[Sfts-faculty] CFP: 2026 Science Fiction Research Association Conference

Mon Oct 13 19:15:37 PDT 2025

For all interested scholars:
https://sfra.org/conferences/sfra-2026-conference/
<https://sfra.org/conferences/sfra-2026-conference/>

SFRA 2026 draws inspiration from the abundant waters of Michigan, nestled
between the Great Lakes and especially of East Lansing, the area known by
its Indigenous Anishinaabe residents as Nkwejong, “where the rivers meet.”
We invite proposals that bring together rivulets of thought, connecting
science ﬁction, place, and the ﬂows of information which bridge them. From
polluted rivers to speculative ecologies, from Indigenous futurisms to
climate ﬁction, we seek work that examines how imagined worlds are carved
by the motion of waters, the transition of power, and the stories we tell.
Science ﬁction has long served as a seedbed for hope, critique, and
transformation, but seeds alone are not enough. They must be nurtured. This
conference asks: what kinds of futures do we cultivate, and who tends them?
>From where will we draw water to nourish these hopes?

We invite papers on all forms and genres of science fiction and the
fantastic in relation to the topic outlined above, including but not
limited to literature, music, film, games, design, and art. We strive for a
multiplicity of voices and perspectives from any and all disciplines and
career stages. While papers and panels on any subject in SFF are welcome,
we especially encourage topics that resonate with the overall conference
theme and that engage disruptive imaginations along axes. Possible topics
include but are not limited to:

   -
      -
         -
            - Water Justice and Just Futurity
            - Science ﬁction and socio-hydrology
            - Water and Cli-Fi in arts, media, and literature
            - Water and worlding: saturated cities and dry futures
            - Transnational ﬂows and climate migration
            - Science ﬁction and futurisms
               - BIPOC futurities
               - Trans futurities
               - Queer futurities
               - Disability futurities
            - Science ﬁction from the Global South
            - Science ﬁction in various languages
            - Science ﬁction and tides–the ebb and ﬂow of speculation
            - Ebbs, ﬂows, and ﬂoods of theory Genre conﬂuences and
            branches: science ﬁction, fantasy, horror, detective ﬁction, western
            - Time
            - Detroit in the slipstream/past, present and futures of
            industrial cities

Open topic: If you have an idea for a paper or a panel that you don’t see
listed here, please feel free to propose it!

Consider submiƫng a panel proposal (for panels of 3-4 papers and including
a moderator/chair) or submit a single paper abstract of 250-350 words and a
200-word bio. Please indicate whether you wish to present virtually or in
person, if you have any A/V or accessibility or other accommodation needs.
Care will be taken to accommodate other requests related to the political
climate in certain states that have adopted anti-DEI and anti-LGBTQIA laws.

Please submit proposals via this link: https://forms.gle/x2FciYdGhLo5wxj17

Please reach out if you have any questions with an email to
SFRAMSU2026 at msu.edu.

The conference will be held on the beautiful campus of Michigan State
University in Wells Hall and the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center. The
campus in East Lansing, Michigan, USA is easily accessible by air, train,
bus, car, and water and is approximately 90 minutes west of Detroit,
Michigan.

Membership and Registration: All conference presenters must be members of
the SFRA and pay the conference registration fee (membership runs calendar
year). All SFRA members receive subscriptions to the journals Science
Fiction Studies, Extrapolation, and The SFRA Review and have the ability to
add discounted subscriptions to other journals, including Science Fiction
Film and Television, Foundation, Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, The
New York Review of Science Fiction, and Locus (Join SFRA | Science Fiction
Research Association). SFRA members attending the conference in person are
also eligible for travel grants of up to $500(US) to help subsidize
conference costs ( Conference Travel Grant | Science Fiction Research
Association). The call for travel grant applications will be included in
conference acceptance notiﬁcations.

-- 
andré m. carrington

Associate Professor of English
University of California, Riverside
Director, Designated Emphasis in Speculative Fictions & Cultures of Science
<https://sfts.ucr.edu/directors-report>
--
Editor, *The Black Fantastic*
<https://www.loa.org/books/the-black-fantastic-20-afrofuturist-stories-paperback/>,
Library
of America, 2025
*Audiofuturism: Science Fiction Radio Drama & the Black Fantastic
Imagination* <https://fordhampress.com/audiofuturism-hb-9781531513320.html>
*Speculative Blackness: The Future of Race in Science Fiction*
<https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/speculative-blackness>
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