you are interested in writing for this important reference, please send a short biographical sketch describing your background, publications, and interests in women's contributions to a specific genres/medium of the fantastic along with your preferred e-mail and postal address to the Editor.
Qualified candidates will receive a listing of available entries.
Prospective contributors will receive an assignment, contributors' guidelines, and sample entries by e-mail followed by a release form postal mailed from the publisher to be signed and returned.
Completed entries are subject to the normal editing process required for quality publications and are accepted for publication at the discretion of the editor, advisory board, and publisher.
EDITOR:
Robin Anne Reid
Department of Literature and Languages
Texas A&M University-Commerce
Commerce TX 75429
Robin_Reid AT tamu-commerce.edu
Rrede13 AT yahoo.com
Fax: 903-886-5980
Phone: 903-885-5268
Posted by ChrissieMains at 06:09 PM | Comments (0)
June 12, 2005
Worldcon Academic Track
If you're planning to attend the 2005 Worldcon in Glasgow in August, be sure to check out some of the sessions in the Academic Track, organized by Farah Mendlesohn, IAFA's Vice President.
Information about sessions in the Academic Track is being updated, so bookmark the page, which links to the main site for Interaction (Worldcon 2005).
Posted by ChrissieMains at 11:08 AM | Comments (0)
April 12, 2005
Study Day at U of Nottingham
Science Fiction(s):
A Study Day on Science Fiction Film, Television, Literature and New Media
University of Nottingham,
Friday, 19th August 2005
We are delighted to announce Will Brooker, Cathy Johnson and Sara Gwenllian-Jones as keynotes speakers at this event, in addition to a presentation by Simon Hollington and Kypros Kyprianou surrounding their cross-disciplinary project, The Invisible Force Field Experiments.
Call for Papers:
While popular representations of science fiction have been granted a certain degree of academic legitimacy in recent years, this study day represents an attempt to rethink the frameworks in which the study of science fiction has been defined generically by industries, audiences and texts. The Science Fiction(s) event seeks to redress the balance in order to examine the crossover of sf spectacularity, and the intermediality of sf's intersection with television, literature and new media.
This one day forum for debate is intended to facilitate an interrogation of the cultural value of these peripheral and multidisciplinary engagements with science fiction(s), seeking to examine how sf space has transmuted into divergent media. Our intention is to look specifically at the extensive crossover potentials that emerge between sf manifestations such as television, literature, DVD and video, as well as gaming and internet community participation.
Possible topics might include but are by no means limited to:
SF Crossing the Generic Divide
Science Fiction/Science Fact
Science Fiction and Science Eventuality
Selling Science Fiction To Infinity and Beyond
Blockbusting SF SFX
Low Budget and Independent SF
Time Travel and Quantum Leaps
Transgressive Hyperbodies
Internet Communities, Fandom and Collecting
Gaming and Console Creativity
Please send proposals of 300 words and a short biographical note by Friday, 29 April 2005 to
Kerry Gough: arxklg1 AT nottingham.ac.uk
Or by post to:
Kerry Gough
Science Fiction(s) Committee
Institute of Film and Television Studies
School of American and Canadian Studies
University of Nottingham
Nottingham NG7 2RD
Further details and a registration form are available at: the website.
Posted by ChrissieMains at 05:44 PM | Comments (0)
Science Fiction Foundation Awards
A reminder from Michelle Reid about two separate awards run by the Science Fiction Foundation.
First, a reminder that the deadline for the annual SF Foundation Essay Prize is coming up on 31 May 2005.
Judges for 2005:
Brian Attebery (Idaho State University)
Graham Joyce (World Fantasy Award winner)
Dianne Newell (University of British Columbia)
Essay submissions are invited for the annual Foundation Essay Prize. Authors must be graduate students at the time of submission. The essay, which must be in English, should be between 5000 and 8000 words long and may be on any aspect of science fiction.
Please send your submissions to Dr Michelle Reid in Word format, at michelle AT surguy.net
The winning essay will be published in Foundation; all submissions to the prize will be regarded as submissions to the journal, and will be considered for publication.
Second, the SF Foundation Bursary, which is open to everyone:
A £250 bursary will be awarded by the Science Fiction Foundation to be put towards the cost of a research visit to the SFF Collection at the University of Liverpool. Preference will be given to those not normally resident in Liverpool and its region.
