Conference Updates

Some updates on conferences for 2020.

The Popular Culture Association has announced procedure for refunds for the cancelled conference in Philadelphia, and they are also seeking donations to offset the cost of that decision.

Details can be found at https://pcaaca.org/conference/2020/2020-cancellation-faqs and at https://pcaaca.org/conference/2020/2020-registration-donate-transfer-or-refund.

The 2021 conference is scheduled for Boston, 3/31-4/4/2021. Submissions for 2020 may be resubmitted for 2021.


The International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts has also posted information on refunds and details for the 2021 International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts.

Details at https://www.fantastic-arts.org/2020/good-news-reicfa/ and at https://www.fantastic-arts.org/2020/icfa-41-and-42-update/, from their blog.

Next year's conference will maintain the same theme of "Climate Change and the Anthropocene."  It will run 3/17-3/20/2021. Submissions for 2020 may be resubmitted for 2021.


Most recently, the Science Fiction Research Association has cancelled their summer 2020 conference.

Full details at https://www.fantastic-arts.org/2020/icfa-41-and-42-update/.

Cancellations at Tor.com

Tor.com now has a detailed list on conventions and conferences that have been cancelled.

Full details at https://www.tor.com/2020/03/13/coronavirus-the-sci-fi-fantasy-conventions-canceled-so-far/.

One last cfp for the day:

CFP: Mythmoot VII: Defying and Defining the Darkness, June 25–28, 2020, Leesburg, VA, USA
https://www.fantastic-arts.org/2020/cfp-mythmoot-vii-defying-and-defining-the-darkness-june-25-28-2020-leesburg-va-usa/
February 1, 2020

Mythmoot VII: Defying and Defining the Darkness

“Look at how a single candle can both defy and define the darkness.”
— attributed to Anne Frank

When: June 25–28, 2020
Where: The National Conference Center
Leesburg, VA
USA

What is Mythmoot VII?

Mythmoot VII, with the theme of “Defying and Defining Darkness,” combines an academic conference, creative writing meet-up, and fan convention for a unique experience. Here at Mythmoot, we have room for serious scholarship in fields such as science fiction, high fantasy, horror, gothic, mythology, children’s literature, folklore.. .the list goes on. We also appreciate less academic, but no less enthusiastic, pursuits of all the above—such as demonstrations of how to knit the best fake candle ever, presentations theorizing the exact recipe for Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder, or papers dissecting the cultural background of Baron Harkonnen!

Call for Proposals:

Where there is light there is darkness—the two play off of each other. This concept appears throughout literature all over the world in yin and yang, good and evil, two sides of the same coin, and even in the literal sun rising and setting. How does one define the darkness? Can darkness only be defied once it is known? Should darkness even be defined or defied? We want to hear how you believe defining and defying the darkness interacts with the stories you love and how you would approach the topic.

We are accepting proposals for Papers, Panels, Workshops, and Creative Presentations about defying or defining the darkness (or tangential topics) in the following areas of study:

● Imaginative Literature (ex: Harry Potter, Dune, The Call of Cthulhu, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, The Dresden Files, etc.)
● Tolkien and Inklings Studies
● Classic Literature from ancient times to the present
● Philology

If you are unsure whether your topic fits, send your proposal or a description of your idea to the listed submissions email, and we will let you know.

Individual presentations, whether creative or critical, will have 30 minutes—20 minutes for presentation and 10 for Q&A. (N.B. The “creative” category is not limited to original works but could include presenting or performing art, music, drama, or dance. If you have any questions about what you can present, please contact the submissions email.)

Panels must contain at least 3 papers and/or presenters and will be allocated 90 minutes total for presentations and Q&A.

Workshops must identify their own length (either 30 min, 60 min, or 90 min) and include justification for the requested time. Workshops may be run individually, but it is recommended that a workshop have at least two leaders. (Workshop examples: the knitting of Smaug hats, an interactive discussion on dragon species, etc.)

Papers will be presented in 90-minute sessions of 1 – 3 presenters. Each presenter will have 30 minutes (20 minutes for presentation and 10 minutes for questions) to present their paper.

Proposal Submittal:
Your submission to events@signumu.org must contain the following in the email: the type of submission, a title, a 300-word abstract or description, the name(s) of the presenter(s), and a two-sentence biography for each presenter. Title your email “Mythmoot VII Proposal”. All submissions must be received by 11:59 pm EST on March 13th, 2020.

No presentations will be given in absentia, and your submission to Mythmoot VII is considered an agreement to attend and present should your proposal be accepted. Each room will have a projector for presenter use.

