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 47, 2026:
Metacognition • ICFA 46, 2025: Night Terrors • ICFA 45, 2024: Whimsy • 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 but not held due to the COVID-19 event of 2020–2021) • ICFA 40, 2019: Politics and Conflict • ICFA 39, 2018:
Frankenstein Bicentennial • ICFA 38, 2017:
Epic Fantasy • ICFA 37, 2016: Wonder Tales • ICFA 36, 2015: The Scientific Imagination • ICFA 35, 2014: Fantastic Empires • ICFA 34, 2013: Fantastic Adaptations, Transformations, and Audiences • ICFA 33, 2012: The Monstrous Fantastic • ICFA 32, 2011: The Fantastic
Ridiculous • ICFA 31, 2010: Race and the Fantastic • ICFA 30, 2009: Time and the Fantastic • ICFA 29, 2008: The Fantastic in the Sublime • ICFA 28, 2007: Representing Self and Other:
Gender and
Sexuality in the Fantastic • ICFA 27, 2006: Drawn by the Fantastic:
Comics,
Graphic Novels, Art, and Literature • ICFA 26, 2005: Blurring the Boundaries:
Transrealism and Other Movements • ICFA 25, 2004: Here There Be
Dragons: The Global Fantastic • ICFA 24, 2003: What Might Be Going to Have Been: Dark
Myths and Legends in the Fantastic • ICFA 23, 2002: Fantastic Visions: Re-Presenting the UnReal—The Fantastic in
Children's Literature and
Young Adult Literature and Art • ICFA 22, 2001: 2001—Once and Future Odysseys • ICFA 21, 2000: Looking Backward: The Fantastic Then and Now • ICFA 20, 1999:
Utopias/
Dystopias • ICFA 19, 1998:
The War of the Worlds Centennial • ICFA 18, 1997:
Dracula Centennial
Awards The following awards are presented at the conference:
The IAFA Distinguished Scholarship Award The IAFA Distinguished Scholarship Award, presented annually since 1986, recognizes a career of distinguished contributions to the scholarship and criticism of the fantastic. Recipients deliver a keynote address at the annual conference.
Recipients of the IAFA Distinguished Scholarship Award •
Farah Mendlesohn (2022) • Stacy Alaimo, (2021) • Mark Bould, (2019) • Fred Botting, (2018) •
Edward James, (2017) • Cristina Bacchilega, (2016) • Colin Milburn, (2015) • Istvan Csicsery-Ronay Jr., (2014) • Constance Penley, (2013) • Jeffrey Jerome Cohen, (2012) •
Andrea Hairston, (2011) •
Takayuki Tatsumi, (2010) • Maria Nikolajeva, (2009) •
Roger Luckhurst, (2008) • Jane Donawerth, (2007) •
M. Thomas Inge, (2006) •
Damien Broderick, (2005) •
Marcial Souto, (2004) •
S. T. Joshi, (2003) • Roderick McGillis, (2002) • Brooks Landon, (2001) •
Nina Auerbach, (2000) •
John Clute, (1999) •
Gary K. Wolfe, (1998) •
N. Katherine Hayles, (1997) •
T. A. Shippey, (1996) •
Peter Hunt, (1995) • James Flannery, (1994) •
Devendra Varma, (1993) •
Jack Zipes, (1992) •
Brian Attebery, (1991) •
H. Bruce Franklin, (1990) •
C. N. Manlove, (1989) •
Kathryn Hume, (1988) •
Brian Stableford, (1987) •
Brian W. Aldiss, (1986)
The IAFA William L. Crawford Fantasy Award The
Crawford Award, named for publisher
William L. Crawford, each year recognizes a new writer whose first fantasy book was published during the previous calendar year. The award was established with the support of the late
Andre Norton, who also helped establish the criteria. Past winners include
Usman T. Malik (2022) for
Midnight Doorways: Fables from Pakistan,
Nghi Vo (2021) for
The Empress of Salt and Fortune,
R. F. Kuang (2019) for
The Poppy War,
Carmen Maria Machado (2018) for
Her Body and Other Parties,
Charlie Jane Anders (2017) for
All the Birds in the Sky, Kai Ashante Wilson (2016) for
The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps,
Zen Cho (2015) for
Spirits Abroad and Stephanie Feldman (2015) for
The Angel of Losses,
Sofia Samatar (2014) for
A Stranger in Olondria,
Karin Tidbeck (2013) for
Jagganath,
Genevieve Valentine (2012) for
Mechanique, and
Karen Lord (2011) for
Redemption in Indigo.
Redemption in Indigo was also nominated for the Best Novel award at the
World Fantasy Convention in 2011.
