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    <title>International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts Blog</title>
    <link>https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/</link>
    <description>International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts blog posts</description>
    <dc:creator>International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts</dc:creator>
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    <language>en</language>
    <pubDate>Fri, 13 Mar 2026 16:04:25 GMT</pubDate>
    <lastBuildDate>Fri, 13 Mar 2026 16:04:25 GMT</lastBuildDate>
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      <pubDate>Fri, 31 Oct 2025 04:53:48 GMT</pubDate>
      <title>Mellon Higher Learning Program 2026 Open Call for Concepts</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;The Mellon Foundation has announced a call for concepts.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Mellon invites institutions of higher education in the United States and its territories to&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;submit applications for research and/or curricular projects focused on either of the&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;following two areas:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;   Unruly Intelligences&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Projects that exemplify the role of the humanities in shaping contemporary understanding&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;of artificial and other intelligences.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;   Normalization and Its Discontents&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Projects that explore the paradoxical concept of normalcy.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Learn more at&amp;nbsp;https://on.mellon.org/cfcpartner2026&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <link>https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/Blog/13558225</link>
      <guid>https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/Blog/13558225</guid>
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      <pubDate>Fri, 24 Oct 2025 12:18:40 GMT</pubDate>
      <title>Michael Furlong Appointed GaH DH</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;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.&lt;/p&gt;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.

&lt;p&gt;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.&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <link>https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/Blog/13555626</link>
      <guid>https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/Blog/13555626</guid>
      <dc:creator />
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      <pubDate>Fri, 24 Oct 2025 11:15:44 GMT</pubDate>
      <title>CfP: The inaugural European Conference on the Fantastic</title>
      <description>&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;Call for Papers and Sessions&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 24px;" face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fantasy’s Present Pasts&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;The inaugural European Conference on the Fantastic&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;em&gt;University of Glasgow&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Tuesday 23rd – Thursday 25th June 2026&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Keynote Speakers&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Stefan Ekman&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;(author of&amp;nbsp;&lt;em&gt;Here be Dragons&lt;/em&gt;&amp;nbsp;and&amp;nbsp;&lt;em&gt;Urban Fantasy: Exploring Modernity through Magic&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sofia Samatar&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;(author of&amp;nbsp;&lt;em&gt;A Stranger in Olondria&lt;/em&gt;,&amp;nbsp;&lt;em&gt;The Winged Histories&lt;/em&gt;&amp;nbsp;and&amp;nbsp;&lt;em&gt;The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Helen Young&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;(author of&amp;nbsp;&lt;em&gt;Race and Popular Fantasy&amp;nbsp;Literature&lt;/em&gt;&amp;nbsp;and&amp;nbsp;&lt;em&gt;Global Medievalism&amp;nbsp;&lt;/em&gt;(with Kavita Mudan Finn))&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" color="#222222" face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;The&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font color="#467886"&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;a title="https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/critical/research/researchcentresandnetworks/fantasyatglasgow/" href="https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/critical/research/researchcentresandnetworks/fantasyatglasgow/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/critical/research/researchcentresandnetworks/fantasyatglasgow/&amp;amp;source=gmail&amp;amp;ust=1761224383537000&amp;amp;usg=AOvVaw20FgEQ9q85tjn8PqSgWmqb"&gt;&lt;font color="#467886"&gt;Centre for Fantasy&amp;nbsp;and the Fantastic at the University of Glasgow&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&amp;nbsp;is delighted to invite proposals for ‘Fantasy’s Present Pasts’.&amp;nbsp; 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.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;‘Fantasy’s Present Pasts’ invites innovative papers that explore works of Fantasy or consider genre culture more broadly.&amp;nbsp; However, it focuses particularly on the ways in which speculative genres engage with the interplay of past and present.&amp;nbsp; It hopes to explore the kinds of history on which works of Fantasy&amp;nbsp;currently draw; the ways in which pasts present&amp;nbsp;themselves in genre texts; and the manners in which we currently model the diverse pasts of genres across different cultures and traditions.&amp;nbsp; 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.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;Topics papers might address include, but are not limited to:&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" color="#000000" face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;The ways that pasts&amp;nbsp;burst into the present&amp;nbsp;in fantastical works&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;

  &lt;li&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" color="#000000" face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;The intermingling of actual and fictional histories&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;

  &lt;li&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" color="#000000" face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;The types of histories that genre texts draw upon and omit&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;

  &lt;li&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" color="#000000" face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;Fantastic histories across different media&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;

  &lt;li&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" color="#000000" face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;The histories of genres, subgenres and microgenres&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;

  &lt;li&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" color="#000000" face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;Different forms and scales of time: personal, societal, planetary, universal&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;

  &lt;li&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" color="#000000" face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;Diverse temporalities: indigenous, queer and culturally specific conceptions&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;

  &lt;li&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" color="#000000" face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;The ways in which our present pasts&amp;nbsp;might evolve into brighter futures&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" color="#222222" face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;We invite proposals for 20-minute papers to be presented in person; these should be submitted using the&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font color="#467886"&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;a title="Original URL: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/3vxQATKRJZ. Click or tap if you trust this link." href="https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/3vxQATKRJZ" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/3vxQATKRJZ&amp;amp;source=gmail&amp;amp;ust=1761224383537000&amp;amp;usg=AOvVaw2D7Y1jtrqh55IfoPj1tcEz"&gt;&lt;font color="#467886"&gt;paper proposal form&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;. 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.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" color="#222222" face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;We also invite proposals for full panels, roundtables and workshops. For full panels, organisers should ask panellists to submit individual abstracts using the&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font color="#467886"&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;a title="Original URL: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/3vxQATKRJZ. Click or tap if you trust this link." href="https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/3vxQATKRJZ" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/3vxQATKRJZ&amp;amp;source=gmail&amp;amp;ust=1761224383537000&amp;amp;usg=AOvVaw2D7Y1jtrqh55IfoPj1tcEz"&gt;&lt;font color="#467886"&gt;paper proposal form&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;, entering the panel name in the appropriate field. Organisers should also submit an overall panel description using the&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font color="#467886"&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;a title="Original URL: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/aJSPU1Yhcx. Click or tap if you trust this link." href="https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/aJSPU1Yhcx" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/aJSPU1Yhcx&amp;amp;source=gmail&amp;amp;ust=1761224383537000&amp;amp;usg=AOvVaw0jvxDUPgXICwVT9qh_G1YZ"&gt;&lt;font color="#467886"&gt;session proposal form&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;. For roundtables and workshops, please submit the&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font color="#467886"&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;a title="Original URL: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/aJSPU1Yhcx. Click or tap if you trust this link." href="https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/aJSPU1Yhcx" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/aJSPU1Yhcx&amp;amp;source=gmail&amp;amp;ust=1761224383537000&amp;amp;usg=AOvVaw0jvxDUPgXICwVT9qh_G1YZ"&gt;&lt;font color="#467886"&gt;session proposal form&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;, clearly describing your proposed session and listing all contributors (with contact details).&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;The Call for Papers and Sessions closes on&amp;nbsp;&lt;strong&gt;Friday 12th&amp;nbsp;December&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;(11:59pm GMT).&amp;nbsp; The organisers will respond to all proposals before the end of January to allow ample time for travel arrangements to be made.&amp;nbsp; 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.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" color="#222222" face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;If you have any questions about the conference, please email&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font color="#467886"&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;a title="mailto:arts-fantasy@glasgow.ac.uk" href="mailto:arts-fantasy@glasgow.ac.uk"&gt;&lt;font color="#467886"&gt;arts-fantasy@glasgow.ac.uk&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&amp;nbsp;or&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font color="#467886"&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;a title="mailto:Matthew.Sangster@glasgow.ac.uk" href="mailto:Matthew.Sangster@glasgow.ac.uk"&gt;&lt;font color="#467886"&gt;Matthew.Sangster@glasgow.ac.uk&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" color="#467886" face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;Hope to see many of you in Glasgow in June!&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <link>https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/Blog/13555616</link>
      <guid>https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/Blog/13555616</guid>
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      <pubDate>Fri, 24 Oct 2025 10:32:22 GMT</pubDate>
      <title>SCIAFA Special Elections 2025 – Call for nominations</title>
      <description>&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Student Caucus of the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts (SCIAFA)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Special Elections 2025 – Call for nominations&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;The Student Caucus invites passionate members to step up and lead as&lt;/font&gt; &lt;strong&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;Representative&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;and&lt;/font&gt; &lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Undergraduate Representative&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt; &lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;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.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;Special elections have become necessary following the resignation of our outgoing&lt;/font&gt; &lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Representative&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;, 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&lt;/font&gt; &lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Undergraduate Representative&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt; &lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;has remained vacant since the last elections, and will therefore also be open for nomination in this special election cycle.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;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.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;Nominations&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;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.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;Click the link below to nominate someone (it could be you)!&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;a href="https://forms.gle/JB6xnfxd3qeAChcQ8" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" color="#1155CC" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;Click to nominate!&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;Voting&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;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.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;Description of roles&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Representative&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/font&gt; &lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;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.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;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!&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Undergraduate Representative&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/font&gt; &lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;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.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;Please share questions about this process, the service workload, or anything else with current Interim Representative Yuheng Ko at&lt;/font&gt; &lt;a href="mailto:yko025@ucr.edu" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" color="#000000" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;yko025@ucr.edu&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;. I look forward to hearing from you!&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;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).&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <link>https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/Blog/13555613</link>
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      <pubDate>Wed, 08 Oct 2025 21:13:55 GMT</pubDate>
      <title>Call for Proposals: 2028 &amp; 2031 Conferences</title>
      <description>&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;font face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15px;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Call for Proposals: 2028 &amp;amp; 2031 Conferences&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;font face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15px;"&gt;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.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;font face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15px;"&gt;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.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;font face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15px;"&gt;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.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;font face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15px;"&gt;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.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;font face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15px;"&gt;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.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;font face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15px;"&gt;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&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <link>https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/Blog/13550465</link>
      <guid>https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/Blog/13550465</guid>
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      <pubDate>Thu, 02 Oct 2025 01:46:01 GMT</pubDate>
      <title>IAFA Referendum Results and Future Conference Plans</title>
      <description>&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;IAFA Referendum Results and Future Conference Plans&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;Dear IAFA Members:&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;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.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;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.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;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.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;A summary of the results is available here:&lt;/font&gt; &lt;a href="https://tinyurl.com/4wvj2k62"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" color="#1155CC" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;https://tinyurl.com/4wvj2k62&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;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.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;Future Conference Plans&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;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:&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;2026 &amp;amp; 2027: Orlando, Florida (already under contract)&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;2028: Outside Florida (location TBD)&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;2029 &amp;amp; 2030: Orlando, Florida&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;2031: Outside Florida (location TBD)&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;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.