News - 2004

SFRA 2005 annual meeting has logo tee shirts and memorabilia available on-line at http://www.cafepress.com/progressivets/608614.

Mail registration for SFRA 2005 will close June 8. After June 8, Register at the Conference, June 23, Imperial Palace Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, NV. Please let Dave Mead (<dave.mead@mail.tamucc.edu>) know you are coming and will register at the meeting. The discounted fee for early registration ends April 15. After April 15, the regular conference fee is $140 (presenting graduate students - $80).

Book your room at the Imperial Palace before June 3 to get the discounted conference rate: 1-800-800-2981. Ask for the Science Fiction Research Association rate.

The program is nearly complete. Last-minute proposals should be sent ASAP to Peter Lowentrout. <plowentr@csulb.edu>

For the line-up see: Paper Sessions, Discussion Panels, and Participants

Dave Mead and Pete Lowentrout

SAMLA (Southeastern Modern Language Association) Meeting
Nov. 4-6, Atlanta, Georgia
Special Session

Science Fiction And Fantasy In Latin America: Comparative Perspectives Discussion Circle

This panel will explore the science fiction genre in Latin America. Topics could include the fantasy and magic realism, the canon vs. genre novels, postmoderism, visions of the body, cyberpunk in Latin America, issues of censorship, concepts of the city, views of the Other, female characters and feminism. Up to five participants will circulate short papers (3-5 pages) with an abstract beforehand among themselves and the discussion facilitator.

Abstracts by May 10 to M. Elizabeth Ginway <eginway@rll.ufl.edu> http://www.samla.org/convention/2005/SpecialSessions.shtml

Colleagues,

I am delighted to announce that the winner of the Mary Kay Bray Award for 2004 is Bruce A. Beatie for his review of L. Frank Baum, Creator of Oz by Katharine M. Rogers in Ap/May/June 2004 SFRA Review. Please join with me in congratulating Bruce on an honor thoroughly deserved.

The presentation of the award will take place at the Awards Banquet at the annual meeting in Las Vegas.

David Mead, President
Science Fiction Research Association

On behalf of the Pilgrim Award Committee (Veronica Hollinger, Andy Sawyer, and David Hartwell) and the membership of the SFRA, I am glad to announce the selection of Gérard Klein of Paris, France, as the Pilgrim Award recipient for 2005.

I am indebted to Art Evans, of Science Fiction Studies, for the following information:

Gérard Klein is a novelist, short story author, literary critic, and long-time editor of a major sf publishing house, Gérard Klein has been one of the principal spokespersons for science fiction in France for over a half a century. An economist by training (with a heavy dash of political science, sociology, and psychology on the side), Klein was already beginning to contribute sf short stories and articles to the French sf magazines _Fiction_ and _Galaxie_ by the time he was 18. By age 21, he had published his first novel called _Le Gambit des Étoiles_ (Starmaster's Gambit). And, over the next decade or so from 1960 to the early 1970s, he became arguably the most famous French sf author of his generation with nine more novels to his credit (many published under the pseudonym of "Gilles d'Argyre") and more than thirty short stories. Critics have discerned a wide variety of sf influences in his work: Stapledon, Bradbury, Van Vogt, and Philip K. Dick, among others. Seemingly destined to become one of the most dominant sf authors in France during the final decades of the twentieth century, Klein suddenly stopped writing sf around 1973 and devoted himself almost exclusively to editorial matters--notably the development of the "Ailleurs et demain" sf book collection of the Robert Laffont publishing house (begun in 1969). The "Ailleurs et demain" series, with its signature "metallic" book covers, quickly became one of the most renowned sf series in France. Publishing both leading French authors and the very best of classic and contemporary Anglo-American sf (in high-quality translations), it continues today and currently boasts over 185 titles. The "Ailleurs et demain" series helped to make science fiction a more respectable literary genre in France, and it was through this series that the French reading public came to know the works of Robert Heinlein, Frank Herbert, Philip K. Dick, Ursula K. Le Guin, John Brunner, Samuel Delany, Robert Silverberg, Gene Wolfe, Greg Bear, Iain Banks, and many others. Finally, another (and often overlooked) aspect of Klein's illustrious career in sf involves his many critical essays on the genre: from "Défense et illustration de la S.F." (1967, with Alain Dorémieux and Jacques Goimard), to "Malaise dans la science-fiction américaine" (1977), to "Trames et moirés" (1986), to articles in the influential fanzine Nous les Martiens during the 1980s and 1990s, to the dozens of prefaces, afterwords, forewords, and that he has penned for published works of sf during his 50+ years in the field (see: <http://www.quarante-deux.org/archives/klein.html> ). Gérard Klein is the John W. Campbell of French science fiction.

Mr. Klein has been informed of his award. We hope he will come to Las Vegas for the presentation ceremony in June.

David Mead, President
Science Fiction Research Association

Colleagues,

Please congratulate Lisa Yaszek, who will receive the Pioneer Award for 2005 for her article "The Women History Doesn't See: Recovering Midcentury Women's SF as a Literature of Social Critique," published in Extrapolation 45(1): 34-51. Lisa is a member of the faculty of the School of Literature, Communication and Culture at Georgia Institute of Technology, and a member of SFRA.

