July 09, 2006
Arthur Hlavaty reports on ICFA 2006
Once again I have attended the International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts, in the company of my spouse, Bernadette Bosky, and my cohusband, Kevin Maroney. Once again I enjoyed it and am trying, two months later, to reconstruct the experience. (Thanks as usual to Bernadette for allowing me to use her notes.)
This year's theme was the visual arts. I am an old-fashioned linear-literate sort who prefers the written word, and as usual I mostly attended sessions in that area, but I did learn a few things about comics, movies, and games. For instance, the first paper I heard, by Robin Woods, dealt with maps and how online games, such as World of Warcraft, can feed the human desire to understand by mapping.
***
Thursday, the first full day of the conference, began with a panel entitled "Drawing Down the Word: Prose and Pictures Speaking Together with One Voice." These days, we hear a certain amount of viewing with alarm the possibility that movies, television, and online visuals will return us to an oral culture like the one I am glad humanity has evolved out of, the sort Walter J. Ong described in Orality and Literacy. This session made clear, however, that comics and graphic novels are not that sort of thing, but rather a combination of visual and textual communication. Bernadette and the other panelists discussed forerunners, such as emblem books, curiosity books, and illustrated fairy tales.
The next session considered some of the ways graphic fiction is looking at the world. David Higgins talked about how the DC universe mirrored the crisis of 9/11 and its sequelae, while Doug Davis discussed In the Shadow of No Towers, Art Spiegelman's rich and moving examination of the same event. Kevin had to follow these two with his very first conference paper, and he gave us a good one. "Capes, Types, and Prototypes" used theories of definition to consider why the Amber books are not considered textual Superhero Comics.
There are many problems with the sort of essentialist approach--"genus and differentia"--that Aristotle suggested. Ludwig Wittgenstein, for instance, claimed that the word game cannot be defined in that fashion, instead requiring us to find examples that we agree are "games" and discuss their "family resemblances." I believe that the game problem has been solved by Bernard Suits, in his delightful and undeservedly forgotten book, The Grasshopper: Games are activities in which the participants agree to forgo certain direct approaches to their goals for the purpose of play. But even if that is the case, family resemblance can be a useful approach.
There is another implement as well. George Lakoff believes that human language cannot refer to anything beyond the material world because there is nothing beyond the material world. He supports this denial by adapting the ingenious literary theory that universals are constructed from prototypes, a useful approach to many definitional issues that fortunately does not require acceptance of Lakoff's assumptions. The prototypes for superhero comics include Superman and Batman. Batman is not "super," in the sense of having special powers, but he resembles others of the superhero family in such traits as secret identity and costume. Kevin used the question to open a general discussion of how genre can be defined.
After the Guest of Honor Slide Show, there was a panel on the crisis in comics. Comics seem to moving through the life cycle of an art form to become a Fabulous Invalid, like the Theatre and the Novel, with continuing predictions of demise and continuing accomplishment. Thence to an enjoyable session on images of teaching in children's literature. Amie Rose Rotruck discussed stories of the doll as teacher, and Zina Peterson compared the schooling of wizards in Earthsea and at Hogwarts.
***
Usually, the ICFA is adventure two steps removed: discussion of stories of heroic quests. The first paper I saw on Friday, however, was more direct: a first-person account by Neil Easterbrook of his valiant slog through the tangled prose of Frederic Jameson. Like a good first-person narrator, Easterbrook told the tale without expressing awareness of his own heroism, indicating the difficulties without melodramatizing them and claiming to have brought back a moderate number of gems from his perilous voyage.
Jean Lorrah followed with one of the things I most seek in critical writing: a model that finds a common element in a lot of seemingly different works and makes me wonder why I didn't think of it. She suggests a developing sort of archetypal tale: the intimate adventure, in which two protagonists who may not care for each other are forced to struggle together, trust one another, and become intimate, at least psychologically: Don Quixote, Enemy Mine, any number of "buddy movies." (This is of course one of the dynamics driving slash and the equally lewd but less pleasant imaginings of the Fredric Werthams of this world, but that's only one aspect and rarely the most interesting one.)
Scholar Guest of Honor Thomas Inge, who modestly reported that he became a professor because he lacked the skill to make it as a cartoonist, enlivened lunch with a lecture on one of the great subverting influences of my formative years, Harvey Kurtzmann's original Mad. Inge noted that one way Mad gained credibility was by openly satirizing Kurtzmann's other publications. The day also featured a panel on defining the fantastic/mimetic boundary in visual arts (Irma Hirsjarvi had particularly interesting things to say and pictures to show), a discussion of photography in Lois Lowry's children's books, and a fanfic panel in which I learned a new term: darkfiction, which is like hurt/comfort, only without the comfort.
***
Saturday began with a session I think of as distinctively ICFA: scientific and literary looks at the same topic, in this case sleepwalking. Then Bernadette presented her paper: a copiously illustrated look at "Fantastic Fat Bodies in Comic Strips and Books." She pointed out that since the 1940s fat bodies have been, for the most part, either stigmatized or ignored, but more recently, with inputs from feminism, postmodernism, and foreign cultures, we are getting more variety. The afternoon featured a panel on Guest Writer Kathleen Ann Goonan, which made me more bitterly regret the reader's block that keeps me only halfway through her quartet of nanotech novels, and one of Jeri Zulli's typically thorough and absorbing discussions of the fantastic in respectable lit, in this case Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
As is becoming traditional, we sat at the same table with Peter Straub for the banquet. The awards ceremony was decorous, as they all have been lately, but I had to suppress an inappropriate snicker at one point. I'm a pink-diaper baby who grew up hearing Wobbly songs, and here they were telling me that the Crawford Award went to Twentieth-Century Ghosts, by Joe Hill.
Book purchasing is always a major feature of an ICFA for me, and this time I picked up and enjoyed two books directly connected with the conference: Soundings, the first collection of Gary Wolfe's Locus reviews (since nominated for a Hugo, which it deserves), and Polder, a festschrift for John and Judith Clute, edited by Farah Mendlesohn and Edward James and chock full of highly readable reminiscences, literary discussion, and fiction.
Next year's conference looks like fun: Representing the Other: Gender and Sexuality in the Fantastic, with GoH Geoff Ryman and Guest Writer Melissa Scott, March 14-18, 2007, same bat-channel.
Posted by ChrissieMains at 10:36 PM | Comments (0)
May 12, 2006
Dale Knickerbocker Reports on ICFA27
If you download the .doc of Dale's report (click on the link above), you'll get the images he's included (a lot of fun!). For a text-only version, read on:
ICFA 27 : or:
Ever try to explain what we do here to a relative?
If a fool would persist in his folly, he would become wise...
Hello IAFA members and ICFA attendees. The following statements do not necessarily reflect the views of the IAFA, its membership, or even its author... Read at own risk (and PLEASE with a SENSE OF HUMOR)!
As IF Div-Head, I will leave the contributions of Charles Vess, M. Thomas Inge, and Kathleen Ann Goonan to other, more qualified wordsmiths, and limit my comments to IF activity, with a personal comment or two.
DAY 1: “I’m sorry Mr. Knickerbocker, but I can’t find your reservation...” [‘nuff said]
No IF sessions, but wonderful to be back and see old friends. As participants arrive at the reception desk, pulse quickens, adrenaline levels rising....
DAY2:
One of the highlights of my ICFA was being allowed to present writers: it gave me the excuse to read stuff out of my field, and the opportunity to meet more cool people. P.Andrew Miller and Mary Turzillo were as witty and inventive as I had been warned, and along with Beth Adele Long (and it’s obscene that someone as young as she is write that well!), demonstrated a mastery over the conventions of several of the genres we gather to honor each year, blending them to provide a savory textual experience. And “Santa” Rick Wilber stepped into Dr. Who’s time machine, to read one of his 1987 stories: an eerily prescient story of a government making cynical use of terrorism to maintain the docility of its populace...
However, Andrew did not explain his curious obsession with spiders, weaving and webs... nor do I understand any better the lyrics to “Mary Godzilla” (cf. her web page)......there’s always next year.....
Spotted at the Student Caucus Late Night Video:
Friday and Saturday: THE IF’s BIG DAYS, CHANCE TO SHINE :
Our first session was a good blend of old friends and new faces (despite the morbid topic: death): Aline Ferreira contrasted Houellebecq's The Possibility of an Island, which presents immortality achieved through genetic engineering, and Saramago's The Discontinuities of Death, a satirical reflection on the personal, social and political consequences of the disappearance of death, which goes on strike temporarily.
Heidi Faletti presented on the indirect personification of death in Maeterlinck’s L’Intruse: “the thing itself is not to be depicted, but, instead the effect it produces”, arguing that the drama is “arguably the most essentially Symbolist in its fantastic approach to death”. Charlene Gill used a “fan systems model” in her analysis of the anti-imperial heroes of the popular French cartoon Asterix (interestingly never popular in the States—hits too close to home, perhaps?)
The panel discussion on the boundaries of the fantastic in the visual arts was a huge success (several people suggested we continue the discussion next year) due to the interesting mixture of scholarly interests and backgrounds represented (running from 18th-century prints of samurai adventures to medievalism to Hispanism, Germanism, and the Scandinavian). My thanks not only to the participants (Andrea Bell, Edward James, Irma Hirsjärvi, Robin McAllister, Sarah E. Thompson, and Robert von de Osten) but to the moderator David Dickens and the audience, whose lively participation made for an enjoyable time for all.
The first afternoon session, concerning the influence of the etchings of Jacques Callot on many artistic figures; and on E.T.A Hoffman’s "Princess Brambilla" in particular. The papers were by two veterans without whom I can’t imagine having an ICFA: David Dickens (on the former) and Edith Borchardt (on the latter). They had the foresight to plan their papers as complementary to each other, and they were as insightful as we have come to expect (but not take for granted).
I didn’t get to attend one of the 4:00 sessions as I was chairing another, but the buzz says it was my loss: Boyd Peterson presented on a bizarre work I love and you all must read if you haven’t, Villiers de l’Isle Adam’s Future Eve. Beth Aileen Dillon spoke on “Steampunk Aesthetics in Video”—I won’t pretend to know what that is—and veteran Robin McAllister spoke on The Worlds I Love by the star of our 25th ICFA, Daína Chaviano (whose work he is translating).
Saturday dawned bright and sunny...
Before our 10:30 session began, I shamed one poor soul who obviously mistakenly entered our room into staying anyway—sorry! Sharon Sieber spoke on fantastic time in Latin American authors Carlos Fuentes and Miguel Angel Asturias, and I talked about the blend of historical novel and science fiction in contemporary Spanish author Juan Miguel Aguilera’s The Folly of God. The audience was great, and discussion went about 15 minutes over—THANK YOU—you made getting up early worth it.
In our late afternoon (and surprisingly well attended—my congrats to the presenters) session, Sarah E. Thompson from the Boston Museum of Fine Arts wowed us with her analysis of fascinating 19th-century Japanese sword-and-sorcery prints. Irma Hirsjärvi followed up her participation in the “defining genre” panel with a talk about how fandom influences what is taken as fantasy and SF. K.A. Laity returned to the ICFA after an all-to-long absence with an interesting analysis of a novel about a steamy relationship between a man and his troll. Makes you want to run right out and read it, doesn’t it?
THANKS YOU ALL FOR MAKING THE 27th ICFA A MEMORABLE ONE—
AND WE’LL SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!
Posted by ChrissieMains at 09:33 PM | Comments (0)
April 19, 2006
Conference Survey Forms
A conference evaluation form was included in the registration packages at the recent conference, so that attendees could comment on what worked and what didn't, or make suggestions for future conferences.
Some forms were dropped off at the registration desk at the end of the conference, and some have been trickling in by mail since then, but to make things easier and more convenient, we've uploaded the form to the website in MSWord .doc format.
Just click on the link and you'll download the form to your computer. Once you've filled it in, you can either print it off and send it by snail mail to the address provided, or you can email it to katy.hatfield AT gmail.com.
If you want to use the form to comment on previous years or to make suggestions for future conferences even though you didn't attend this year, that's fine. Just add a brief note to that effect.