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Call for Proposals: 2028 &amp;amp; 2031 Conferences&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;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.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;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.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;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.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;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.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;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.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;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&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;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.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;Warm regards,&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;David M. Higgins&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;President, International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <link>https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/Blog/13548208</link>
      <guid>https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/Blog/13548208</guid>
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      <pubDate>Mon, 15 Sep 2025 10:50:17 GMT</pubDate>
      <title>Call for Nominations for IAFA 1VP</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;Call for Nominations for IAFA First Vice-President&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;
&lt;br&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;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.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;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.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;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.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;Nominations open on 15 September 2025 and close on 10 October 2025. Nominated candidates will be asked to submit their candidate statement&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="mailto:iafa.ipp@gmail.com"&gt;to IAFA Immediate Past President Paweł Frelik at iafa.ipp@gmail.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;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.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <link>https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/Blog/13542176</link>
      <guid>https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/Blog/13542176</guid>
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      <pubDate>Mon, 15 Sep 2025 09:55:46 GMT</pubDate>
      <title>VICFA 4 Short Schedule</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;u&gt;VICFA 4 Short Schedule&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;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!&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;a href="https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/resources/VICFA%202025%20Schedule%20Short.docx" target="_blank"&gt;VICFA 2025 Schedule Short.docx&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/resources/Pictures/VICFA%204%20Art.png" alt="" title="" border="0" width="675" height="436"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <link>https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/Blog/13542170</link>
      <guid>https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/Blog/13542170</guid>
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      <pubDate>Sat, 13 Sep 2025 20:57:10 GMT</pubDate>
      <title>Call for IAFA Gothic and Horror Literature Division Head Applications</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;font color="#222222" style="font-size: 16px;" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;font color="#333333" style="font-size: 14px;"&gt;Call for GaH Division Head Applications&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font color="#222222" style="font-size: 14px;" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;The International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts is accepting applications for the position of Gothic and Horror Literature Division Head.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;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,&amp;nbsp;11:59 p.m. US Eastern/3:59 a.m. UTC.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font color="#222222" style="font-size: 14px;" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;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.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 14px;" color="#222222" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;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.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 14px;" color="#222222" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;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&lt;a href="mailto:iafa.1vp@fantastic-arts.org" target="_blank"&gt;&amp;nbsp;First Vice President Novella Brooks de Vita&amp;nbsp;&lt;/a&gt;(&lt;a href="mailto:iafa.1vp@fantastic-arts.org" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;font color="#1155CC"&gt;iafa.1vp@fantastic-arts.org&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;) and&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="mailto:iafa.div.gah@fantastic-arts.org" target="_blank"&gt;the outgoing GaH Division Head&amp;nbsp;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="mailto:iafa.div.gah@fantastic-arts.org" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;font color="#1155CC"&gt;i(afa.div.gah@fantastic-arts.org&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <link>https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/Blog/13541871</link>
      <guid>https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/Blog/13541871</guid>
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      <pubDate>Sun, 07 Sep 2025 18:10:14 GMT</pubDate>