Dell Magazines Award The Dell Magazines Award for Undergraduate Excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing (formerly the Isaac Asimov Award) is presented to a full-time undergraduate college student for an unpublished and unsold science fiction or fantasy short story. The award includes a five hundred dollar prize and is co-sponsored by
Dell Magazines, the IAFA, and the School of Mass Communications of the University of South Florida. The winner is invited to the annual conference and the winning story is considered for publication in
Asimov's Science Fiction. Recent winners include Jack Hawkins (2022) for
Hellish Takeout, Jazmin Collins (2021) for
My Gardening Journal, Rona Wang (2020) for
Imitation Game, Ana Maria Curtis (2019) for
Military Sunset, Arthur Davis (2018) for
Happy? Sad?, Taimur Ahmad (2017) for
Noor, Rani Banjarian (2016) for
Lullabies in Arabic, Kayla Chronister (2015) for
How the Blood Spills, Rich Larson (2014) for
Nostalgia Calculator, Lara Donnelly (2013) for
To the Dogs, Rebekah Baldridge (2012) for
Superposition, and Seth Dickinson (2011) for
The Immaculate Conception of Private Ritter.
David G. Hartwell Emerging Scholar Award The David G. Hartwell Emerging Scholar Award is an annual award and stipend presented to a graduate student for a paper presented at the conference. Previous winners include Robert Nguyen (2021), Filip Boratyn (2020), Sheetala Bhat (2019), Kelli Shermeyer (2018), Grant Dempsey (2017), Jordan S. Carroll (2016), Taylor Evans (2015), Melisa Kurtz (2014), Cassandra Bausman (2013), Timothy S. Miller (2012), and Mark DeCicco (2011). This award, the IAFA's general award for an outstanding student paper, was formerly called the Graduate Student Award. It was renamed the David G. Hartwell Emerging Scholar Award in 2016, in tribute to eminent editor and long-time IAFA Board member and book room manager
David Hartwell.
Jamie Bishop Memorial Award for an Essay Not in English The Jamie Bishop Memorial Award recognizes a critical essay on the fantastic written in a language other than English. The award is named for
Jamie Bishop (1971–2007), who was among those killed in the
Virginia Tech massacre of April 16, 2007. Jamie was the son of
Michael Bishop, an award-winning science fiction writer, and Jeri Whitaker Bishop. Previous winners include Natacha Vas-Deyres and Patrick Bergeron (2016), for
Des fourmis et des hommes: voyage entomologique au cœur de la proto-science-fiction (1890–1950) (Of Ants and Men: An Entomological Journey to the Heart of Proto-Science Fiction (1890–1950)), Fernando Ángel Moreno, Mikel Peregrina, and Steven Bermúdez (2015), for
Condiciones para el nacimiento de la ciencia ficción española contemporánea (Conditions for the Birth of Recent Spanish Science Fiction), Vera Cuntz-Leng (2014), Ezequiel De Rosso (2013) for
La línea de sombra: literatura latinoamericana y ciencia ficción en tres novelas contemporáneas (The shadow line: Latin American literature and science fiction in three contemporary novels), Pampa Olga Arán (2012) for
Lo unido y lo enhebrado: para una teoría del fantástico literario contemporáneo (The United and the Linked: Towards a Theory of Contemporary Fantastic Literature), and Alejo Steimberg (2011) for
El futuro obturado: el cronotopo aislado en la ciencia ficción argentina pos-2001 (The Future Sealed Off: The Chronotope of Isolation in Argentine Science Fiction After 2001).
The Lord Ruthven Award The
Lord Ruthven Award is given annually at the ICFA by the Lord Ruthven Assembly, a group of academic scholars associated with the IAFA that specialize in
vampire literature. The award is presented for the best fiction on vampires and the best academic work on the study of the vampire figure in culture and literature. The award is named after
Lord Ruthven, one of the first vampires in English literature.
Walter James Miller Award The
Walter James Miller Memorial Award for Student Scholarship in the International Fantastic is given annually to the author of the best ICFA student paper devoted to a work or works of the fantastic originally created in a language other than English. In addition to scholarly excellence, the winning paper must also demonstrate the author's command of the relevant linguistic, national, and cultural contexts of the work or works discussed. The first Walter James Miller Award, given in 2015, was awarded to Andrés García Londoño, PhD Candidate in Hispanic Studies, University of Pennsylvania, for
A Time without a Master. Proposals for an Alternative Future in Los pasos perdidos (The Lost Steps), by
Alejo Carpentier.
Robert A. Collins Service Award The Robert A. Collins Service Award is presented, when merited, to an officer, board member, or division head for outstanding service to the organization.
Stephen R. Donaldson Award The
Stephen R. Donaldson Award recognizes exceptional support and service to the organization from individuals who have not served as officers, board members, or division heads. It has been presented six times since its creation in 1997.
The Imagining Indigenous Futurisms Award Beginning in 2020, The Imagining Indigenous Futurisms Award has been presented at the ICFA Awards Banquet. This award recognizes emerging authors in the
Indigenous Futurisms movement who use science fiction to address issues of indigenous sovereignty and self-determination. Previous winners of the award include Julia A. Thompson (2020). ==
Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts ==