About the SFRA

Mission

The Science Fiction Research Association (SFRA) is the oldest professional organization for the study of science fiction and fantasy literature and film.

Founded in 1970, the SFRA was organized to improve classroom teaching; to encourage and assist scholarship; and to evaluate and publicize new books and magazines dealing with fantastic literature and film, teaching methods and materials, and allied media performances. Among the membership are people from many countries-students, teachers, professors, librarians, futurologists, readers, authors, booksellers, editors, publishers, archivists, and scholars in many disciplines. Academic affiliation is not a requirement for membership.

This website provides information to prospective members, current members and the general public, including membership information, calls for papers, notable achievements in the field, schedules for upcoming conferences and other relevant announcements. It also contains an online archive of the SFRA Review, as well as other documents and materials related to the association.

From the President

The SFRA Executive Committee (see the "Current Officers" list further down on this page) held its first meeting January 26-28, 2007, at the home of Immediate Past President David Mead in Corpus Christi, TX. Among the items discussed were:

1. The programming for this summer's annual meeting in Kansas City, including effective coordination with the Heinlein & Campbell events, an early Friday evening gathering honoring SFRA awards recipients, and a brown bag lunch or panel of scientists focusing on "hard science SF" interactions.

2. The status of the current SFRA Awards committees (the President will be contacting committee chairs and members shortly about deadlines, etc.).

3. Specific strategies for increased interaction with other SF-related organizations (e.g., exchange ads for conferences and new memberships).

4. A one-year experiment with earlier deadlines for membership renewals (initial letters to go out early in Sept., reminders at the end of Oct., and a promise of no journal hassles for the following year if renewals are received by Dec. 15^th).

5. New strategies for member recruitment, with an informal goal by the time this executive committee's term expires on 12/31/08 of 400+ members. (And many kudos to Peter Brigg and David Mead, who have brought our current enrolled membership to 328!)

6. The Investment of some of the savings generated by recent efficiencies in SFRA Review publishing into a short-term CD, with interest to be used (along with any "Support a Scholar" donations) for

• membership support for needy international scholars
• conference travel support for needy graduate-student or young-scholar paper presenters
• beginning next year, small research grants for needy scholars of any sort.

7. Current problems (if any) + possible future innovations for:

• the SFRA Review (e.g., looking for ways to renew the "Approaches to Teaching" series, perhaps including a section of short reviews of SF films now available on DVD, etc.)
• the SFRA Listserv (e.g., fair and just ways to keep a focus on SF-related issues, etc.)
• the SFRA Website (e.g., finding a "content director" to keep site pages more up-to-date, establishing a "members only" section that would include an online copy of our Annual Directory, etc.)

8. The current status of future conferences scheduled for Dublin, Atlanta and Phoenix.

The Executive Committee welcomes any feedback, observations or new ideas you wish to share (see email addresses in "Current Officers" list below. We are constantly striving to revitalize past ideas and to create new strategies for keeping SFRA a thriving, growing and exciting organization.

Adam Frisch

Current Officers

Essential People

Past activities

The Science Fiction Research Association holds an annual conference each year in June.

Previous conferences include: