Around Peru, Nebraska: Bill Clemente's Pictures, Video, and Links: ICFA 2013

Saturday, March 30, 2013

ICFA 2013

Tij Johnson, Guest of Honor; Neil Gaiman, Guest of Honor; Constance Penley, Guest Scholar

IAFA Board Members, great folks with whom I have the honor of working

ICFA Pool Picture

This year's International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts--March 20-24, again at the Marriott Orlando Airport Hotel--drew a record crowd of just over 500, including some 90 artists, writers, playwrights, publishers, and editors, many of whom appear in the following post-banquet photograph.

I love returning to this conference each year to see old friends and

make new ones in addition to serving as the organization's treasurer and unofficial photographer. And what a damn wonderful group of folks.

I posted two groups of photographs, Wednesday and Thursday and Friday and Saturday. As always, feel free to download any images that appeal to you--to download, double click the image of choice, and then click "actions" on the menu bar; next, from the actions drop-down menu, click "all sizes" and then choose "original size." Then click "download."

This year's record included many first-time to ICFA folks, many of whom came to a brief reception hosted by the many graduate-student members of IAFA. Many of the new attendees gathered for the following photograph.

After Kij Johnson's Guest of Honor reading Friday night--I must

record her reciting her "Bacon" narrative)--ICFA featured something new and fun, the "IAFA Ten-Minute Play Festival," three plays chosen by a committee from the many manuscripts submitted: "Mississippi Twilight" by Michael Reimann; "Brides of Cthulhu" by Michael Furlong; and "The Sum of Your Experience" by Trace Crawford.

Members of the Production

Brett Cox introduced the plays, Brett Hursey served as host, and Carrie Cole directed.

Both Trace Crawford and Michael Reimann permitted me to post their plays on You Tube for the immediate future.

"Mississippi Twilight" included Brett Cox as the narrator and featured Andy Duncan, Sydney Duncan, and James Patrick Kelly.

I also recorded and posted for your enjoyment, Trace Crawford's "The Sum of Your Experience." Brett Cox again serves as the narrator for the play that features Conor McCreery and Guest of Honor, Neil Gaiman.

During this year's most excellent gathering, I also got away for a few hours to go birding at Merritt Island--where I photographed birds, a rocket launch, and a Manatee--and at the Gator Land Rookery; and I posted photographs you might enjoy.