Professor Yaszek's article was the unanimous choice of the selection committee, Pawel Frelik (Chair), Jan Bogstad, and Hal Hall. Our special thanks to Pawel, Jan and Hal for undertaking this very demanding service to SFRA and the profession.

The presentation of the award will take place at the Awards Banquet at the annual meeting in Las Vegas.

David Mead, President
Science Fiction Research Association

Colleagues,

I am delighted to announce that Muriel Becker is the recipient of the Thomas D. Clareson Award for Distinguished Service for 2005. She will receive her award at the annual meeting of the SFRA in Las Vegas in June. Please join with me in congratulating Muriel on an honor thoroughly deserved.

David Mead, President
Science Fiction Research Association

Clyde Wilcox of Georgetown and Donald M. Hassler of Kent State are working on plans to publish a companion volume -- a "sequel" -- to the collection they edited titled *Political Science Fiction* and published by the University of South Carolina Press in 1997.

They invite statements of two to three paragraphs describing topics and approaches. They have yet to determine if the proposed volume will have a specific focus, and responses to this call will help them make that determination. Please submit your paragraphs by email to both Donald M. Hassler (<extrap@kent.edu>) and to Clyde Wilcox (<wilcoxc@georgetown.edu>). They would like this material within three weeks (i.e. by April 30).

Eaton Conference is to be held May 5, 6 and 7 in Seattle in connection with the Science Fiction Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

The University of California, Riverside Libraries, which house The J. Lloyd Eaton Collection, the world's most extensive science fiction and fantasy collection, joins The Science Fiction Museum & Hall of Fame in Seattle to present "Inventing the 21st Century: Many Worlds, Many Histories" on May 5, 6 and 7 in Seattle. The conference will be held at the same time as the museum's first ever Hall of Fame induction ceremony Friday, May 6, which will honor film director Steven Spielberg, author Philip K. Dick, artist Chesley Bonestell and animator Ray Harryhausen. Eaton Conference attendees will have the opportunity to register before the general public. Speakers this year include Gregory Benford, Howard Hendrix, Joseph Miller, Eric Rabkin, George Slusser, Stanley Schmidt, Greg Bear, Eileen Gunn and Alan Shapiro, with David Hartwell delivering the Frank McConnell Memorial Lecture.

For full release, click here: <http://www.newsroom.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/display.cgi?id=1028>

I want to chair a panel called "Science Fiction Teaching: How and Why" at Las Vegas. I want a mixture of case histories (pretty brief) and thoughts on why people from different parts of the academic world choose to teach sf. This is a call for people who would like to sit on such a panel.

I would also be delighted to have any materials , such as course outlines, notes for a favourite lecture/class, that I could circulate to those attending the session.

Please get back to me asap at <pbrigg@uoguelph.ca>

Peter Brigg

The deadline for paper topics has been extended to March 15, 2005. Please see: Call for papers conference section for more information.

I am very pleased to welcome you to the newly redesigned SFRA web site. Our wonderful team of web designers, Sam McDonald, Stacie Hanes and Elizabeth Monier-Williams, has put together what I think is an very attractive and informative site. Please let us know what you think, and if you have suggestions about making it even more useful. Of course, it is a work in progress, so we ask your patience as we tweak it to perfection.

Thanks Sam, Stacie and Elizabeth for your excellent work for SFRA!

Dave Mead,
SFRA President

Science Fiction and Fantasy Wiki: a collaborative project to create a comprehensive open encyclopedia on science fiction and fantasy. In addition to providing factual information, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Wiki also features political analysis and reader reviews.

Yes, you can add and edit pages here!

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Wiki was launched on May 22, 2004.

The URL is: http://www.infoshop.org/sf/index.php/Main_Page

I have been freed by Greenwood Press to put on line the rough, working draft of Clockworks 2: Supplement to A Multimedia Bibliography-publisher's term, = "List"-of Works Useful for the Study of the Human/Machine Interface in Science Fiction (Clockworks: Greenwood Press, 1993).

It's in two parts on line.

Part I (very much incomplete):
  1. Reference Works
  2. Anthologies and Collections
  3. Fiction and Poetry
  4. Literary Criticism

Part 2 (more up-to-date on films, only)
  5. Stage, Screen, and Television Drama
  6. Stage, Screen, and Television Drama Criticism
  7. Graphic and Plastic Arts
  8. Music
  9. Background Reading

Clockworks 2 sites:  Part 1: <http://www.users.muohio.edu/erlichrd/Clockworks%202/Clock2,%201-4%20(thru%202004).htm>  Part 2: <http://www.users.muohio.edu/erlichrd/Clockworks%202/Clock2,%205-9%20(thru%202004).htm>

Some day, I hope, Greenwood will allow me to put on line the original Clockworks, and the cross-references in Clockworks 2 will make sense.

I hope to finish up Clockworks 2 over the next 18 months; if you have any comments (corrections, whatever), please contact me offList: <ErlichRD@MUOhio.edu>.

Cordially,
Rich Erlich

Our motto is from P.B. Shelley: "If fall comes, can winter be far behind." We are sadly late with the 2004 issues. The Fall issue will be mailed tomorrow, and Winter in about four weeks. We are sorry. If after a reasonable time from the intervals above you do not see your copies, please email Javier Martinez in Brownsville (jmartinez@utb.edu) -- We resolve to be on time in 2005.