Send a proposal of the planned research (maximum 300 words) to Dr Michelle Reid at michelle AT surguy.net
There is no deadline for applications as proposals will be judged on a case by case basis according to the needs of the applicant and merit of the research. More than one bursary may be awarded per year.
Posted by ChrissieMains at 05:39 PM | Comments (0)
April 05, 2005
Update - CfP Theorizing Fan Fiction
The deadline has been extended to May 15.
Fan fiction has recently gained increasing visibility in both mass media and academic writing. Although numerous insightful essays have appeared in various venues, no comprehensive essay collection has traced the changes and shifts in fan culture and fan fiction since the groundbreaking works of Henry Jenkins, Camille Bacon-Smith, and Constance Penley of the early 1990s. This essay collection looks to complement these crucial early explorations into fan fiction by expanding their scope and focus to include such recent phenomena as the Internet (with fan culture revolving around Usenet groups, mailing lists, and blogs); the rapid growth of stories featuring previously taboo subjects such as underage sex, incest, and real person fiction (RPF); and the changing demographics of the fan base. Recent work has also queried the frequently debated and constantly shifting attitudes toward writing and community, as well as more sophisticated self-analysis, in part the result of the increasing presence of academic fans.
We are looking for academic essays geared toward a general readership and particularly welcome personal reflections of readers, writers, and fans. This collection strives to be interdisciplinary, and we especially welcome historical, sociological, and anthropological approaches, as well as English and media studies. Essays may focus on particular fandoms and source texts but should ultimately move beyond the specifics to address larger concerns and experiences relevant to fandom and fan fiction at large. Papers will fit into one of four broad sections: history and terminology; text, writer, reader; forms and genres; and community.
1. History and terminology
Factual accounts of history and terminology should be tempered with analysis, perhaps indicating shifts as time passes and as fan fiction moves from hard copy to cyberspace. Traditional zines, fan fiction CDs and downloads, Usenet, mailing lists, and blogs could be analyzed, perhaps in terms of fandom's response to technological change. Analysis of specific fandoms as well as more general overviews are welcome.
2. Text, writer, reader
The relationship among any of the three elements of the rhetorical situation needs analysis. Academic/fan, reader/writer, process and writing, engagement with source text (such as episode fixes or traumatic events in the canon source), questions of canon, fanon and characterization, and issues of author insertion and identification--these are just a few uneasy relationships that need contextualization. Studies of the process of writing, as opposed to the product, as central are also needed.
3. Forms and genres
Content (romance, hurt/comfort, Mary Sue, slash, het/ship, genfic, episode fixes, alternate universes and realities, mpreg, BDSM, kinkfic, elves, wingfic) and form (real person fiction or slash, role-playing games, songfic, drabbles) should be assessed with a view to reaching a novel conclusion. Possible topics might include partnership versus enemy romance; the notion of slash as an idealized relationship; and challenge fics.
4. Community
New analyses of the fan fiction community generating and consuming the texts that take into account new use of technology are needed. LiveJournal and other online communities, the interaction among writer/beta/audience, fan fiction as gift, strategies to meld the fan fiction community (cons, fic archives), and inculcation of new fans into the fan fiction community all need to be theorized in light of technological change and a concomitant lack of policing. Other possible topics include the identity politics of fandom and the emotional investment of fans into fandom, the texts, and each other.
Details
All fandoms are welcome, as are essays about mediafic, bookfic, comicfic, and RPF. The volume will be geared to academics and students interested in jargon-free, theory-based analyses of media and audience, including, among others, students in English, media studies, and sociology. Personal scholarly essays as well as more traditional academic essays are encouraged.
Preparation
Submit complete essays not more than 7500 words in length (excluding abstract, notes, and works cited). Include an abstract not more than 500 words long that summarizes the argument. Submit files via e-mail in Microsoft Word or .rtf format. Use in-text author-page number citations whenever possible. Use endnotes sparingly for substantive notes. Style according to Chicago 15. If artwork, photographs, or screen shots are included, contact the editors for instructions and copyright release requirements. No simultaneous submissions. We also cannot accept previously published essays. If you have put your essay up on the Internet, we cannot consider it for inclusion.
Publication details
We do not have a firm book contract yet. However, a publisher has expressed interest in the proposal and has agreed to look at the volume. If the publisher accepts the volume, we anticipate a late 2005 publication date.
Contact
Karen Hellekson, PhD, and Kristina Busse, PhD
* E-mail: theorize@karenhellekson.com
* URL: http://www.karenhellekson.com/theorize/
Deadline
Extended to May 15, 2005.
Please inform us in advance of your interest in the project and get in contact with us about any questions you might have about possible submission topics. We also encourage early submission to facilitate revision.
Karen Hellekson
Kristina Busse
Posted by ChrissieMains at 12:49 PM | 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)
January 18, 2005
SFRA2005 Reminder
You'll have such a great time meeting colleagues and listening to thought-provoking papers at ICFA that you won't want to wait an entire year for another conference. You'll be wondering where else you can go to listen to like-minded scholars discourse on science fiction and fantasy.
One possibility is SFRA2005 in Las Vegas in June. You can find more information on the conference through SFRA's website at www.sfra.org. But check it out soon; the deadline to submit a paper proposal is Feb. 1, 2005.
Posted by ChrissieMains at 02:40 PM | Comments (0)
January 03, 2005
Rocky Mountain MLA CfP
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature and Film Panel welcomes proposals for presentation at the Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association (RMMLA) annual convention at the Coeur d'Alene Resort on the Lake in northern Idaho from Ocober 20-22, 2005. There is no special theme or focus.
Please send abstracts (250 words or so) to me by February 28th.
Dr. Lance Rubin
Chair, Department of Humanities
Arapahoe Community College
Littleton, CO 80160
lance.rubin AT arapahoe.edu
Posted by ChrissieMains at 06:35 PM | Comments (0)
December 24, 2004
2005 WorldCon update
The programming committee of the academic track of WorldCon 2005 would like to remind potential participants that while the focus of the Science Fiction Foundation Academic Track at the 2005 Worldcon will be on the Matter of Britain, papers on any aspect of SF, fantasy and horror are all welcomed, particularly non-English language SF and fantasy.
Short papers (of no more than 15 minutes to give plenty of room for discussion) are invited. Proposals should be sent to: academic-prog AT interaction.worldcon.org.uk.
Posted by ChrissieMains at 12:25 AM | Comments (0)
Canadian SF/F Conference 2005
The 2005 Academic Conference on Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy will be held Saturday, June 4, 2005, in Toronto, Ontario, at the Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation and Fantasy, one of the most important collections of fantastic literature in the world.
We invite proposals for papers in any area of Canadian science fiction and fantasy, including:
-studies of individual works and authors;
-comparative studies;
-studies that place works in their literary and/or cultural contexts.
Papers may be about works in any medium: literature, film, graphic novels and comic books, and so on. For studies of the audio-visual media, preference will be given to discussions of works produced in Canada or involving substantial Canadian creative contributions.
Papers should be no more than 20 minutes long, and geared toward a general as well as academic audience. Please submit proposals (max. 2 pages) to:
Dr. Allan Weiss
Department of English
York University
4700 Keele St.
Toronto, ON M3H 3N4
Deadline: March 1, 2005
Posted by ChrissieMains at 12:20 AM | Comments (0)
September 06, 2004
Reading Stargate SG-1-Call for Papers
Reading Stargate SG-1 and Beyond: Stan Beeler and Lisa Dickson, eds.
We have secured a contract offer with a publisher and are now soliciting essays for a forthcoming collection focusing on Stargate SG-1 and its spin-off series, Atlantis.
Essay abstracts of 500 words should be forwarded by October 1 2004 to Stan Beeler (stan at unbc.ca) or Lisa Dickson (dicksonl at unbc.ca).
In 1997 the series Stargate SG-1 first aired on American Cable television, initially on Showcase and then in later seasons on the SciFi and Space channels. Through syndication, it has since ventured into broader European markets. Stargate SG-1 has blossomed into a series with a stable market value driven by fierce fan loyalty. Moreover, the series has an eighth season in production and what may be considered the holy grail of any television series, a spin-off (Atlantis) also premiering this summer.
Given the short and brutish lifespan of the average fantasy / Science Fiction series it would seem appropriate to take a critical look at Stargate SG-1 as it enters its eighth season and attempt to discover the source of its staying power. The show's military setting and its dramatization of the American military's relationship with external powers (both Earthly and extra-terrestrial), and its exploration of the ethics of technology, empire, and exploration make an investigation of this series at this point in history evocatively topical.
We are soliciting essays that will provide critical analyses of the program as both film/text and cultural phenomenon. Essays should be scholarly but should be accessible to a well-educated, well-informed lay readership. We envision the following general categories:
Textual/Film Studies, or Firepower and "Peaceful Explorers": close readings of particular, exemplary episodes, and contextualizing essays focusing on the broader strokes of recurring motifs, themes or cinematic elements and practices.
