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2010 International Conference of the Fantastic in the Arts: call for papers on the theme of Race and the Fantastic

Call For Papers: 2010 International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts

The Film and Media division of the International Association of the Fantastic in the Arts seeks paper and panel proposals for the 31st International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts which will be held March 17th – 21st, 2010 in Orlando, Florida at the Marriott Orlando Airport Hotel.

The topic of this year’s conference is “Race and the Fantastic.” Papers related to this topic, as well as to the work of our guests of honor and attending authors (below), are especially welcome; as always, proposals for individual papers and for academic sessions and panels on any aspect of the fantastic in any media are also welcome.

The guests of honor for 2010 are authors Nalo Hopkinson and Laurence Yep, and scholar Takayuki Tatsumi. More information here.

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August 2009 Short Fiction

This month’s list is very short, which makes me think I must be missing some stories. So if you’re a person of color and had a speculative fiction story published in August, please say so in comments. Also, please list your story on the Carl Brandon wiki (where everyone can go to see stories by POC pubbed in 2009 and in 2008). If you’ve got a story coming out in September or after that, please go to this form and let me know. It’s quick and easy — editors are welcome to fill it out as well!

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LIAR Has a New Cover!

Heeeyyyy! The huge debate and protests had an impact! Bloomsbury has changed the cover for Justine Larbalestier’s forthcoming YA novel, LIAR!

The previous cover was controversial because it showed a white teenaged girl, whereas the book’s protagonist is biracial (black/white.) Larbalestier, who is a white Australian author, tried to change the cover behind the scenes, but when she was unsuccessful, she wrote about it on her blog. The book’s editor threw fuel on the fire of the ensuing controversy by claiming that the cover was intended to deepen the mindf*ck; because the book’s protag, who is a pathological liar, is the one who tells us that she is biracial. Nobody bought that, though.

So now that they’ve caved to pressure, it’s up to us to show them that audiences really DO read books with POC on the cover. Go buy it!