Posted by ChrissieMains at 11:25 PM | Comments (0)
April 05, 2006
ICFA 2006 - Lord Ruthven Assembly Awards
At the awards banquet at ICFA 2006, the LRA announced the following awards:
Fiction: The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova; Honorable Mention: Fledgling, by Octavia Butler
Nonfiction: Blood Obsession: Vampires, Serial Murder, and the Popular Imagination, by Jorg Waltje
Other Media: Revival of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet production of Dracula, choreographed by Mark Godden to the music of Gustav Mahler
- Stephanie Moss, Division Head: Horror Division
Posted by ChrissieMains at 10:56 PM | Comments (0)
ICFA 2006 - Dell Magazines Award
The International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts and Asimov's Science Fiction magazine have named Meghan Sinoff the winner of the 2006 Dell Magazines Award for Undergraduate Excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing for her short story "Shift." Sinoff is an undergraduate at the University of Florida.
First Runner-up for the 2006 award is Eliza Blair from Swarthmore College for her short story, “Silver Eyes.” Blair was also First Runner-up for the Award in 2005.
Second Runner-up for the 2006 award is Catherine Krahe from Illinois Wesleyan University for her story, “Running After the Twilight Sirens.” Krahe was an Honorable Mention for the award in 2005.
Honorable Mention for 2006 is Eliza Blair from Swarthmore College for her story, “Beast.” Blair is the sole double-finalist for the 2006 award.
Sinoff received $500 for the Asimov award and an expense-paid trip to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for the annual International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts, March 15-19, where she received the award from Sheila Williams, Editor of Asimov’s Science Fiction magazine, during the conference awards banquet. Blair and Krahe also attended the conference and received their awards from Williams during the awards banquet.
The deadline for submissions for the 2007 Dell Magazines Award is postmarked by January 4, 2007. Submissions should be sent to: Dell Magazines Award, School of Mass Communications, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler, Tampa, Fla. 33620. For more information or submission guidelines contact Award Administrator Dr. Rick Wilber at the School of Mass Communications, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler, Tampa, Fla. 33620 at RWilber@cas.usf.edu or see the magazine's website at www.Asimovs.com.
The International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts is a worldwide network of scholars, educators, writers, artists, filmmakers, critics, editors, publishers, and performers who share an interest in studying and celebrating the fantastic in all artforms, disciplines and media: literature, art, film, drama, music, philosophy, religion, the sciences, popular culture, and interdisciplinary areas. IAFA publishes an interdisciplinary quarterly, Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts and also sponsors and organizes the annual International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts, (ICFA) which hosts the world's broadest and largest selection of scholarly papers on the fantastic and has become the major forum for the exchange of ideas and dissemination of scholarship on the fantastic.
The Dell Magazines Award for Undergraduate Excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing is co-sponsored by Asimov's Science Fiction magazine and the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts, and supported by the School of Mass Communications, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL.
Posted by ChrissieMains at 10:51 PM | Comments (0)
April 04, 2006
ICFA 27 - Crawford Award
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 Joe Hill for 20th Century Ghosts. Unusually for the conference, Joe was actually present at the awards banquet to accept the award with a few gracious words.
Posted by ChrissieMains at 10:28 PM | Comments (0)
March 27, 2006
Thank you from Charles Vess
I just wanted to thank you all for a splendid time last week. Karen and I were left feeling as if we were floating on golden clouds of good will by Saturday evening. The enormous amount of work that you all put into the apparently smooth organization of the conference was evident to all as well as appreciated by those of us who could sneak quick glances behind the current to see mad dashes and last minute rescues by all of you and your cohorts. Bravo!
There was a great deal of work involved with preparing for my two presentations but seeing those images cast large was a delight. I am always happy to share my accumulated knowledge on and about those artists that I love and it seemed as if they did indeed strike the proper response with many of the attendees.
I look forward to attending in the years to come as it has always been a pleasure sharing the tropical temps and accumulated knowledge of your presenters and attendees.
Best regards,
Charles
Posted by ChrissieMains at 10:18 PM | Comments (0)
Thank you from M. Thomas Inge
I had an altogether splendid time and was treated like the proverbial prince. I was amply rewarded by all the kind and thoughtful attention. Perhaps you heard about the remarkable thing that happened too. Charles Vess made a birthday present to me at the banquet of the original art for his version of "Snow White" drawn for the BIG BOOK OF GRIMM TALES. This is something he holds dear and had promised never to let go, but my expressed admiration for it overcame his reluctance. When I reminded him that he had promised never to sell it, he replied, "Well I didn't sell it, did I?" It will remain a part of my collection to be donated Virginia Commonwealth University, so it will be preserved for others to enjoy after I have gone. Charles has visitation rights, of course, any time.
Don Palumbo and his sons (both remarkable artists themselves) were most attentive, and we all had a grand time. I don't know who suggested me for the honor of being your guest scholar, but I am awfully glad they did. It was one of the signal moments of my career.
Posted by ChrissieMains at 10:14 PM | Comments (0)
Even the trip home couldn't spoil ICFA for me
Like a lot of ICFA-goers, I stay an extra day or so after the conference to unwind and avoid the Spring Break / cruise ship passengers grabbing all the Sunday flights out. It's a lovely way to end the conference, spending an afternoon shopping at Oakwood Plaza (a 20 minute walk from the hotel) or by the pool without the guilt of skipping a session, then having dinner with others who don't have to rush back.
This year, sadly, staying an extra day meant I got caught in the 'snow event' that delayed flights into and out of Denver, so instead of getting home on Monday night, I ended up sleeping (if you can call it that) on the floor of Denver International Airport. But even this horrific experience could not spoil what was a wonderful conference.
It began as it always does for me, on Tuesday evening with a quick dinner with friends before diving into the behind-the-scenes madness that hopefully most attendees don't see. Wednesday morning means stuffing flyers into registration folders; Wednesday afternoon I always hang out at the registration desk with Membership & Registration Co-ordinator Katy Hatfield, meeting and greeting probably half of the attendees in a matter of hours. Katy has things running so smoothly at the desk that the meeting and greeting part gets squeezed into seconds. Then it's the board meeting and then the opening night reception. This year saw the first (and definitely not the last, given the response) Newcomer Meet-Up sponsored by the Student Caucus, which allowed newbies to the conference to get to know each other and long time attendees in a smaller, cozier space before heading off to the crush in the Regatta.