CFP Children’s Literature and Climate Change (Spec Issue of The Lion and the Unicorn 6/15/20)

CFP: Children’s Literature and Climate Change, Special Issue of The Lion and the Unicorn
https://www.fantastic-arts.org/2019/cfp-childrens-literature-and-climate-change-special-issue-of-the-lion-and-the-unicorn/
November 11, 2019

CALL FOR PAPERS Children’s Literature and Climate Change
Special Issue of The Lion and the Unicorn
Guest Editors: Marek Oziewicz, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Lara Saguisag, College of Staten Island-City University of New York 

We seek essays on how children’s literature empowers young people to productively engage with the challenges of climate change. After decades of climate change denial and toothless mainstream response, young people are angry. In response to climate change illiteracy and the impotence and negligence of adult-led institutions, teenage activists such as Xiuhtezcatl Martinez and Greta Thunberg are calling for radical and immediate action. How does children’s literature and media stoke this transformative anger and inspire young people to address the climate crisis and fight for their fundamental rights to life, health, and sustenance? How can educators and scholars of children’s literature support this fight? What new concepts, approaches, and narratives are needed to accelerate the sociopolitical revolution that will dismantle the status quo, or what Amitav Ghosh calls “the Great Derangement”? In this issue, we intend to bring together innovative research on children’s literature that attends to multiple facets of climate change and advances a conversation about the planetary future we can and want to create. 

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:
• The role of children’s literature on climate change in raising young people’s awareness about their responsibility to the biosphere;
• Depictions of climate change across various genres and forms, including picturebooks, chapter books, comics, short stories, and novels;
• Films, apps, music, and games that engage with climate change and seek to mobilize youth action;
• Constructions of childhood in climate change narratives and discourses;
• Climate change and youth participation in community protests, political campaigns, nonviolent civil disobedience, ecotage (ecosabotage), and ecorism (ecoterrorism);
• Climate change narratives about and by Indigenous youth and youth of color, who are often at the forefront of climate justice initiatives and whose communities are disproportionately threatened by climate change;
• Children’s and YA books that link responsibility to climate change with, in the words of Kim Q. Hall, “commitments to futures that are queer, crip, and feminist”;
• Depictions of environmental racism and classism as facets of climate change;
• Climate change and human migrations, including stories about climate refugees; 
• Comparative studies of children’s and YA literature on climate change published in the global north and the global south;
• Visions of climate futures, including discourses of hope or despair;
• Reimagining and restructuring institutions of children’s literature that depend on, profit from, and support polluting, extractive industries;
• Intersections of critical discourse on climate change and children’s literature scholarship, including new taxonomies and emerging genres apposite to the challenges of conceptualizing climate change, from environmental literature and cli-fi to eco-fiction and beyond;
• Reevaluations of existing literary traditions through new theoretical concepts or approaches such as energy humanities, environmental humanities, indigenous futurisms, the Anthropocene, ecocritical posthumanism, and other lenses. 

Essays should be sent to guest editors Marek Oziewicz and Lara Saguisag at LU.Climateissue@gmail.com by July 15, 2020. Submissions should be in the range of 4000 to 8000 words (although we will also consider shorter, forum-length essays). Accepted articles will appear in The Lion and the Unicorn, vol. 45, no. 2 (2021).

CFP SFRA Conference (3/31/20; Bloomington 7/8-11/20)

CFP: SFRA 2020
https://www.fantastic-arts.org/2020/cfp-sfra-2020/
February 19, 2020


DEADLINE EXTENDED TO 3/31/20 (details at http://www.sfra.org/Coronavirus-News)


SFRA 2020
Wednesday, July 8th – Saturday July 11th
Indiana University, Bloomington IN
Conference Theme: Forms of Fabulation

Keynote Speakers:
Tavia Nyong’o
Kate Marshall
Special Guest: John Crowley (author of Little, Big)

The Science Fiction Research Association invites proposals for its 2020 annual conference, to be held on the campus of Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.

The SFRA is the oldest scholarly association for the study of science fiction and related genres. It brings together important writers of speculative fiction with premiere scholars of speculative fiction to discuss and debate timely and relevant themes. The annual conference also recognizes important contributions to the field through the Pioneer and Pilgrim Awards for excellence in scholarship.

This year we take FABULATION as our key term. Fabulation is a potent political force as well as an emerging genre convention. Ranging from fantasy fiction and the New Weird to fictional sciences and prefigurative politics, fabulation centers the importance of imagining otherwise in the construction of reality as a scholarly as well as a fictional action.