Internationalism, or Stargate SG-1 and "Foreign" policy: Like many programs in its genre, Stargate SG-1 is set in the USA and filmed in Canada. Also, the program addresses the issue of the American relationship to both Earthly and alien "Others." In addition to essays focusing on issues relating to cross-border production and marketing, this chapter may include articles exploring the mapping of the American point-of-view onto "alien" spaces, including the Canadian landscape, and the translation /modification /reflection of that point-of-view within both the mise-en-scene and in the series' international contexts, through, for example, non-English versions of DVDs, European marketing practices, and so on.
Cultural Studies: Stargate SG-1: What are the causes, effects and social contexts of this low key, yet persistent phenomenon? Essays may focus on such issues as fan culture (for instance, the "Save Daniel Jackson Campaign,"); convention culture; the ideology and politics of reception (who is watching and why?), and so on.
Poaching: Fan Productions: essays focusing on the phenomenon of Stargate SG-1 fan fiction, vids, and artwork may include: traditional textual studies; general discussions of such issues as the politics and legality of "poaching" intellectual property (to use Henry Jenkins' much-quoted term); investigations of the relationship between "canon" and "fanon," the use and
abuse of generic conventions, and so on.
Epilogue: The Future: As Stargate SG-1 moves into its eighth season and its spin-off, Atlantis, is set to premier in the USA and Europe, this is an opportune moment to evaluate the history of the Stargate SG-1 phenomenon and to speculate on its future. Essays in this chapter may focus on Atlantis exclusively, or conduct comparative discussions of the original series, its parent film, and its television offspring.
Posted by ChrissieMains at 08:54 PM | Comments (0)
Star Trek Franchise Effect-Call for Papers
The Star Trek Franchise Effect: Cultural Reception and Interpretation
The Star Trek franchise and associated cultural phenomena, a volume to be edited by Lincoln Geraghty.
Having received preliminary interest from an international publisher I would like to invite chapter proposals for an edited volume on the Star Trek television and movie franchise and related cultural phenomena, including fan groups, fan affection, novels, games, toys and merchandise, conventions, the Las Vegas Experience, world Exhibition tours, political resonances, mythic and religious inspirations, cultural impact, global fandom, the Internet, science fiction tradition, the television industry, the animated series, cult stardom, music, Paramount franchise branding and advertising.
Intended as a broadly interdisciplinary volume on the series and films of the Star Trek franchise, this book aims at a wide audience including students, academics and interested fans in the areas of film studies, television studies, sociology, communications, anthropology, American studies, philosophy, media and cultural studies, race and gender studies, English, politics, history, and other related disciplines. This collection will provide a multidisciplinary perspective addressing the full range of Star Trek cultural production and will not resemble any volumes analysing Star Trek currently in the marketplace. Because the five television series and ten feature films are the principal avenue of dissemination, it is expected that contributions will reflect familiarity with the entire franchise. Contributions that examine the overall impact of an entire series or compare two or more are particularly welcome, as are those contributions that examine the film franchise in its industrial and cultural context. Star Trek: Enterprise, having recently survived cancellation, is also a focus; contributions dealing with Star Trek: Enterprise and its place within the franchise, including fans, merchandise, new media practices, are also welcome.
Previous volumes on Star Trek have tended to look exclusively at either the series or fans, and often ignore the differential nature of the films and relevant merchandising of Paramount's senior franchise. This volume will attempt to gather those strands of Star Trek together and analyse them within the context of a media product that has lasted 40 years in a global television market. Publication of this volume would coincide with the 40th anniversary of the series.
Please send abstracts of 500 words and a short CV as email attachment (word format) to Lincoln Geraghty (aax1ggg1 at nottingham.ac.uk).
Deadline: 1st November 2004.
Posted by ChrissieMains at 08:49 PM | Comments (0)
September 05, 2004
Theorizing Fan Fiction-Call for Papers
Theorizing Fan Fiction and Fan Communities
Overview
Fan fiction has recently gained increasing visibility in both mass media and academic writing. Although numerous insightful essays have appeared in various venues, no comprehensive essay collection has traced the changes and shifts in fan culture and fan fiction since the groundbreaking works of Henry Jenkins, Camille Bacon-Smith, and Constance Penley of the early 1990s.