On Thursday, after watching the first of Charles Vess' presentation of beautiful images in the ballroom, I hosted an author reading with the lovely Patricia McKillip, the gracious Stephen R. Donaldson, and the engaging Timothy J. Anderson (who hails from just up the highway from me). Then I caught a fascinating panel on Outsider Art with Guest of Honor Charles Vess, Liz Hand (whose book Mortal Love features characters who create such art), Peter Straub, and Andy and Sydney Duncan whose tales of local examples of outsider art were amusing and weirdly compelling. After the Business Meeting I was free to run away for dinner with Jeri Zulli (not making it back in time for the evening programming).
On Friday I had to miss the SF Theory Roundtable because I was participating in a panel on visuals in fandom organized by Eden Lackner. A couple of participants were missing, sadly, but Barb Lucas and Amy Hale had a lot of insights (and images) to share, and we had to field some great questions and observations from the audience. We could have gone on a lot longer, I'm sure. After that I went to the session on fan fiction featuring Eden, Barb, and Robin Reid (IAFA's new 2VP) chaired by Sharon Emmerichs. Cool papers, and I'm sorry I had to duck out before the question period.
Anyone looking over the program will have noticed by now that I don't seem to have made it to early morning sessions this year, and I didn't break that pattern on Saturday (more well rested, less well informed than in previous years). I did get to a late morning session on Ancient Myth and More Modern Fantasy, particularly enjoying Bev Friend's exploration of the Icarus myth in poetry and images. Charles Vess' second presentation on Saturday afternoon was just as lovely and intriguing as his first, this time going beyond the work of other artists that have had an influence on his own art to a fascinating look at how some of his works have been created from initial sketches to complete works. I had to leave a little before the end to get to my own session (one of those lovely Saturday afternoon events where the panelists almost outnumbered the audience; that's what happens when you're scheduled opposite a session on the Guest of Honor's work; I would have been there myself if I could have been). For the last session of the conference, I went to Jeri Zulli's session to hear her paper on the role of community in the formation of the double in Jekyll and Hyde and Dorian Gray (Puddn'head Wilson was supposed to be in there too, but something's gotta give in 20 minutes). The session worked particularly well, with another paper on Jekyll and Hyde, and one on Salem's Lot. Really great question period on this session.
And then, the banquet. I really love the closing banquet, from the crowded pre-banquet reception marked by flashbulbs and hugs and uniformed waitpersons circulating with trays of teeny hot dogs and crab puffs, through the lovely meal and the speeches (really, I love the speeches), to the post-banquet reception in Regatta and the goodbye tour / hugfest around the pool and in the parking lot and in the lobby.
Seriously, I love the speeches. A lot of awards were presented this year, and one common feature of all of the acceptance speeches was the affection and appreciation of all of the winners for the association and its members. Carl Boehm, who received a Stephen R. Donaldson award at Friday's Guest Scholar luncheon in thanks for his yeoman work over the past decade, set the tone in thanking everyone he's ever worked with at ICFA, giving credit to everyone else for the hard work he was being honored for. Rick Wilber also received a Donaldson Award for all of his work organizing the Asimov's (now Dell Magazines) award over the years. Chuck Nelson, IAFA's longest-serving Division Head, was honored for everything he's done behind the scenes to make the conference a success. Add in the lovely speeches from Guest Scholar M. Thomas Inge, Grad Student Paper Award winner Darja Malcolm-Clarke, Dell Magazine winner Megan Sinoff, and Joe Hill, this year's Crawford Award winner, and I was just suffused with fellowship and good feelings.
Next year we'll be gathering together again at the Wyndham (will it still be called Wyndham? Who knows?) with Guest of Honor Geoff Ryman, Guest Scholar Marina Warner, and Special Guest Writer Melissa Scott. I am already looking forward to seeing all of you there and doing the opening hello hugfest.
Posted by ChrissieMains at 09:36 PM | Comments (0)
March 26, 2006
Pics from Stacie Hanes
Stacie Hanes has kindly sent a few pics from the conference:
Margaret McBride and her conference vest
Posted by ChrissieMains at 06:18 PM | Comments (0)
ICFA 2006 Awards Banquet: Grad Student Paper Award
The 2006 award for the best graduate student paper presented at the conference went to Darja Malcolm-Clarke, Indiana University, for her paper titled ”Subversive Metropolis: The Grotesque Body in the Phantasmic Urban
Landscape.”
The award comes with a cheque for $250 and publication in JFA. This year's committee was Neil Easterbrook, Jeffrey Weinstock, and Christine Mains (last year's winner), and co-ordinated by 2VP Brian Attebery.
Darja's acceptance speech was far more articulate than that of last year's winner.
Posted by ChrissieMains at 06:00 PM | Comments (0)
April 25, 2005
ICFA26 - Dale Knickerbocker on the IF Division
First, as a rookie Div Head (International Fantastic), I’d like to thank the officers and other Div Heads for their advice and support defore and during ICFA. It was challenging, exhausting, but mostly FUN!
The first thing that called my attention as I looked at the list of IF participants was that the number of first-timers and veterans was almost even—which I consider a healthy sign. Hopefully, we convinced the newbies that returning is always a good idea. I was especially encouraged by the quality of papers given by first-time grad student attendees (thanks Hiroko, Miri, Shannon, Stephanie).
The variety of topics was even more mind-blowing (to stop just sort of bizarre) than ever, running from Brazilianizing Tolkein to werewolves and shapeshifters in anime and manga to Cuban Horror to Eastern yogic influences on Philip K. Dick to the transreal in early Protestant mysticism (yes, you read it correctly) to genetic memory and hermaphroditism. Dizzying to read, isn’t it?
It was also a truly international ICFA, with IF participants coming from as far away as Finland, Sweden, Germany, Japan, France—not to mention even more exotic places such as Southern California and South Florida.