Fabulation is a future-oriented practice that draws from the energies of the past and the perspectives of the oppressed. Keynote speaker Tavia Nyong’o writes that Afro-fabulation resurfaces from the historical archive those untimely ideas that were “never meant to appear” (3) in majoratian culture and so could only be articulated by way of minor genres and obscure gestures—in performance art, speculative fiction, gossip and legend. Building on the critique of imperial sciences by Indigenous scholars and imaginative writers that were the focus of the 2019 conference, this year’s conference asks what subjugated knowledges can be found in the speculative fiction archives and how they might be surfaced in the present toward multispecies thriving and antiracist worlding. At the same time, reality-production as a form of fictionality has become the principle characteristic of politics in the 21st-century. In addition to asking how we can make fabulations, the conference theme also asks participants to consider the ethics of fiction in the post-truth era.

Topics related to the conference theme include:

● prefigurative politics, visionary fiction, & speculative futurisms
● the weird and the New Weird
● fantasy fiction, fairy stories, magic
● Afro-futurism, indigenous futurisms, and related genres
● post-truth politics and fabulation
● fabulation and Afro-fabulation
● insurgent research, fictional sciences, and related methods
● decolonial speculative fiction
● fabulation and the occult
● aesthetic warfare, feminist witchcraft, meme magic
● aesthetics as a technology of resistance
● European mythology and the problem of white supremacism
● fabulation, environmental ethics, and eco-eroticism
● fabulation and the nonhuman
● fabulation in games, videos, and other non-print media
● fabulation, cosplay, cons, and fan cultures
● science fiction, fantasy and the Midwest
● African, Afro-caribbean, and Indigenous cosmologies
● technology and magic
● children’s literature and magic
● Posthumanism, speculative realism, and fabulation

We also welcome papers on topics relevant to science fiction research broadly conceived that are not specifically related to the conference theme, including proposals for preconstituted panels & roundtables.

300-500 word abstracts should be sent to SFRA2020IU@gmail.com by March 15 2020. Acceptance notices will be returned by April 1.

Questions concerning this call for papers, preconstituted panels, & roundtables can be directed to SFRA2020IU@gmail.com with the subject line “CFP QUESTION,” or to the conference’s local organizers, Rebekah Sheldon (rsheldon@indiana.edu) and De Witt Douglas Kilgore (dkilgore@indiana.edu).

Graduate students are encouraged to submit abstracts & to attend, regardless of whether they plan to present.

Some conference travel grants will be made available. Applications will be posted soon and due on 15 April 2020.

You will also need to join SFRA (or renew your membership) in order to register for the conference. Conference Registration information will be posted soon.

http://www.sfra.org/

CFP Transmediality and Interactivity in the Fantastic (Spec Issue of Brumal) (6/15/2020)

CFP: Transmediality and interactivity in the fantastic, monographic issue coordinated for Brumal by Miguel Carrera Garrido (CIESE-Comillas, University of Cantabria)
https://www.fantastic-arts.org/2020/cfp-transmediality-and-interactivity-in-the-fantastic-monographic-issue-coordinated-for-brumal-by-miguel-carrera-garrido-ciese-comillas-university-of-cantabria/
February 12, 2020

Transmediality and interactivity in the fantastic, monographic issue coordinated for Brumal by Miguel Carrera Garrido (CIESE-Comillas, University of Cantabria)
Deadline: June 15, 2020

One of the characteristics that define fictional production in the 21st century is its tendency to distribute itself among numerous media of expression: television, cinema, literature, comic-books, theater, video games, role-playing games, etc. Far from leading to dispersion or to the proliferation of watertight compartments, such inclination – also present in other communicative practices – has led to the convergence of all these areas. As a result, it is becoming increasingly difficult, even inappropriate, to limit the focus of attention to a single medium and ignore the rest: stories expand to two, three or more of these environments, aspiring to preserve the unity of sense in heterogeneity. Thus, to get to a thorough and complete understanding of the message, the recipient – and, there-fore, the critic – has to consider different creative domains and apply several reading codes. This agent is simultaneously endowed, in contemporary creation, with a much more active and decisive role than he/she used to possess. Expected to interact with fictional products, as a member of a participatory and empowered culture, his/her intervention – often essential – oscillates between the interpellation and analysis from various discussion forums – especially the Internet and social networks – and direct participation in the imaginary universes, either expanding them in media different from than the one where they originated, or immersing themselves effectively in those worlds and influencing – either as an avatar, or playing a character – the course of the action.