      <title>BIPOC Caucus Fundraiser Game During VICFA 4!</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;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.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;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.”&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" color="#222222" face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;To join the fun, log into your IAFA account, go to the ICFA store (under the Member Area dropdown), and &lt;a href="https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/Store" target="_blank"&gt;purchase a ticket for ten dollars&lt;/a&gt;. 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&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font color="#467886"&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;a href="mailto:jsanchez-taylor@lagcc.cuny.edu" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;font color="#467886"&gt;jsanchez-taylor@lagcc.cuny.edu&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&amp;nbsp;with any questions.&lt;br&gt;
&lt;br&gt;
We hope to see you in the Wormhole!&lt;br&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <link>https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/Blog/13539741</link>
      <guid>https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/Blog/13539741</guid>
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      <pubDate>Fri, 29 Aug 2025 20:22:45 GMT</pubDate>
      <title>Important Updates!</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;font color="#222222" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 14px;" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;The IAFA is delighted to announce that Ann Leckie,&amp;nbsp;&lt;font color="#474747"&gt;author of the Hugo, Nebula, and Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning novel&amp;nbsp;&lt;em&gt;Ancillary Justice&lt;/em&gt;, will be a Guest of Honor at ICFA 47: (Meta)Cognition in 2026, in Orlando! With Guests of Honor Ted Chiang and Ann Leckie and Guest Scholar Sherryl Vint, ICFA 47 will certainly give us all plenty to think about!&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;font color="#222222" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14px;"&gt;There will be an exploratory session during VICFA 4 to discuss the potential formation of a queer caucus. Please join us to share your interest in an IAFA queer caucus, as well as how it&amp;nbsp;might serve the IAFA's queer communities. Keep an eye out for this listing in the VICFA program!&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 14px;" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;The VICFA 4 program schedule will be released in early September.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;font color="#474747" style="font-size: 14px;" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;The IAFA Executive Board is in the process of reviewing the responses to the recent referendum on the future of the ICFA. Once the review process is completed,&amp;nbsp; the board will share the anonymized results.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font color="#474747" face="Roboto, Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14px;"&gt;&lt;br&gt;
Please remember that you can follow all IAFA-related news here, as well as on&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://www.facebook.com/FantasticArts" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.facebook.com/FantasticArts&amp;amp;source=gmail&amp;amp;ust=1756575559806000&amp;amp;usg=AOvVaw25rWTTuLQKqF31EZTe_AJG" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;font color="#1155CC"&gt;Facebook&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;and&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://bsky.app/profile/iafa.bsky.social" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://bsky.app/profile/iafa.bsky.social&amp;amp;source=gmail&amp;amp;ust=1756575559806000&amp;amp;usg=AOvVaw3N3T-HpKFzxRbJ92lQhU9N" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;font color="#1155CC"&gt;Bluesky&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br&gt;
&lt;br&gt;
We hope to see you at VICFA 4, and we wish you a great day!&lt;br&gt;
&lt;br&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <link>https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/Blog/13536822</link>
      <guid>https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/Blog/13536822</guid>
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      <pubDate>Thu, 21 Aug 2025 06:35:28 GMT</pubDate>
      <title>Speculative Literature Foundation 2025 Working Class Writers Grant</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Submission period for Speculative Literature Foundation 2025 Working Class Writers&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Grant opens Sept. 1, 2025&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;September 2025 - The Speculative Literature Foundation will be accepting applications for the&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;2025 Working Class Writers Grant from September 1 through September 30, 2025.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Since 2013, the $1,000 Working Class Writers Grant has been awarded annually to speculative&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;fiction writers who are working class, blue-collar, financially disadvantaged, or homeless, who&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;have been historically underrepresented in speculative fiction due to financial barriers which&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;make it hard to access the writing world. Such lack of access might include an inability to&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;purchase a computer, books, and tuition, or to attend conventions or workshops. Often, these&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;writers, many of whom work more than one job, have less time to write. The SLF seeks to bring&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;more of these marginalized voices into speculative fiction.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;For more information and to apply, visit speculativeliterature.org/grants. Grant applications are&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;open to all: you do not need to be a member of SLF to apply for or receive a grant.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The Speculative Literature Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;literary quality in speculative fiction by encouraging promising new writers, assisting established&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;writers, facilitating the work of quality magazines and small presses in the genre, and&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;developing a greater public appreciation of speculative fiction. For more information, visit&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;speculativeliterature.org.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The Speculative Literature Foundation is partially funded by the Oak Park Area Arts Council, in&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;partnership with the Village of Oak Park and the Illinois Arts Council; the Oak Park River Forest&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Community Foundation; and The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <link>https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/Blog/13533901</link>
