The Mellon Foundation has announced a call for concepts.

Mellon invites institutions of higher education in the United States and its territories to

submit applications for research and/or curricular projects focused on either of the

following two areas:

Unruly Intelligences

Projects that exemplify the role of the humanities in shaping contemporary understanding

of artificial and other intelligences.

Normalization and Its Discontents

Projects that explore the paradoxical concept of normalcy.

Learn more at https://on.mellon.org/cfcpartner2026

After careful consideration of many well-qualified applications, the IAFA Executive Board has appointed Michael Furlong as incoming ICFA Gothic and Horror Literature Division Head.

Michael Furlong is an Associate Librarian at The University of Central Florida, with research interests in film, horror, comics and scholarly collaboration. Michael is the university’s librarian for Theater and Performing Arts, Photography, and Economics. His education includes a BA in English, an MA in Science Fiction and Fantasy, an MS in Library Science/Information Studies and a doctorate in Education. He has published scholarship and reviews for Dark Regions Press, Cemetery Dance and Centipede Press, as well as scholarly anthologies. In addition, Michael writes fiction and plays, and performs long-form improvisational theater in the twilight of our minds.

We appreciate the efforts and passion of all the applicants for this position, and we thank in advance Michael Furlong for his service to the IAFA in his new role.

Call for Papers and Sessions

 

Fantasy’s Present Pasts

 

The inaugural European Conference on the Fantastic

University of Glasgow

Tuesday 23rd – Thursday 25th June 2026

Keynote Speakers

 

Stefan Ekman

(author of Here be Dragons and Urban Fantasy: Exploring Modernity through Magic)

 

Sofia Samatar

(author of A Stranger in Olondria, The Winged Histories and The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain)

 

Helen Young

(author of Race and Popular Fantasy Literature and Global Medievalism (with Kavita Mudan Finn))

 

The Centre for Fantasy and the Fantastic at the University of Glasgow is delighted to invite proposals for ‘Fantasy’s Present Pasts’.  This will be the first in a series of annual European Conferences on the Fantastic organised by groups of scholars across the continent, currently involving clusters in Denmark, Germany, Poland, Scandinavia and the UK.

‘Fantasy’s Present Pasts’ invites innovative papers that explore works of Fantasy or consider genre culture more broadly.  However, it focuses particularly on the ways in which speculative genres engage with the interplay of past and present.  It hopes to explore the kinds of history on which works of Fantasy currently draw; the ways in which pasts present themselves in genre texts; and the manners in which we currently model the diverse pasts of genres across different cultures and traditions.  As the inaugural conference in a new series, it hopes to take stock of where we are in genre studies and collaboratively to think through where we would like to get to.

Topics papers might address include, but are not limited to:

• The ways that pasts burst into the present in fantastical works
• The intermingling of actual and fictional histories
• The types of histories that genre texts draw upon and omit
• Fantastic histories across different media
• The histories of genres, subgenres and microgenres
• Different forms and scales of time: personal, societal, planetary, universal
• Diverse temporalities: indigenous, queer and culturally specific conceptions
• The ways in which our present pasts might evolve into brighter futures

We invite proposals for 20-minute papers to be presented in person; these should be submitted using the paper proposal form. The form asks for a 250- to 350-word abstract supplemented by a list of 3 to 10 primary and secondary references (indicating the works with which your paper will engage) and a 100-word biographical note, as well as some brief information on dietary and accessibility requirements.

We also invite proposals for full panels, roundtables and workshops. For full panels, organisers should ask panellists to submit individual abstracts using the paper proposal form, entering the panel name in the appropriate field. Organisers should also submit an overall panel description using the session proposal form. For roundtables and workshops, please submit the session proposal form, clearly describing your proposed session and listing all contributors (with contact details).

The Call for Papers and Sessions closes on Friday 12th December (11:59pm GMT).  The organisers will respond to all proposals before the end of January to allow ample time for travel arrangements to be made.  Alongside Glasgow’s many accommodation options, the organisers have arranged a booking code for affordable student rooms; this will be made available when registration opens.

If you have any questions about the conference, please email arts-fantasy@glasgow.ac.uk or Matthew.Sangster@glasgow.ac.uk.

Hope to see many of you in Glasgow in June!

Student Caucus of the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts (SCIAFA)

Special Elections 2025 – Call for nominations

The Student Caucus invites passionate members to step up and lead as Representative and Undergraduate Representative for the term starting on 15 January 2026 to 30 September 2027. If you are eager to shape the future, now is the time to nominate yourself or someone who you think would be excellent for a Caucus leadership role.

Special elections have become necessary following the resignation of our outgoing Representative, Aylin Walder. We extend our heartfelt thanks to Aylin for her dedicated service, leadership, and contributions to the Student Caucus and the IAFA community. Her efforts have helped strengthen student engagement and build meaningful connections across our network. In addition, the position of Undergraduate Representative has remained vacant since the last elections, and will therefore also be open for nomination in this special election cycle.

The Student Caucus comprises all IAFA members who are registered as Students at the graduate and undergraduate level. Caucus leadership organizes a mentorship program, panels, and other social events at conferences and serves the membership and the Executive Board as the voice for student interests. A Representative, Vice Representative, and Undergraduate Representative constitute the Caucus leadership team and are elected every two years to a new term of office. All IAFA members who are registered as Students at the time of nomination and election are Student Caucus members and are eligible to serve; if your membership has lapsed, please renew in time to nominate and/or vote.

Nominations

Nominations open today, 22 October 2025 and close Wednesday, 19 November 2025. We welcome and encourage both nominations and self-nominations. We also invite supervisors to recommend students to stand for election. Nominated candidates will be contacted to confirm acceptance of the nomination and will be asked to provide a candidate statement that will be shared with membership in the call to vote. Members are required to be in good standing (no lapsed or pending membership renewals) in order to participate in the election.

Click the link below to nominate someone (it could be you)!

Click to nominate!

Voting

Voting will open Wednesday, 19 November 2025 and close Wednesday, 17 December 2025. All positions are elected by a simple majority vote of Student Caucus members; a quorum of 50% of the membership is required to legitimize the election. Members are required to be in good standing (no lapsed or pending membership renewals) in order to participate in the election.

Description of roles

Representative: The Student Caucus Representative chairs the Caucus leadership team; they set the agenda for all Caucus meetings and keep record of the business conducted. The Representative also reports to the Executive Board of the IAFA as a full voting member who represents Student interests and perspectives and who advocates for Caucus business. The Representative coordinates (with IAFA First and Second Vice-Presidents) and moderates Caucus sponsored programming at all IAFA conferences. The Representative manages (with IAFA Public Information Officer) communications and mailing lists with Caucus membership. The Representative continues as Immediate Past Representative for one additional year after completion of the regular term.

Perks of the position include compensated meal tickets for Thursday and Friday luncheons and the Saturday evening banquet at ICFA. Anyone who is interested to serve but whose position is precarious and/or underfunded should apply for a travel scholarship to assist with ICFA attendance costs; financial hardship should not preclude you from service!

Undergraduate Representative: The Undergraduate Representative brings to Caucus leadership the perspective and voice of Students who are not (or at least not yet) at the graduate/PhD phase. With the Vice Representative, they coordinate the Mentorship program and social events. With the Representative, they propose and may facilitate and/or moderate Caucus events. The Undergraduate Representative manages Caucus social media presence and supports the Representative with digital communications.

Please share questions about this process, the service workload, or anything else with current Interim Representative Yuheng Ko at yko025@ucr.edu. I look forward to hearing from you!

Past Caucus leaderships Samantha Baugus (dr.samantha.baugus@gmail.com) and Andrew Erickson (andrew.d.erickson@outlook.com) have offered to serve as sources of information for members interested to know more about the position(s).

Call for Proposals: 2028 & 2031 Conferences

To prepare for the first two non-Florida conferences (2028 and 2031), we are now inviting letters of application from members interested in serving as Associate Conference Directors (i.e. local hosts) for these conferences.

Following a version of the model used by the Science Fiction Research Association (SFRA), these local hosts will take responsibility for securing and coordinating the conference venue, hotel accommodations, catering, and local logistics in close coordination with the IAFA Conference Director. The IAFA will continue to manage registration, paper submissions and acceptances, and creative guest invitations. The local host and IAFA leadership will work together on conference themes, Guest of Honor invitations, and Guest Scholar invitations.

We strongly encourage proposals from those who already have prior experience hosting conferences at their proposed venues. Our priority will be to select locations that enable the greatest possibilities for affordability and accessibility for conference attendees. We are open to proposals for US and non-US locations. Our in-person conference usually occurs in March, but we are open to proposals for other times of year, especially if this would allow greater options for affordability, accessibility, and online/remote participation. 

If you are interested in submitting a location proposal and serving as a local host, please reach out to the IAFA President David Higgins (Fantasticarts.president@gmail.com) and Conference Director Jim Casey (iafa.confchair@gmail.com) with a letter of interest describing your proposed conference location and your prior experience hosting a conference in this locale. 

Feel free to reach out to start a conversation at any point; if you’re interested in hosting, we’d love to speak with you. After we meet with you to discuss possibilities, we’ll then help you prepare a formal proposal for review by the IAFA executive board.  

Review of letters of interest will begin immediately and continue until memorandums of understanding are signed with local hosts for the 2028 and 2031 conferences. Our optimum deadline for letters of interest is December 31, 2025

IAFA Referendum Results and Future Conference Plans

Dear IAFA Members:

Thank you to everyone who participated in our recent referendum on the future in-person location of the International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts (ICFA). We had an excellent response, with 364 members casting votes and very many people providing thoughtful, detailed comments.

The results of the referendum showed strongly divided opinions: 56% expressed a preference to remain in Florida, while 44% expressed a preference to move elsewhere.

The comments articulated deep commitments on both sides: some emphasized affordability, accessibility, and the strong community we’ve built in Florida; others emphasized safety, ethics, and accessibility concerns for colleagues who cannot or will not travel to Florida.

A summary of the results is available here: https://tinyurl.com/4wvj2k62

We are sharing a summary of the results, rather than the full data, because many comments included personally identifying information from responders, and we wish to protect all members’ anonymity. 

Future Conference Plans

After careful consideration of these results, the IAFA executive board has voted to adopt a rotating model for ICFA moving forward. This model will keep Florida as our home base while also expanding opportunities to host the conference in other regions and, potentially, outside the United States. This is our plan for upcoming conference locations:

2026 & 2027: Orlando, Florida (already under contract)

2028: Outside Florida (location TBD)

2029 & 2030: Orlando, Florida

2031: Outside Florida (location TBD)

This approach allows us to balance stability and affordability with flexibility and inclusivity. We will continue to host the Virtual ICFA (VICFA) each year, ensuring that all members, regardless of location or circumstance, have access to our community and conversations.

Call for Proposals: 2028 & 2031 Conferences

To prepare for the first two non-Florida conferences (2028 and 2031), we are now inviting letters of application from members interested in serving as Associate Conference Directors (i.e. local hosts) for these conferences.

Following a version of the model used by the Science Fiction Research Association (SFRA), these local hosts will take responsibility for securing and coordinating the conference venue, hotel accommodations, catering, and local logistics in close coordination with the IAFA Conference Director. The IAFA will continue to manage registration, paper submissions and acceptances, and creative guest invitations. The local host and IAFA leadership will work together on conference themes, Guest of Honor invitations, and Guest Scholar invitations.

We strongly encourage proposals from those who already have prior experience hosting conferences at their proposed venues. Our priority will be to select locations that enable the greatest possibilities for affordability and accessibility for conference attendees. We are open to proposals for US and non-US locations. Our in-person conference usually occurs in March, but we are open to proposals for other times of year, especially if this would allow greater options for affordability, accessibility, and online/remote participation. 

If you are interested in submitting a location proposal and serving as a local host, please reach out to the IAFA President David Higgins (Fantasticarts.president@gmail.com) and Conference Director Jim Casey (iafa.confchair@gmail.com) with a letter of interest describing your proposed conference location and your prior experience hosting a conference in this locale. 

Feel free to reach out to start a conversation at any point; if you’re interested in hosting, we’d love to speak with you. After we meet with you to discuss possibilities, we’ll then help you prepare a formal proposal for review by the IAFA executive board.  

Review of letters of interest will begin immediately and continue until memorandums of understanding are signed with local hosts for the 2028 and 2031 conferences. Our optimum deadline for letters of interest is December 31, 2025

Thank you again for your thoughtful participation in this process. Our community thrives because of the care and dedication of its members, and we look forward to building a stronger and more inclusive IAFA together. 

Warm regards,

David M. Higgins
President, International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts

Call for Nominations for IAFA First Vice-President

The IAFA requests nominations for individuals interested in becoming IAFA First Vice-President. Nominees must be members in good standing. Before nominating someone, please make sure they are a member and willing to stand for election. Self-nominations are welcome.

The IAFA First Vice-President is a member of the IAFA Executive Board, is elected by majority vote of the IAFA members who participate in the election, serves a three-year term unless otherwise stipulated, and may be re-elected.

The first vice-president coordinates the ICFA Program, overseeing the work of the division heads and scheduling paper sessions for the annual in-person conference program. The first vice-president also consults with IAFA President and Second Vice-President concerning appearances by special guests in panels, readings, and lectures; and with the IAFA On-Site Conference Director about physical arrangements such as AV equipment, room assignments, etc. The first vice-president substitutes for the president when necessary. The first vice-president also oversees the IAFA Graduate Student Award, including the following: advertising the award, organizing the prize committee, and collecting and forwarding submissions to the committee for a blind reading process.

Nominations open on 15 September 2025 and close on 10 October 2025. Nominated candidates will be asked to submit their candidate statement to IAFA Immediate Past President Paweł Frelik at iafa.ipp@gmail.com by 24 October 2025. Voting begins in mid-November and finishes in mid-December. The person elected will take office at the end of the ICFA 47 in 2026.

VICFA 4 Short Schedule

Are you curious what's in store for VICFA 4 and haven't registered for it yet? Not to fret! Please see the attached short schedule, which has participants' names and affiliations removed to protect them. The full schedule will be emailed out to all registered attendees within about a day, so don't delay; register for VICFA 4 now! We hope to see you there!

VICFA 2025 Schedule Short.docx

Call for GaH Division Head Applications

The International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts is accepting applications for the position of Gothic and Horror Literature Division Head.  IAFA Division Heads are appointed by the IAFA president, on the recommendation of the first vice-president, after formal discussion and majority vote by the Board. The term for a division head is three (3) years, with the possibility to renew once. The deadline for applications is 30 September, 2025, 11:59 p.m. US Eastern/3:59 a.m. UTC.

Each division head organizes and supervises all conference activity within a subdivision of fantastic scholarship. Division heads work under the guidance of the first vice-president and are responsible for recruiting session proposals, formatting these to specified requirements, and for forwarding all information to and from the first vice-president in accordance with agreed deadlines. Division Heads are expected to liaise with other division heads and the first vice-president and have the responsibility to check the draft program for accuracy and A/V needs. At the conference, the division heads oversee sessions in their respective divisions and collect suggestions including concerns, future topics, and potential special guests.

The Gothic and Horror Literature Division welcomes critical scholarship focused on the inter-related modes of Gothic literature and horror literature, as well as closely related modes such as the weird and the grotesque. Papers may explore any aspect of literary horror or the Gothic, including but not limited to the evolution, cultural significance, and theory of these modalities, as well as specific types and typologies, for example: body horror, psychological horror, and philosophical horror. Papers exploring related topics, such as the role of the supernatural, the sublime, monstrosity, or affects including horror, terror, dread or anxiety, as well as interconnections between Gothic and horror literature and other media, including film, comics and games, are also welcome.

Individuals interested in the position should send a cover letter expressing interest in the position that identifies qualifications for the position, briefly addresses how you intend to expand inclusion and representation in your division, and explains what impact you hope to have on the GaH Division. Please include a CV with the application to First Vice President Novella Brooks de Vita (iafa.1vp@fantastic-arts.org) and the outgoing GaH Division Head i(afa.div.gah@fantastic-arts.org).

Want to play a game and support a worthy cause? Join authors C.S.E. Cooney and Carlos Hernandez as they lead an Infernal Creative Salon at 7:30pm EST on 9/17 as a fundraiser for the BIPOC Caucus. Enter a secret underground Zoom room for an hour of imaginative fun.

What is an Infernal Salon? It’s a fun, low-stakes writing workshop, high on community, ix-nay on the essure-pray. Each participant is given a prompt of one or more cards from the very spooky deck that C. S. E. Cooney, Carlos Hernandez, and artist Rebecca Huston invented for their TTRPG “Negocios Infernales.”

To join the fun, log into your IAFA account, go to the ICFA store (under the Member Area dropdown), and purchase a ticket for ten dollars. You will automatically receive an email with instructions to the secret underground Zoom space (aka, The Wormhole). All donations will benefit efforts to serve underrepresented and underfunded groups within the IAFA, so help us get the word out! Members can also gift tickets to non-conference-goers, so you don’t have to be signed up for the conference to join. Please email the BIPOC Caucus representative, Joy Sanchez-Taylor, at jsanchez-taylor@lagcc.cuny.edu with any questions.

We hope to see you in the Wormhole!