These two complementary trends point to the terms on which the proposed monograph is based: transmedia(lity) and interactivity. Its goal: to trace the importance of these realities in the fantastic genre or mode, both in theoretical formulations and practical realizations.

Widely addressed in akin modalities such as science fiction or medieval fantasy (think, for example, of successful franchises, and recurring objects of analysis, such as Star Wars, A Song of Ice and Fire or Lord of the Rings, which transcended their original medium long ago, and where the interference of fans has become the norm), the concept of transmedial, or transmedia, has not had, to date, much repercussion in studies on the fantastic, at least as Brumal conceives it (that is, as the irruption of the impossible into a world in appearance similar to ours, in tune with Caillois’s and Roas’s theories). As for interactivity, it also has not received the due attention yet, despite the interest raised in recent years by expressions rarely considered artistic in the past, like video games, haunted attractions, fan fiction, “choose your own adventure” novels, etc. That is why it is urgent to undertake a project like the current one, in which we analyze, among other things, how speeches and stories have migrated from one medium to another – if that was not designed like that from the beginning –, to what extent inter-dependence be-tween the different media has been promoted, and how, in this process, the community of readers, spectators, players or, in general, fans has played an increasingly active and crucial role. It is at this junction, or convergence, between the transmedia(l) and the interactive towards which we want the participants of the issue to look.

Some of the proposed thematic axes, with which we want to cover both extremes, are:

• Originally, or strategic, transmedia(l) narratives of the fantastic.
• Expanded universes of the fantastic (or tactical transmedia).
• Appropriation, reworking and expansion of figures, motives and other references of the fantastic at the hands of fans.
• Theoretical relations between the concepts of transmedia(lity), intermedia(lity) and multimedia(lity) in the fantastic.
• Reflections on the concept of authorship in the fantastic transmedia(lity).
• New interactive modes of the fantastic (video games, haunted attractions, role-playing games, escape rooms, etc.) and their relationship with other media.
• Interactions, in social networks and in other forums, between fictional productions and fans of the fantastic.

For more information on submissions, format, length and so on, please visit the journal’s webpage or contact the coordinator on mcarreragarrido@gmail.com.

CFP PopMeC Conference (4/5/20; Madrid 5/27-28/20)

CFP: PopMeC, Instituto Franklin–UAH (Alcalá de Henares) on May 27–28, 2020
https://www.fantastic-arts.org/2020/cfp-popmec-instituto-franklin-uah-alcala-de-henares-on-may-27-28-2020/
February 11, 2020

PopMeC Conference
Instituto Franklin–UAH (Alcalá de Henares) on May 27–28, 2020

Thanks to the pervasiveness of popular culture in everyday life, its products embody a fundamental driving force in forging the collective imaginary of both national and foreign publics. The timely construction, consolidation, and intrinsic political potential of popular representations—myths, symbols, images, and signs—has undeniably facilitated the shaping of identities, discourses, and communities. The diversity and peculiarities of the American society can therefore be traced through the analysis of popular culture and multimodal cultural expressions, conveyed by means such as film, comics and graphic novels, TV and web series, videogames, music, books, and whatnot.

PopMeC aims at providing a collaborative, engaging, and fair environment for any interested scholar, promoting the sharing of knowledge, experience, and ideas across disciplines and thematic fields. We’re also working to foster a stimulating space for early career researchers and postgraduate students in North American studies, thus we’ll warmly welcome their proposals.

The conference will approach popular media and culture products—as well as their publics and reception—from an intersectional, multidisciplinary standpoint and a diverse range of perspectives. We’re looking for engaging, fresh, interesting papers acknowledging and exploring a variety of images and narratives, their configurations and aims, as well as examining the intersectional connections between identities, politics, and history, traceable in and across cultural products.

We welcome proposals for 20 min individual papers or panels constituted of three papers, on topics including (but not limited to):

> the representation of specific ethnic / religious / gender / etc. groups in the US popular media and culture (including mainstream, alternative, and self-representations)
> the articulation of American national ethos, myths, symbols and heroes
> public history and the representation of US history for the non-specialized public
> the reception of popular culture products and their publics
> comparative studies of contrasting / similar representations
> the US society as represented through humor, caricature, and satire
> deconstruction of national storytelling and stereotyped narratives

Please, send your proposal by April 5, 2020 to popmec.call@gmail.com attaching your abstract (200-250 words), inclusive of a short bio (100-120 words), name, affiliation, and email contact in a single file. All proposals (unless differently specified by the author) will be considered for both presentation in the conference and publication on the academic blog. Feel free to check our author guidelines page and to contact us for further information.