      <guid>https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/Blog/13533901</guid>
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      <pubDate>Tue, 05 Aug 2025 12:46:51 GMT</pubDate>
      <title>Call for Papers: Latinx Vision 2.0 "One Planet--Many Worlds"</title>
      <description>&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 35px;" face="Times New Roman, serif"&gt;Latinx Visions 2.0&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 14px;" face="Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 25px;" face="Times New Roman, serif"&gt;ONE PLANET—MANY WORLDS&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 23px;" color="#980000" face="Times New Roman, serif"&gt;CALL FOR PAPERS&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 23px;" color="#980000" face="Times New Roman, serif"&gt;ONLINE CONFERENCE&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 23px;" color="#980000" face="Times New Roman, serif"&gt;November 3-7, 2025&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 24px;" color="#980000" face="Times New Roman, serif"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 17px;" face="Times New Roman, serif"&gt;Co-Organizers: Matthew David Goodwin, Cathryn Merla-Watson, Taryne Jade Taylor&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman, serif" style="font-size: 14px;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 17px;" face="Times New Roman, serif"&gt;We invite proposals for “Latinx Visions 2.0,” an online conference to be held November 3-7, 2025. This conference aims to generate new dialogues among scholars, artists, and community members who are engaged with Latinx speculative fiction, art, performance, and protest. To this end we invite proposals for papers, panels, roundtables, workshops, interviews or artist talks, performances or other creative projects, which join diverse Latinx visions with the speculative imagination. Proposals can focus on specific works of science fiction, fantasy, surrealism, gothic, or horror, as well as offer critical theories of the field as a whole and its unique political aesthetics. In particular we are interested in submissions that highlight speculative environmentalisms, eco-fiction and solarpunk, disaster capitalism, Indigenous and Afro-Latinx speculative ecologies, new Latinx media, global technologies and planetary consciousness. At this second Latinx Visions conference, we are going global, changing the initial direction of our gaze away from the wonders of outer space and toward the marvels, monsters, and material concerns of our home planet. How does the speculative imagination intertwine with the land that we walk upon and our intricate relationships with life on Earth, the rocks, rivers, and air? What traditional sciences and cultural practices are being recovered and revised through the speculative arts? At Latinx Visions 2.0 we will project our planetary web of humanity–technology–environment into the future to sharpen our awareness of this One Planet with Many Worlds.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 17px;" face="Times New Roman, serif"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 14px;" face="Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 17px;" face="Times New Roman, serif"&gt;Send in your proposals of 250 words along with a short bio of 200 words to the organizers by September 1, 2025:&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd5raTGrC4WVencEV1cRvU9hemmXwQc0N-dDwWaUToJ0nkDEg/viewform?usp=header" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;amp;q=https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd5raTGrC4WVencEV1cRvU9hemmXwQc0N-dDwWaUToJ0nkDEg/viewform?usp%3Dheader&amp;amp;source=gmail&amp;amp;ust=1754473631494000&amp;amp;usg=AOvVaw2CKirPFESIiI10eYnVQc7r"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 17px;" color="#980000" face="Times New Roman, serif"&gt;Submission Portal&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 17px;" face="Times New Roman, serif"&gt;. Authors will be notified of the status of their submission by September 15, 2022. For more information or questions please do not hesitate to contact the organizers:&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href="https://groups.google.com/" data-email-masked=""&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 17px;" color="#980000" face="Times New Roman, serif"&gt;latinxv...@gmail.com&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 19px;" color="#980000" face="Times New Roman, serif"&gt;.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 19px;" color="#980000" face="Times New Roman, serif"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 19px;" color="#980000" face="Times New Roman, serif"&gt;Sponsored by the Chicana/o Studies Department at the University of New Mexico&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <link>https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/Blog/13528384</link>
      <guid>https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/Blog/13528384</guid>
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      <pubDate>Fri, 25 Jul 2025 22:44:53 GMT</pubDate>
      <title>VICFA 4 Registration Is Live!</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;font face="inherit"&gt;Registration for VICFA 4: Embodied Spirits, Sept. 17-21, 2025, is now live!&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font face="inherit"&gt;You can register at &lt;a href="http://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/event-6255095?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAYnJpZBExdUVzMWUwUkg5eDV2b3djUAEeDyvJLkanNFOdQ9NMySmsepogPfECXELUPPUKZ7ITCuo-uFYoCpmyP4Pdj5g_aem_ajxvAYQA_tVvdADLbmINQg"&gt;&lt;font face="inherit"&gt;&lt;font color="#216FDB" face="inherit"&gt;iaftfita.wildapricot.org/event-6255095&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font face="inherit"&gt;Please let us know if you experience any issues with registration. We hope to see you virtually there!&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <link>https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/Blog/13524945</link>
      <guid>https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/Blog/13524945</guid>
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      <pubDate>Sun, 25 May 2025 01:45:11 GMT</pubDate>