This essay collection looks to complement these crucial early explorations into fan fiction by expanding their scope and focus to include such recent phenomena as the Internet (with fan culture revolving around Usenet groups, mailing lists, and blogs); the rapid growth of stories featuring previously taboo subjects such as underage sex, incest, and real person fiction (RPF); and the changing demographics of the fan base. Recent work has also queried the frequently debated and constantly shifting attitudes toward writing and community, as well as more sophisticated self-analysis, in part the result of the increasing presence of academic fans.
We are looking for academic essays geared toward a general readership and particularly welcome personal reflections of readers, writers, and fans. This collection strives to be interdisciplinary, and we especially welcome historical, sociological, and anthropological approaches, as well as English and media studies. Essays may focus on particular fandoms and source texts but should ultimately move beyond the specifics to address larger concerns and experiences relevant to fandom and fan fiction at large. Papers will fit into one of four broad sections: history and terminology; text, writer, reader; forms and genres; and community.
1. History and terminology
Factual accounts of history and terminology should be tempered with analysis, perhaps indicating shifts as time passes and as fan fiction moves from hard copy to cyberspace. Traditional zines, fan fiction CDs and
downloads, Usenet, mailing lists, and blogs could be analyzed, perhaps in terms of fandom's response to technological change. Analysis of specific fandoms as well as more general overviews are welcome.
2. Text, writer, reader
The relationship among any of the three elements of the rhetorical situation needs analysis. Academic/fan, reader/writer, process and writing, engagement with source text (such as episode fixes or traumatic events in the canon source), questions of canon, fanon and characterization, and issues of author insertion and identification--these are just a few uneasy relationships that need contextualization. Studies of the process of writing, as opposed to the product, as central are also needed.
3. Forms and genres
Content (romance, hurt/comfort, Mary Sue, slash, het/ship, genfic, episode fixes, alternate universes and realities, mpreg, BDSM, kinkfic, elves, wingfic) and form (real person fiction or slash, role-playing games, songfic, drabbles) should be assessed with a view to reaching a novel conclusion. Possible topics might include partnership versus enemy romance; the notion of slash as an idealized relationship; and challenge fics.
4. Community
New analyses of the fan fiction community generating and consuming the texts that take into account new use of technology are needed. LiveJournal and other online communities, the interaction among writer/beta/audience, fan fiction as gift, strategies to meld the fan fiction community (cons, fic archives), and inculcation of new fans into the fan fiction community all need to be theorized in light of technological change and a concomitant lack of policing. Other possible topics include the identity politics of fandom and the emotional investment of fans into fandom, the texts, and each other.
Details
All fandoms are welcome, as are essays about mediafic, bookfic, comicfic, and RPF. The volume will be geared to academics and students interested in jargon-free, theory-based analyses of media and audience, including, among others, students in English, media studies, and sociology. Personal scholarly essays as well as more traditional academic essays are encouraged.
Preparation
Submit complete essays not more than 7500 words in length (excluding abstract, notes, and works cited). Include an abstract not more than 500 words long that summarizes the argument. Submit files via e-mail in Microsoft Word or .rtf format. Use in-text author-page number citations whenever possible. Use endnotes sparingly for substantive notes. Style according to Chicago 15. If artwork, photographs, or screen shots are included, contact the editors for instructions and copyright release requirements. No simultaneous submissions. We also cannot accept previously published essays. If you have put your essay up on the Internet, we cannot consider it for inclusion.
Contact
Karen Hellekson and Kristina Busse
E-mail: theorize@karenhellekson.com
URL: http://www.karenhellekson.com/theorize/
Deadline
April 1, 2005.
Please inform us in advance of your interest in the project and get in contact with us about any questions you might have about possible submission topics. We also encourage early submission to facilitate revision.
Posted by ChrissieMains at 07:08 PM | Comments (0)
WorldCon 2005-Call for Papers
The Academic Track for the Glasgow Worldcon in 2005 (Interaction) has been given 20 sessions--that's the equivalent of 60 papers or a full conference in itself.
The main theme is Matters of Britain, and as well as the Arthurian narratives, we are interested in all material on legend and folk lore, multiculturalism, balkanisation or anything else that occurs.
As well as the main theme, we welcome papers on all topics, and suggestions for panel discussions.
For more information:
http://www.interaction.worldcon.org.uk/matter.htm
Suggestions to: Farah at fjm3.demon.co.uk.
Posted by ChrissieMains at 07:04 PM | Comments (0)