[2] Its principal activities are the organization of the International Conference of the Fantastic in the Arts (ICFA),[3] which was first held in 1980,[4] the publication of a journal, the Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts (JFA), which has been published regularly since 1990, and the production of a news blog and other social media that publish information of interest to the membership.
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.
Past winners include Usman T. Malik (2022) for Midnight Doorways: Fables from Pakistan,[15] Nghi Vo (2021) for The Empress of Salt and Fortune,[16] R. F. Kuang (2019) for The Poppy War,[17] Carmen Maria Machado (2018) for Her Body and Other Parties,[18] Charlie Jane Anders (2017) for All the Birds in the Sky,[19] Kai Ashante Wilson (2016) for The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps,[20] Zen Cho (2015) for Spirits Abroad and Stephanie Feldman (2015) for The Angel of Losses,[21] Sofia Samatar (2014) for A Stranger in Olondria,[22] Karin Tidbeck (2013) for Jagganath,[23] Genevieve Valentine (2012) for Mechanique,[24] and Karen Lord (2011) for Redemption in Indigo.
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.
Recent winners include Jack Hawkins (2022) for Hellish Takeout,[27] Jazmin Collins (2021) for My Gardening Journal,[28] Rona Wang (2020) for Imitation Game,[29] Ana Maria Curtis (2019) for Military Sunset,[30] Arthur Davis (2018) for Happy?
Sad?,[31] Taimur Ahmad (2017) for Noor,[32] Rani Banjarian (2016) for Lullabies in Arabic,[33] Kayla Chronister (2015) for How the Blood Spills,[34] Rich Larson (2014) for Nostalgia Calculator, Lara Donnelly (2013) for To the Dogs,[35] Rebekah Baldridge (2012) for Superposition,[36] and Seth Dickinson (2011) for The Immaculate Conception of Private Ritter.
Previous winners include Robert Nguyen (2021),[38] Filip Boratyn (2020),[39] Sheetala Bhat (2019),[40] 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).
[41] The Jamie Bishop Memorial Award recognizes a critical essay on the fantastic written in a language other than English.
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 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.
[45] The journal is interdisciplinary, publishing work on the fantastic in literature, art, drama, film, and popular media.
The JFA is published three times a year from its office at Idaho State University's Department of English and Philosophy.
Panels are pragmatic in orientation and have included such topics as: "How to Publish a Paper", "Applying for Graduate Schools", and "Getting a Job".