I would like to thank the participants in the panel session on U.S literary “imperialism” in Western Europe and the difficulties faced by European authors in publishing and selling their work: ICFA veterans Lokke Heiss, Gideon Haberkorn, and David Dickens; (the ubiquitous) Stefan Ekman, and authors Niklas Krog and Irma Hirsjarvi. And moreso the hearty souls who got up at 8:30 on Saturday to attend. Panelists took loose threads of topics (brainstormed by e-mail) and weaved them into an edifying discussion. I know I learned much.
And of course thanks to the core group of friends I look forward to seeing each year, even if you haven’t been mentioned specifically, we certainly don’t take you for granted.
Two items of business:
1)PLEASE BE THINKING OF TOPICS FOR A PANEL FOR NEXT YEAR AND
2) LET’S SEE IF WE CAN ALSO COME UP WITH AN IF ROUND TABLE:
We would need a text accessible and interesting to the wide variety of research interests represented in IF—preferrably related to the visual arts.
I’m already taking suggestions…
Thanks again to all, and see you next year.
Posted by ChrissieMains at 09:27 PM | Comments (0)
ICFA26 - Chip Sullivan reports
The Children's/Young Adult Literature Panel, "The Lion and the Unicorn Special Issue on YA Science Fiction," drew a good crowd on Thursday morning. Mary Harris Russell (moderator), Brian Attebery, Mike Levy, and Chip Sullivan discussed the idea of YA science fiction as a sub-genre, referring to the essays in The Lion and the Unicorn 28.2 (2004) for examples, and then engaged members of the audience in a lively discussion of YA SF in general, with those in the audience and on the panel commenting on their own early reading. The panel proved that the topic of YA SF is one that could certainly stand more critical attention.
Don Palumbo and Chip Sullivan discussed their series with McFarland Press at "Publishing Opportunities" on Thursday afternoon. The series, "Critical Explorations in Science Ficxtion and Fantasy" is fairly new, with three books contracted thus far, and Palumbo and Sullivan are seeking viable proposals. For additoional information, e-mail Don Palumbo (enpalumbo AT earthlink.net) for proposals that deal with science fiction, film, art, or popular culture, and Chip Sullivan (SullivanC AT mail.ecu.edu) for proposals that deal with fantasy, mythology, or folklore.
Posted by ChrissieMains at 09:24 PM | Comments (0)
April 13, 2005
ICFA 26 - Cultural Identities Caucus Meeting
Cultural Identities Caucus Meeting
Ten people attended this year's meeting, and our discussion led me to realize that in the last year, Anita and I who are the co-moderators of the Caucus did not do a good enough job of continuing to get information out about this group and our purpose. So let me quote a bit from the CIC page on the IAFA web site: "Whether we believe in identities or deconstruct them, we live our lives within the politics of gender, race, class and sexual orientation. Our IAFA lives are no exception. In our environment, in the books we read and in the films we watch (whether we close our eyes to or open them up for such occurrences), we continuously come across questions of identities and politics in such varied texts as SF/F novels, horror films, comic books, and the LOTR visual adaptations. The Cultural Identities caucus is intended to add to the existing caucuses and divisions rather than to compete with them, to help those interested in writing on these issues to find a place, and to invite more participants into our already fantastic family."
The discussion at the meeting this year focused on how members can develop and submit not only individual proposals, but also session proposals, theory roundtable readings, and panel discussion proposals, as well as "theme" proposals for the conference. We worked on developing the proposal for a "Queer and Gender" Theme that was submitted to the Board this year, and discussed a future proposal for a "Race and Ethnicity" Theme to be developed in future years. If you are interested in working on either of these proposals, or have questions or other ideas, feel free to contact one of the two moderators listed below.
Anita Nicholson
anita.nicholson AT villanova.edu
Robin Reid
Robin_Reid AT tamu-commerce.edu
Posted by ChrissieMains at 09:09 PM | Comments (0)
ICFA 26 - Women in SF and Fantasy: An Encyclopedia
Women in Science Fiction and Fantasy: An Encyclopedia
Greenwood Press
This information is not the formal/final call which will be distributed starting in June. I would like to thank Farah Mendlesohn who found me a space to do some preliminary work at one of the two conferences from whose membership I expect to find many of my contributors. At this point, I am soliciting early input, regarding possible contributors, and suggestions for entries and topics. I signed the contract with Greenwood in January, and the completion date is January 2007.
This project will produce the first general reference work focusing on women's contributions to science fiction and fantasy. Projected length: 350,000 words.
The focus will be primarily on work in English from the 19th century to the present, covering fiction, nonfiction, film, television, art, comics, graphic novels, music and poetry. 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. 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.
I wish to solicit contributions from scholars 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.
Vol. I will consist of thematic essays providing 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 of the chosen contributors. One approach is chronological but multi-genre essays. An alternate approach would be to focus on a single genre per essay, with each essay covering a given historical period.
Vol. II will consist of the A-to-Z component. Alphabetically organized entries will focus narrowly on key figures and issues. Entry 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.
If you have suggestions for themes for essays or entries in any of the genres, please send on a brief statement/rationale (1-2 paragraphs). If you are interested in applying to be a contributor, please send a short statement of research interests and a brief c.v. to:
Robin Reid
Dept. of Literature & Languages
Texas A&M University-Commerce
Commerce TX 75429
Email: wsffencyclopedia AT yahoo.com
Posted by ChrissieMains at 09:06 PM | Comments (0)
ICFA26 - Report from Robin Reid
Consumed with guilt over past years of promising Chrissie my con report and never following through, I swore that I would do this the *first* thing when I got back! I thoroughly enjoyed this year's conference. In the following paragraphs, I focus more on specific sessions I participated in or attended, but can say, in general, that the major events I attended were as intriguing and wide-ranging as usual.
Panel: Beyond Lord of the Rings: I have enjoyed moderating panel discussions on The Lord of the Rings, book and film. I would like to thank this year's panel, Charles W. Nelson, Elizabeth Whittingham, Don Riggs, and Tom Shippey, did an excellent job of speaking to many of the major issues regarding Jackson's adaptation of Tolkien's book. The question of what changes are necessary when moving from book to film, what changes are most controversial or could be challenged, and what effect(s) this popular film will have on the reception of Tolkien's (also controversial for some years!) novel were covered. At this point, I would encourage anyone interested to consider presenting a paper developing these general points in more detail and plan to send out specific calls and organize paper sessions in future years since I remain a major fan of both book and film!
Virgins & Divas: Genre Bending In Fantastic Film: I will be teaching a popular culture class using film and television series (episodes only) this spring, so was thrilled to see this session although disappointed that only two of the presenters were able to make it. "Undoing the Maiden: The Female Victim-Hero and Patriarchy in David Fincher's Alien 3" by Ximena Gallardo C. was a fascinating look at gender and genre bending in a controversial film which I was familiar with. I was most intrigued by "Virginal Fears and Wicked Desires in Dario Argento's Suspiria" by Douglas Keesey since I am not familiar with Argento's work. As often happens, there was some wonderful interconnections made between the two presentations in discussion afterwards.
SF Theory Round Table: The discussion of Chapter 1, ahem 2, ahem whichever, of Justine Larbalestier’s The Battle of the Sexes in Science Fiction was well attended by people who were interested in her blend of historical and linguistic methodology and what she has to say about the development of science fiction as a community, and the perceptions of "women" in the early years of formation in the United States. I would like to thank Len Hatfield and Joan Gordon for so ably training me in this kind of event, and all those who read and attended, and especially those who participated. (And can highly recommend the book for those who haven't had a chance to read it yet!)
Panel: Fan(dom) Methodology: My new area of scholarship, besides film studies, is fandom studies, and this panel was one of the most interesting events for me. Organized and moderated by Eden Lackner, the discussion by Rebecca Bley, Elizabeth Guzik, Karen Hellekson, Barbara Lucas, Cynthia Walker and myself (as a last minute substitute) covered a range of disciplines, methodologies, theories, and even legalities (since I had to learn about Human Subjects Protection on my campus last fall). I am not sure one can even call this a "field" since so many disciplines, potentially, are doing scholarship on "fandom" (sociology, anthropology, communications, media studies, psychology, cultural studies, and more). Since the publication of major monographs by Jenkins, Penley, and Bacon-Smith over a decade ago, the move of fans (and others) to the internet has opened up new questions and issues that have barely begun to be studied although apparently some fans feel they have been "over-studied"!
Fantasy and Fan Fiction: Merging Modes and Genres in Appropriated Texts: This session was one of three devoted to fan studies, embodying a range of disciplinary and theoretical methods for analysis. "'If I Wasn't a (Celebrity)': Alternate Times/Bodies/Realities in Celebrity Fiction and the Search for Identity" by Kristina Busse analyzed a specific genre of fanfiction (boyband). "Embodying the Geek Hierarchy: Media Fanfiction and Theatrical Performance" by Francesca Coppa made an intriguing argument for considering the performative/theatrical model for analyzing media fanfiction which has its origins in the dramatic genre. Finally,"'In Real Time': Role Playing Games and the Inflection of Fantasy in the Everyday" by Louisa Stein considered aspects of fantasy role playing games in different media.
Fantastic Family Film Values: As a fan of fantasy and sf film, I greatly enjoyed this session. The two presentations complemented each other beautifully, and I was impressed by the discussion afterwards. "Devilish Creatures, Communist Rabbits: The Fantastic Child" by Andrew M. Butler covered the construction of children in Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures, which I know, and another film, which sadly, I do not and so have forgotten the title. The discussion of "Spielberg's The Lost World: Dinosaur Family Values" by Andrew Gordon made some telling and witty points about the best family in that film (the T. Rex) compared to the bad families.
Many Meetings: Identity and Community in The Lord of the Rings Fan Fiction: I have no shame; this session was the one I presented on, with the two friends who are responsible for my entry back in active fandom and my new area of scholarship, Tolkien fandom(s). "'In the Darkness Bind Them': The Dark Erotic in The Lord of the Rings Slash Fiction" by Barbara Lucas examined how the contemporary club culture of BDSM operates in the different genres, Fictional People Slash and Real People Slash. "Bound to Their Fate: Character Drift Between Source Texts and Real People Slash Fiction in The Lord of the Rings" by Eden Lackner continued to develop her on-going analysis of how the source texts (in this case, the other roles played by the actors who played some of the secondary characters in the film) affect the fan fiction writing of those actor-characters in RPS. I used a linguistic methodology to analyze style and gender in my presentation on archives in "Breaking of the Fellowship: Competing Discourses of Archives and Canons in The Lord of the Rings Internet Fandom."
Tolkien's Legendarium and his Influences on Gestures and Nostalgia in Fantasy Literature: I've been cribbing liberally from the program information to make sure I have the correct titles and names for events, but as I remember this session, most of the paper titles changed, so my apologies to the presenters since I didn’t make careful notes at the time! Elizabeth Whittingham presented on various versions of Tolkien's "Valaquenta" and how the changes over time reflected a shift in the construction of religion and the Valar. Graham Sleight analyzed what seems to be a key structural element in fantasy, the matching and opposition of explanations of the "magic" as well along with the possible renunciation of it, focusing on a number of fantasy texts. Elizabeth Hoiem discussed dragons in a range of fantasy novels.
The Songs, Heroes and Races of Middle-Earth: This second Tolkien session I attended was interesting in the range of topics. In "Poems/Songs in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings" Rebecca Ankeny analyzed the structural and thematic use of poetry and song in the novel. Jennifer Culver, in "Echoes of Dragon Slaying in The Lord of the Rings: Use of Language to Underscore the Heroes in and out of the Fellowship," used a linguistic analysis to see how Tolkien embedded dragons in the language of the novel even though no actual dragon is a characters. And in "Tolkien and the Shifting Value of Race," Joe Sutliff Sanders presented a fascinating discussion of racial constructions in Tolkien that tried to move beyond a too simplistic racist/nonracist binary.
Always Already Written: Fan/Fiction : This final session of fan studies was the most interdisciplinary of all the sessions I attended. In "Fan Fiction and the Gift: Writer, Reader, Text," Karen Hellekson applied anthropological concepts of the "gift economy" to fan fiction writing communities. The presentation by Larisa Mikhaylova, "Righteous, Proper and Good: Engendering Honor in Star Trek and Babylon 5," analyzed cultural and gendered constructions of honor in the two series. And finally, a project to develop an anthropological study, "Fanfiction: An Ethnographic Perspective," was presented by Bryn Neuenschwander and Alyc Helms.
