International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts
The International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts (IAFA), founded in 1982 is a nonprofit association of scholars, writers, and publishers of science fiction, fantasy, and horror in literature, film, and the other arts. Its principal activities are the organization of the International Conference of the Fantastic in the Arts (ICFA), which was first held in 1980, the publication of a journal, the Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts (JFA), which has been published regularly since 1990, and the production of a news blog and other social media that publish information of interest to the membership. Membership in the IAFA is open but almost all members are scholars, teachers, and graduate students in the field of science fiction studies or fantasy literature or horror literature, or are authors. The Conference The International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts (ICFA) is held annually in the spring. The conference has been held in Orlando, Florida since 2008. The first ICFA was organized by Dr. Robert A. Collins of Florida Atlantic University in March 1980. The conference was held on the FAU campus and was supported by a gift of operating funds provided by Margaret Gaines Swann, mother of the late FAU professor and fantasy author Dr. Thomas Burnett Swann. In the following years, the conference was held in Boca Raton, Florida, Beaumont and Houston, Texas, and in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, before settling in Orlando. The ICFA is organized into divisions by topic, which can change to reflect changing interests of the members. Current divisions include: fairy tales and folk narrative (added after the 2017 ICFA), fantasy literature, gothic and horror literature, the international fantastic, science fiction literature, visual and performing arts and audiences, film and television, and children's and young adult literature and art. Proposals for conference presentations are submitted to a specific division, which is selected by the proposer, for review by the appropriate division head. Anthologies of essays delivered at conferences from 1980 (published in the mid 80s) through 1994 have been called "the most comprehensive set of analyses of the fantastic in English." As well as the presentation of research, the conference includes readings by invited authors, addresses by notable authors and scholars, workshops and social activities for students, and dramatic and sometimes humorous performances. Numerous invited authors attend each year's conference and the event includes one or more guests of honor, generally authors. Recent guests of honor include Jeff VanderMeer (2021), Terry Windling (2016), James K. Morrow (2015), Ian McDonald and Nnedi Okorafor (2014), Neil Gaiman and Kij Johnson (2013), China Miéville and Kelly Link (2012), and Terry Bisson and Connie Willis (2011). Themes For much of its history, ICFAs have been organized around a theme of current interest to IAFA members. These themes have included: ICFA 44, 2023: Afrofuturism ICFA 43, 2022: Fantastic Communities – held in-person ICFA 42, 2021: Climate Change and the Anthropocene – held on-line with over 550 attendees from 27 countries ICFA 41, 2020: Climate Change and the Anthropocene (Scheduled