RANDOM NOTES FROM ICFA

In no particular order, a few written/printed things from the flotsam of ICFA materials and correspondences...

Can a landscape be both metaphysical and physical in a work of fiction? [A question I didn’t use for the Landscapes of Fantasy panel.]

Brian Aldiss is one of the legendary writers in the field and likely needs no introduction. He was awarded an O.B.E. last year for "services to Literature." He regards this as Buckingham Palace's euphemism for science fiction. "I was being paid off." Nevertheless, he is still in there pitching, working on a new Penguin Books anthology and with two novels awaiting publication. [The intro Aldiss provided me with for the Landscapes panel.]

Sisko Ylimartimo (1945 - ) – Sisko Ylimartimo was born in Pudasjarvi, Finland. Now she lives and works in Rovaniemi. She has studied a.o. Finnish and history (Master of Arts degree 1974), art history (licentiate degree 1996), history of graphic design (Doctor of Arts 1998) and literature (Doctor of Philosophy 2003). In 1971-1996 she worked as a teacher of Finnish, literature, history and art history in different school grades. Since 1996 she has been a senior lecturer of art history in University of Lapland and since 2003 as a docent of children’s literature in University of Oulu. She has written books and articles about picture book illustration, fairy tales, arts and crafts and sacral art. Recently published books are a.o. about H.C. Andersen. Now she is writing a book about the illustrations of Thousand and One Nights. [Found in the room before the start of the Landscapes of Fantasy panel; part of a longer biographical note with art examples.]

Art as Fantastic – Art can be construed as fantastic or containing fantastic elements when there are recognizable degrees of representation with, within a culture, a recognition of some measure of displacement from the range of conventionally established objects and models of representations of those objects. [From the handout “Definitions and Principles”. Also defined, “Representation,” “Aesthetic Focus,” “Exterior vs Interior Focus,” “Types of Objects,” “Medium of art focused.”]

I also enjoyed the opening panel you moderated [on the Visual Arts and the Fantastic]...you didn't get to see this, but something from that opening panel paid off beautifully in the banquet on the final evening. You remember Inge talking about how much he admired Vess's Snow White story? Well, Saturday was Inge's birthday, and Vess gave him a present...a remarkable present: he gave him the original artwork for the ENTIRE Snow White story. Inge was utterly floored, and those of us who were there to hear him talk earlier in the week about his feelings on this artwork were, too. [Attendee Joe Sutliff Sanders, emailing me after the conference.]

Also cancelled. Thursday: 2:30 Bertram: Stevenson: A Child’s Annotated Demonology. [From the March 13th Errata Sheet]

Remember that paper reading times are strictly limited to 20 minutes, followed by a 10-minute question period. All presenters are asked to please observe this conference guideline, to ensure adequate time for everyone. [From the ICFA-27 Reminders page]

After Florida Atlantic University pulled its support from Journal of Fantastic in the Arts, we lost mailing and printing support from the business manager and a 20-hour-a-week grad assistant as well as a considerable subvention. So I personally packed and mailed JFA 15.3 & 4 last summer. We have since changed printers to Odyssey Printing in New Hampshire and are currently working out the problems in the changeover from Word to Indesign… [From the JFA Report 2006, Bill Senior, editor]

Find out what’s going on behind the scenes of your association. Hear about the challenges facing us in the future. Find out how you can become more involved in IAFA. [From the flier advertising the IAFA Business Meeting]

Please comment on the quality of the papers presented at this year’s conference. Do you have suggestions for improving the referee process? Or for improving communication between participants, session chairs, and division heads? [From the Conference Evaluation Form]

The ICFA was really quite excellent this year; I actually sold most of the books I brought, my ego was inflated to maximum expansion during the "new directions in horror" panel, all the panels I intended were lively and educational, and I got a lot of business done, getting good ideas and a few invitations to send things to people here and there. Right on. [Attendee Mike Arnzen, emailing me after the conference.]

Representing the Other: Gender and Sexuality in the Fantastic [theme of next year’s conference]

(Evil Monkey: "Here, I made this for you: 'Dark and absurd humor ... register[s]—they are ... funny ... outrageous ... The revelations ... whet the reader's appetite ... to... entice ... Readers ... will ... appreciate ... the ... profound ... Nabokovian intellectual exercise ... exceptional ... work.' - Strange Horizons." Jeff: "Gee, thanks."}