Ed. Note: Robin also reported on her participation in the Cultural Identities Caucus meeting and her initial presentation of her new project, The Encyclopedia of Women in Science Fiction and Fantasy. I decided to move those sections into their own entries so that such important information wouldn't get buried in the midst of all the other cool stuff that Robin had to say.
Posted by ChrissieMains at 09:03 PM | Comments (0)
April 07, 2005
LRA Awards
The Lord Ruthven Assembly presented the following awards at the ICFA 26 Annual Conference:
The award for fiction:
Vamped by David Sosnoski. Free Press, 2004.
The award for nonfiction:
Bram Stocker: A Bibliography by Richard Dalby and William Hughes. Desert Island Press, 2004.
The award for performance:
The Smith College Production of Suzy McKee Charnas' Vampire Dreams. April 2004.
Thanks to Jim Holte for the information.
Posted by ChrissieMains at 12:04 AM | Comments (0)
April 05, 2005
ICFA 26 - Dell Magazines Award (formerly Asimov's)
The International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts and Asimov's Science Fiction magazine have named Anthony Ha the winner of the 2005 Dell Magazines Award for Undergraduate Excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing for his short story "Around the World." Ha is an undergraduate at Stanford University and a repeat winner from 2004. This is the first time the Dell Magazines Award (formerly the Isaac Asimov Award for Undergraduate Excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing) has had a repeat winner.
First Runner-up for the 2004 award is Eliza Blair from Swarthmore College for her short story, “Friends in Need.”
Second Runner-up is Alice Kim of Stanford University for her short story, “Are You Getting All of This?”
Third Runner-up is Michail Velichansky of the University of Maryland – College park for his short story, “Evelyn.” Velichansky was a runner-up in 2004.
Honorable Mention for 2005 goes to three undergraduate writers: Catherine Krahe of Illinois Wesleyan for her short story, “Undine”; Amelia Beamer of Michigan State University for her short story, “The First Stone,” (Beamer is a repeat finalist from 2004); and Madeleine B. Sheldon-Dante of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for her short story, “Astep.”
Ha received $500 for the Asimov award and an expense-paid trip to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for the annual International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts, March 16-20, where he received the award from Sheila Williams, Editor of Asimov’s Science Fiction magazine, during the conference awards banquet. Blair, Kim, Velichansky, Krahe and Beamer also attended the conference and received their awards from Williams during the awards banquet.
Deadline for submissions for the 2006 Dell Magazines Award is January 2, 2006. Submissions should be sent to: Dell Magazines Award, School of Mass Communications, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler, Tampa, Fla. 33620. For more information or submission guidelines contact Award Administrator Dr. Rick Wilber at the School of Mass Communications, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler, Tampa, Fla. 33620 at (813) 974-6792 or RWilber AT cas.usf.edu or see the magazine's website at Asimovs.com.
The Dell Magazines Award for Undergraduate Excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing is co-sponsored by Asimov's Science Fiction magazine and the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts, and supported by the School of Mass Communications, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL.
Posted by ChrissieMains at 12:51 PM | Comments (0)
March 30, 2005
ICFA 26 - Pics!
Steve Hooley has uploaded photos to his website.
Contact Steve if he's gotten any names wrong or anything like that.
Posted by ChrissieMains at 10:36 PM | Comments (0)
ICFA 26 - Crawford Award
The IAFA Crawford Award (which is what it says on the plaque) each year recognizes an outstanding new fantasy writer. It is not specifically a first novel award, and in the past authors who had developed notable reputations as fantasy authors prior to their first novel were deemed ineligible under the terms of the award. On the other hand, the award has on occasion gone to writers who had previously published nonfantasy works, but became "new" fantasy writers by virtue of a particular work or set of works (Nancy Willard is an example).
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 Steph Swainston, whose The Year of Our War was originally published by Gollancz in 2004 and was reprinted by Eos in February of this year.
Posted by ChrissieMains at 10:32 PM | Comments (0)
September 08, 2004
More pics from 2004 Conference
Steve Hooley kindly sends a link to more pictures from ICFA25, including one of David Hartwell's eye-popping shirt (which one, you ask?). Steve also names names.
Thanks, Steve, for sharing your conference memories. Anyone else?
Posted by ChrissieMains at 09:26 PM | Comments (0)
September 07, 2004
Pics from 2004 Conference
For those of you who might not have seen these pics earlier, Stefan Hall provided a link to a website chock full of pictures from the 2004 Conference. Fond memories for those of you who attended the conference, and a timely reminder for those of who you missed it in 2004 to get working on those proposals.
Stefan's pics are here.
Fiona kindly sent me a couple of pics which I haven't figured out what to do with yet. And of course, if anyone has links to other pages of conference pictures, drop me a line.
Posted by ChrissieMains at 03:42 PM | Comments (0)
September 05, 2004
Another 2004 Conference Report
by Don Riggs:
This was possibly my favorite ICFA yet. I was involved in two back-to-back panel discussions of Tolkien; the first, on Teaching Tolkien (which I chaired), exposed me to some very good and very different approaches to teaching Tolkien on the university level, with specific course materials in handouts from Chuck Nelson and Faye Ringel. The second, much better attended (and admittedly with much broader interest) was the panel discussion on Tolkien's novels vs. Jackson's films I MEAN novels AND films. The discussion was intense, dedicated, varied in p.o.v. and featured the best sound bite (for me) from the whole conference. It was from Edward James, and was the opening comment for the whole panel discussion: "I have five words to say: the Scouring of the Shire."
As a result of the last panel, I got to see and discuss Tolkien issues frequently with Liz Whittingham, Lori Lipoma, and Edward James in particular, and others at times as well, throughout the conference. However, I also had some very valuable input on Frankenstein films from that session (I am writing the Frankenstein Monsters article for the Westfahl Encyclopedia), and was overcome with the riches (no embarrassment!) of TWO sessions on Anime, both of which dealt wholly or in part with Hayao Miyazaki!
