From the SFRA Executive Committee
From the President
Hugh O’Connell
It’s hard to believe that the combined SFRA/GFF conference at TU-Dresden wrapped up over two months ago. My mind is still reeling from the various talks, panels, and roundtables I was able to attend virtually. While my own virtual attendance was a consequence of Covid-19 and quarantining in a hotel only a few miles from the actual going-ons, the move to hybrid conferences has certainly allowed for greater access and sharing of ideas across the board. The ability of the “Disruptive Imaginaries” team to integrate streaming so seamlessly into the conference—especially in those places where it hadn’t initially been planned for ahead of time, as in my personal case—was game changing. And please watch your inboxes for a forthcoming survey about the conference experience (whether virtual or in-person).
While it’s on my mind, I also want to take this opportunity to once again offer my thanks to TU-Dresden and all of their staff for welcoming and taking care of us both online and in-person. To our cohosts the GFF—we couldn’t have asked for a better organization to partner with. To the rest of the SFRA Executive Committee (especially Sarah Lohmann, SFRA Secretary, and former President Keren Omry for stepping-in and taking care of so many of the myriad tasks on the ground in Dresden that I couldn’t). And finally, a rousing thanks and congratulations to Moritz Ingwersen, Julia Gatermann, and the rest of their team for pulling off so smoothly and expertly such a spectacularly engaging and successful hybrid, dual-sponsored conference of over 300 in-person and online presenters. I honestly don’t know how they did it; but I’m sure as hell glad they did. I also want to offer my heartfelt congratulations to the award winners (Steven Shaviro, Paweł Frelik, Nora Castle (honorable mention), Shelley S. Streeby, Emily Midkiff, Dennis Wilson Wise, Jeremy Brett (honorable mention), and Josie Holland. I hope that everyone will take a couple of minutes to look at the awards sections of this issue of the SFRA Review and read over the committees’ and recipients’ remarks.
With Dresden in the rearview mirror, it’s now time to start looking forward to SFRA 2024 “Transitions,” already rapidly approaching on the horizon (May 7th – 11th). The conference, hosted by Jaak Tomberg and his team at the University of Tartu in Estonia, promises to be just as exciting. Along with the usual conference-style programming, SFRA 2024 will take place concurrently with the Tartu International Literary Festival Prima Vista “Futures Better and Worse” whose programming includes a bevy of literary and cultural artists from around the globe. Due to the logistics of planning and travel, the conference proposal deadline is a little earlier than usual on November 24th. Please see the conference website at sfra2024.ut.ee and make sure to get those proposals in; you aren’t going to want to miss this one!
Speaking of events that that you won’t want to miss, if you have an event that you’d like the SFRA to distribute through its email lists or social media sites, or you have other ideas or concerns about the work the organization is doing, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at hugh.oconnell@umb.edu. I’d love to hear from you.
SFRA Review 