      <title>IAFA Florida Referendum</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;A Message From the IAFA President:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The IAFA recently sent out a referendum email to everyone in our database asking for you to weigh in on our decision to remain in Florida for our annual conference or to explore the possibility of moving elsewhere. The referendum text is included below.&lt;br&gt;
&lt;br&gt;
The email with your link to vote has the subject line "IAFA Survey about ICFA's Geographic Future: A Referendum." If you do not have this email, and you would still like to vote, please email me directly (&lt;a href="mailto:iafa.president@fantastic-arts.org"&gt;&lt;font color="#1155CC"&gt;iafa.president@fantastic-arts.org&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;) and I will send you the referendum survey link. Everyone who has been part of the IAFA community at any time is invited to make your voice heard in this important decision process.&lt;br&gt;
&lt;br&gt;
Thank you!&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;David M. Higgins&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;IAFA President&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;------------------------------------&lt;br&gt;
The text of the referendum email is as follows:&lt;br&gt;
&lt;br&gt;
Dear IAFA community:&lt;br&gt;
&lt;br&gt;
Our contracts with the Orlando Airport Marriott Lakeside continue through 2027. This means that we are committed to hosting the 2026 and 2027 conferences at the current hotel.&lt;br&gt;
&lt;br&gt;
The purpose of this referendum is to determine whether the IAFA community would prefer that the conference stay at our current location or move elsewhere after these contracts expire.&lt;br&gt;
&lt;br&gt;
The benefits of staying in Orlando at the Marriott include keeping our costs of attendance similar to current levels and supporting scholars and creatives in the Florida area and the southern United States. If we remain at our current hotel, we hope to continue to host the conference for a similar registration fee and hotel room night costs (though we do anticipate certain unavoidable cost increases, such as a $5–10 increase in hotel room rates, in the upcoming year).&lt;br&gt;
&lt;br&gt;
We have an exceptionally good arrangement at the current hotel for a conference of our size, and we will likely not be able to offer the same benefits for a similar price if we move elsewhere. Such benefits include a free airport shuttle; free session rooms (based on our hotel reservation blocks); generous hotel room comps; a free pre-banquet reception; a large number of spaces for various kinds of programming; food banquets and receptions; the use of our own A/V equipment; and access to local storage for our book room, registration supplies, and equipment.&lt;br&gt;
&lt;br&gt;
The major drawback of staying at our current location, of course, is that Florida’s reactionary politics have created a hostile environment for marginalized groups (including marginalized groups who live in the state). There are many who will not travel to Florida for ethical reasons, who do not feel safe traveling to Florida, or who cannot travel there because their home institutions have prohibited funding for travel to Florida in response to the state’s policies.&lt;br&gt;
&lt;br&gt;
There are additional potential benefits to moving elsewhere: We might explore hosting the conference on a university campus. This is one of the few realistic ways we may be able to create hybrid/online participation options, which are prohibitively expensive at most conference hotels in our price range. We might find a location that has more affordable local food options. We could also explore the possibility of a location outside of the United States where travel might be safer and easier for international participants. We cannot guarantee, however, that any of these options are realistic or that they would be affordable enough to pursue seriously (or safely for residents of the United States at this time, particularly those in vulnerable and marginalized groups).&lt;br&gt;
&lt;br&gt;
The significant drawbacks if we leave the Orlando Airport Marriott Lakeside are likely to be higher conference costs and fewer (or very different) amenities. We anticipate that moving elsewhere will create increases in registration fees, hotel room rates, and other costs to individual members (such as parking, transport to the hotel, internet, and potentially higher prices for flights). Our book room, of course, cannot travel with us, and we will not be able to continue to host a book room if we move.&lt;br&gt;
&lt;br&gt;
If we decide to move, we will prioritize keeping costs as low as possible and finding a space that will support lively social interactions; alternate spaces, however, will create opportunities and challenges that we cannot yet anticipate. We will also strive to find creative ways to make the conference accessible for students, underfunded scholars, creatives, and international participants. To this end, we will continue to find ways to make online conference participation possible, as we have in recent years with the virtual conference, no matter where the physical conference occurs.&lt;br&gt;
&lt;br&gt;
To be fully transparent, if the community expresses a desire to move elsewhere, the very earliest this can possibly occur would be 2028 (after our current contracts expire). It might also take longer than this to find an alternate location, since the IAFA will not commit to a course of action that would jeopardize our larger financial health and stability.&lt;br&gt;
&lt;br&gt;
With all of this in mind, we offer a simple question in this non-binding referendum: Would you prefer that the conference stay at the Orlando Airport Marriott Lakeside, or would you prefer that we move elsewhere? We also invite you to submit your own additional comments to let us know how you feel and why.&lt;br&gt;
&lt;br&gt;
Thank you very much for being part of the IAFA community, and we look forward to hearing your perspective on this important decision. This survey will close June 30, 2025.&lt;br&gt;
&lt;br&gt;
[Email the IAFA President at &lt;a href="mailto:iafa.president@fantastic-arts.org"&gt;&lt;font color="#1155CC"&gt;iafa.president@fantastic-arts.org&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt; if you need the survey link to vote in this referendum, or search your email for a message with the subject "IAFA Survey about ICFA's Geographic Future: A Referendum."]&lt;br&gt;
&lt;br&gt;
The IAFA Board&lt;/p&gt;&lt;font color="#888888"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/font&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <link>https://iaftfita.wildapricot.org/Blog/13503054</link>
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