Hats off to Stefan Hall for organizing the Grad Student Mentoring program. He paired me up with Australian Magical Realism writer Glenda Guest, with whom I had many interesting and fruitful -- to me, and hopefully equally so to her -- encounters.
The one disappointment I had was my inability to go to more of the writers' readings -- the conference was so fully scheduled, that I found my academic needs, as in the need to attend the Frankenstein movies session and the anime sessions (I am the faculty sponsor of Drexel's anime club), not to mention the four sessions I was involved in, whether giving a paper, chairing a panel, being a member of a panel, or reading my own poems (surrounded by the truly impressive Marilyn Jurich, Joe Haldeman, and Dave Lunde), that I had little flexibility to go to other sessions I might have wanted to.
Posted by ChrissieMains at 11:49 PM | Comments (0)
A Second 2004 Conference Report
By Regina Cross:
In case none of my co-conspirators writes, I feel a certain responsibility to put our story in the newsletter. Hopefully, someone got a pic of the See-No-Evil, etc. bit onstage.
Wednesday night at the opening reception, Don Morse announced a quiz, written by Brian Aldiss, which would help fund a special award to Bob Collins at the Saturday banquet for his history of service. We distinctly remembered hearing Don say something about probably needing to ask around for some of the answers, so Kathy Davis, Stefan Ekman (he of the Malfoy-clone looks), Sharon Emmerichs and I decided to help each other out.
Between my free internet access (thanks to Wyndham ByRequest), Sharon's willingness to schmooze with and be goosed by Brian, Kathy's quick thinking and Stefan's long-distance call to Sweden to look up our last answer, we managed to find all the correct answers, only spending about 4 1/2-5 hours working on the darn thing. We figured any ties would be drawn from randomly, so we'd have 4 chances out of however many, and quite probably end up splitting the $100.
We were wrong. Late Saturday afternoon, as Sharon and I were desperately trying to get anyone in the hotel to let us order some food, Brian comes up to us in the bar with a conundrum he found himself in. It seemed that four people had exactly the same score on the quiz, what do you know? We confessed, figuring that the easy answer for him would be to just let us split the prize as we had intended....but NO! There was going to be a "shoot out" at the banquet, where the four of us would have to think on our feet.
But there was one problem beyond the intimidation of public performance--none of us were planning on attending the banquet. Three of the four of us are graduate students looking forward to spending considerably less than $35 on a meal (no, it was not free, as Brian intimated at the "award" ceremony). The fourth had an incredibly early flight to catch Sunday morning. After some serious guilt-work by Brian, we agreed that we would do our best to make it back to the hotel by 10 to accept our fates.
We had a sinking feeling there would be more to it than just some easy question...that Brian would perhaps try to embarrass us for having the gall to do actual research. So we began to plot and plan, eventually coming up with at least 3 or 4 possibilities, including, at one point, having an uninvolved graduate student create a diversion (Thanks again for the offer, Charlie). We settled at last upon the See-No-Evil, Hear-No-Evil, Speak-No-Evil routine, modified with Stefan's "not at liberty to divulge" answer. And it was a darn good thing, too, since Brian gave us a non-existent work for our first try.
To be entirely honest, after two titles that I had no clue on (partly because I'm horrible at remembering names), I was ready to start guessing "Brian Aldiss" on every title. Luckily, Sharon, who was preparing to take her comprehensive exams the second week after the conference, remembered whichever Jonson it was and got us our prize money, which we promptly divided. The whole ordeal led, in turn, to a free round of drinks courtesy of Tom Shippey, a great chat with Tom, Brian and others pre-reception, and a great story to tell.
Posted by ChrissieMains at 11:35 PM | Comments (0)
2004 Conference Report
By Gideon Haberkorn
Well, first of all, I thank the IAFA for accepting my paper and giving me an excuse to attend the ICFA for the second time.
Excuse? Well, of course I also enjoyed the opportunity to present a paper and have it spark interesting discussions. And I loved listening to all those interesting papers by other people. (Note: If you could do something to reduce the number of interesting papers... Otherwise I have to feel bad most of the time because I'm usually missing at least one other session I should attend simultaneously!)
But mostly I love coming to this conference for three reasons: Sunshine and warm days at the pool (even more of a reason to reduce the number of interesting, must see papers); strawberries for breakfast; and of course the people! This conference feels a lot like a family gathering, and both times I attended everyone made me feel part of that family. This is a wonderful thing, especially if you've come to the US from 'Old Europe', way across the ocean.
After the ICFA, I visited a friend in Atlanta, saw CNN, Stone Mountain, various parts of the city, two universities, two movies, and generally far too much for two days... and nearly bought a two foot long plastic toad. The only thing that prevented me from doing so was the fact that all those books were already taking up all the space in my carry on luggage. And this brings me, in a roundabout way, to my strongest criticism of this year’s conference: Could someone please stop David Hartwell from putting so many great books at reasonable prices into the bookroom? I always leave the conference dragging a suitcase that appears to contain at least one medium sized library. That man has to be stopped. I really needed that plastic toad.
The award for the most memorable moment goes, as fellow grad student Nikoline Thomson so rightly pointed out, to the last evening, when a group of us students were sitting by the pool. Brian Aldiss was wandering the circumference of the pool with a bottle, a happily inebriated satellite, and stopped by us and initiated a group chorus of "That's Amore."
To sum up:
What, then, was good about this conference? The atmosphere. The people. The papers - at least the ones I heard. I think there’s a wonderful balance between papers dealing with the main subject of the conference and other papers. But of course it was especially nice to have a more truly international conference this year.
It was interesting to find that Andy Seeger and I had brought very similar papers, dealing with similar subjects, but using different authors and arguing different points. Perhaps there might be a panel on contemporary German fantasy in this...
What was bad? The weather! No warm days by the pool. And even, on some days, no strawberries for breakfast. I'm very disappointed!
Anyhow, I think Andrea Bell can be very proud of 'her' conference. It was a very fitting 25th for the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts - a truly international conference.
Posted by ChrissieMains at 10:24 PM | Comments (0)