The 31st Annual International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts
Theme: Race and the Fantastic
Division of Children’s and Young Adult Literature

Guest of Honor: Nalo Hopkinson
Guest of Honor: Laurence Yep
Guest Scholar: Takayuki Tatsumi
Special Guest Emeritis: Brian Aldiss

The 2010 ICFA welcomes paper proposals on all areas of the fantastic (including high fantasy, allegory, science fiction, horror, folk tales and other traditional literatures, magical realism, the supernatural, and the gothic) in all media (novels, short stories, drama, television, comic books, film, and others).

The division of children’s and young adult literature is especially interested in paper proposals throughout the field, including picture books, easy readers, novels, short stories, film, comic books, and other forms. We embrace a wide variety of scholarly approaches and interests, including genre, historical, theoretical, and textual, models. We encourage work from institutionally-affiliated scholars, independent scholars, international scholars who work in languages other than English, graduate students, and undergraduate students.

The conference will run March 17-21, 2010, in Orlando, Florida.

Please submit a 250-word abstract and bibliography directly to the division head, Amie Rose Rotruck, at arotruck AT gmail DOT com. Abstracts should be turned in by October 31, 2009.

The conference encourages graduate student participation and gives an award for outstanding paper by a graduate student each year.

For more information on the conference or other divisions, please visit www.iafa.org .

slwhitman is plugging my previous request (thanks!!!) and asked for some more info. In one sentence: IAFA is a scholarly organization dedicated to the study of the fantastic in the arts. Let's break down those terms:

"Scholarly" refers to academic papers, most grad school level or above, although every once in a while there's some good undergrad papers.

"Fantastic" refers to anything outside the realm of reality. This includes high fantasy, urban fantasy, horror, science fiction, science fantasy, and basically anything that doesn't fall under realistic.

"Arts" refers to literature, film, graphic novels, picture books, fanfic, visual art.

Now for some some FAQs:

What do you do?
Currently I am head of the Children's and Young Adult division. This means I receive and evaluate scholarly papers and determine which belong in the conference (and some other boring behind the scenes stuff). Deadline for papers is October 31; official CFP will be posted here later. I am NOT in charge of deciding which writers get compensation for attending and how much; I'm just looking for names to pass along at this point.

I don't write papers, I write fiction. What can I contribute?
There are also author readings at the conference (usually one block of readings per session; there's about 4-6 sessions per day). I'd love to get some new children's and YA writer blood into those readings. In addition to readings, you can also do signings and book sales. A great chance to interact with people who have an academic interest in your genre (who knows, you may even get to meet someone who wrote a paper about your work; there's a lot on recent books!).

What do I get for attending?
Compensation varies and is, I must warn you, competitive. Later this summer the person in charge of arranging visiting writers will be emailing out conference info and what you need to send to get compensation. If you're interested, give me your name and contact info so I can pass it on to her.

Who else will be there?
This year the Guest of Honors are Lawrence Yep and Nalo Hopkinson. For an idea of other writers who've attended in the past, this past year's program is available at www.iafa.org (to find names quickly, just to a search on "Reading")

Why should I come?

Hear papers on current issues in children's literature such as "Twilight" or ancient issues relating to fairy tales, or anything in-between.

Talk with some amazing writers and scholars in a very friendly environment (I call this a "conference with training wheels" when encouraging grad students to attend).

It's in Orlando in March, so if you live in a cold climate it's a chance to warm up and maybe swing by Disneyworld.

It's a networking opportunity; I met slwhitman there and she ended up being the editor for my first book.

Because this is one of the most amazing, fun conferences in existence.

So, that's IAFA in a nutshell. If you have questions, please comment. If you've attended in the past and want to contribute information or your personal experience with the conference, please do so!

In a few hours, I'll be heading to Roanoke for graduation. Wow. I started this program in 2001, it's been part of my life for 8 years (almost exactly as long as my husband's been in my life as a love interest; our first date was the Wednesday before I went to Hollins the first summer). I've done two abroad trips. I've written two book-length theses, numerous papers, and many shorter works of fiction and even a poem or two. I found I love writing critical papers, but hate finding sources so a PhD is not for me, thus I'm content to be a dabbler in academic scholarship. I sung "Swing a Cat" while dressed in pirate garb and hurling a stuffed cat around my head while pitching little stuffed mice at an audience that included one of the foremost minds in children's literature scholarship. I ran the Francelia Butler conference one year (2003) and saw it evolve over 8 years into a full-blown media event that now raises money instead of needing funds. My husband proposed to me there on June 3, 2006 and he could not have picked a better location (and the fact that he knew that is just one of many reasons why I said "yes"). Through Hollins I found ICFA, at ICFA I found slwhitman, and through slwhitman I found publication of my first book, "Bronze Dragon Codex." I've made some absolutely amazing friends in both fellow students and professors, including kathleenfoucart, candice_ransom, citycountrygirl, darkeyedtravler, heidihumbug, jadedmetaphor, jessleeanderson, mja700, roseleaf, soniaamiller, and zameenah (if I forgot anyone, my apologies, please speak up in a comment!). There's been drama, tears, fights, and even some deaths, much to our sorrow. But it remains one of the most amazing experiences of my entire life and I am so very blessed to have had this opportunity. And anyone who knows me this isn't good-bye, not as long as I have a car and can drive to Roanoke to visit, not as long as there's amazing conferences like ICFA, ChLA, and Cotsen. :)

( Memory Lane of Classes )

Because I'm procrastinating revising Tapestry Threads (I'll do it before I leave! Honest!)

Thursday

8:30-10AM
Time/lessness within the Last Unicorn
Fairy Tales: Classic & Modern

10:30-12PM
Twilight Inspirations and Adaptations

2:30-3:30
History and Nationality
What Came Before and What's There Now

Friday

8:30 - 10AM
Romancing and Socializing the Vampire

10:30-12PM
Are there Really Monsters?
Growing and Healing

2:30-3:30PM
Location, Location

4:00-5:30PM
Defining the Heroine

Saturday

8:30-10AM
Waste Time? Not When there are So Many Uses For it!

10:30-12PM
Looking Beyond the Words on the Page

2:00-3:30 PM
More than Mere Minutes: Using Time to Tell a Story

4:00-5:30PM
Panel: Timeslip in Children's Fiction: So Much More than a History Lesson

We have papers on the works of Robert A. Heinlein, Ursula LeGuin, Peter Beagle, Stephanie Myer, Phillip Pullman, Pixar (yes, we have a WallE paper!) and many, many more by some amazing scholars. Look forward to seeing people there!

I'm now heading the Children's and Young Adult Literature Division of the International Association of the Fantastic in the Arts. That means I'm looking for good papers dealing with the fantastic in children's literature, including but not limited to horror, picture books, graphic novels, and all types of fantasy. Deadline is October 31, conference is in Orlando in March and is not to be missed! It's also very grad student friendly. Please feel free to forward this info to anyone you know who might be interested.

( Click to read full CFP )

Psst to all you regular attendees who read this journal (you KNOW who you are!). Send me papers!!!!