The languages of the conference will be English and Spanish. Nonetheless, we strongly recommend limiting the use of Spanish coherently with your chosen topic.

Registration fee:
> Full 45€ for waged scholars
> Reduced 15€ for unwaged scholars (e.g. postgraduate students, independent researchers)
[Coffee breaks and light lunch will be provided]

Key dates:
> April 5 deadline for proposals
> April 14 notification of acceptation and opening of registration
[We plan on doing a first round of evaluations by March 8 so that if your proposal needs a little retouching, we let you know and you can still resubmit it!]

Further details on keynote speakers, venue and registration will be provided shortly.
Organizing committee @ Instituto Franklin–UAH:
> Daniel Bustillo
> Carlos Herrero
> Anna Marta Marini
> Joaquín Saravia

Download the full CFP here: CFP_popmec

https://popmec.hypotheses.org/

CFP Giger Conference (4/26/20; Lausanne 11/25-27/20)

CFP: Les mondes de H.R. Giger : entre littératures et arts, The Worlds of Giger : between literature and the arts
https://www.fantastic-arts.org/2020/cfp-les-mondes-de-h-r-giger-entre-litteratures-et-arts-the-worlds-of-giger-between-literature-and-the-arts/
February 19, 2020

Les mondes de H.R. Giger : entre littératures et arts
The Worlds of Giger : between literature and the arts
Colloque international

Organisé par l’Université de Lausanne (UNIL) et la Maison d’Ailleurs (Yverdon-les-Bains)
25-27 novembre 2020, Université de Lausanne

Appel à contributions / Call for papers

Hans Ruedi Giger (1940-2014) est sans nul doute l’un des artistes suisses les plus célèbres au monde, depuis qu’il a conçu les décors et les créatures, notamment des films Alien et Dune. Mais il y a un Giger d’avant Alien également. Son œuvre comprend des peintures, des dessins, des sculptures, des objets de design ou encore des bandes dessinées, sans compter les multiples déclinaisons de son univers sur le plan mondial. C’est aussi un artiste pétri de littérature fantastique et de science-fiction, qui a souvent rendu hommage à l’un des maîtres du genre, H.P. Lovecraft. C’est la première fois que son œuvre est proposée comme enseignement à l’Université en Suisse et qu’un colloque international lui est consacré dans une université. En effet, parmi les nombreuses publications consacrées à l’artistes, les études scientifiques font figure d’exception. Ce colloque se propose de commencer à combler cette lacune.

Hans Ruedi Giger (1940-2014) is no doubt the most famous Swiss artist since he has designed te worlds and/or creatures of films such as Alien or Dune. But there is a Giger before Alien too. His work includes paintings, drawings, sculptures, objects and furniture or comics, not to mention the multiple uses of his universe in other fields (tattoe, etc). He is also fascinated by fantastic literature, and especially by H. P. Lovecraft. This is the first scientific conference devoted to his work.

Some possible topics

• Literary inspidations : Lovecraft etc
• Dreams : from surrealism to psychedelism
• Satire and caricature
• Giger in films : Dune /Alien / Species …
• Design
• Technical inventions (aerograph…)
• Erotism / Pornography
• Biomecanics
• Religion and esoterism
• Passages and trains (ghosts)
• Visionary architectures
• Comics
• Video games
• The Museum as Gesamtkunstwerk
• Derivatives : tattoe…
• Etc.

Les propositions de communication sont à adresser à Marc Atallah (marc.atallah@unil.ch) et Philippe Kaenel (philippe.kaenel@unil.ch), en anglais ou en français, jusqu’au 26 avril 2020. Elles comprendront une courte biobibliographie et un abstract de la communication (1500-2000 signes).
The proposals are to be sent to Marc Atallah (marc.atallah@unil.ch) and Philippe Kaenel (philippe.kaenel@unil.ch), in english or in french until 26 april 2020.
Le colloque est soutenu par l’Université de Lausanne (Centre des Sciences historiques de la culture – SHC, et la Section de français).

Conference Cancellations as of 3/15/20

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, the follow events have recently been cancelled.

Follow the links for more details.

2020 International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts: https://www.fantastic-arts.org/2020/icfa-41-is-cancelled/.

2020 Conference of the Popular Culture Association: https://pcaaca.org/conference/2020/update-2020-pca-conference-march-13-2020.