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2024 Sturgeon Symposium

The J. Wayne and Elsie M. Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction is pleased to announce our 3rd Annual Sturgeon Symposium, to be held October 24-25, 2024. This year's symposium acknowledges our guest of honor, Samuel R. Delany, and his lasting impact on science fiction, speculative fiction, and literary criticism.

REGISTER HERE!

Event Details

The symposium will take place over two days, featuring both virtual and in-person events to accommodate both international and local attendees. The AM sessions on Thursday will be virtual. The PM Thursday sessions and all of the Friday sessions will be held at the KU Hall Center for the Humanities. Samuel R. Delany has arranged to join us for both days' events. 

 

Thursday, October 24

Virtual Panel  |  9:30-10:45 

  • Timothy Miller (Florida Atlantic University) – Metafantasy in “The Tale of Dragons and Dreamers” and the Return to Nevèrÿon Series
  • Elisabeth Reichel (Osnabrueck University) “Professing Criminalism: Samuel R. Delany’s ‘Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones’ and the Mid-Century SF Writing Community”
  • Kelly Ann Jacobsen (University of Lynchburg and Johns Hopkins’ University) –  “Queering the Retelling: An Author Talk”

https://kansas.zoom.us/j/86441213466

Passcode: 1999

 

Virtual Roundtable: Memories, Divergences, and Disjunctions: Navigating Samuel R. Delany’s Life and Works  |  11:00-12:15          

  • Elizabeth Mannion (Baruch College, CUNY)
  • Ann Matsuuchi (LaGuardia Community College, CUNY)
  • Lavelle Porter (Macaulay Honors College, CUNY)
  • Kenny Roggenkamp (Binghamton University, SUNY)

https://kansas.zoom.us/j/86441213466

Passcode: 1999

 

Lunch  |  12:30-1:30

 

A Conversation With Samuel R. Delany  |  1:30-3:00

  • Samuel R. Delany
  • Noël Sturgeon, Trustee, Theodore Sturgeon Literary Trust

 

Sturgeon Award Presentation  |  3:30-5:30

  • Presentation on Delany and Sturgeon Materials in the Spencer Library
    • Elspeth Healey, Spencer Research Librarian
  • Introduction and Award Presentation
    • Katie Conrad, University of Kansas
    • Noël Sturgeon, Trustee, Theodore Sturgeon Literary Trust
  • Reading with R.S.A. Garcia, 2024 Sturgeon Award Winner

 

Reception  |  5:30

 

Friday, October 25

Panel  |  9:30-10:45 

  • Tess Given (Indiana University) – “Dhalgren: The Parasitic Erotics of a Long, Hard Novel”
  • Jamie Hawley (Ohio University) – “The Discourse of (Their) Desire: Hetero/Homonormativity in Queer Fandom and Fan Fiction”
  • Tiffany Fritz (University of Kansas) – “The Necessary Sex Scene: Crafting Queer Eroticism in Speculative Fiction”

 

Roundtable: Filthy! On Samuel Delany’s Late Work  |  11:00-12:15      

  • Blake Stricklin (University of Houston-Victoria)
  • Sean Grattan (Quincy University)
  • Kirin Wachter-Grene (School of the Arts Institute of Chicago)
  • Y Howard (San Diego State University)
  • Rebekah Sheldon (Indiana University)

 

Lunch  |  12:30-1:30

 

Panel  |  1:30-2:45 

  • Killian Vetter (Georgia Institute of Technology) – “Black Science Fiction before Delany”
  • Miguel Angel Albujar Escuredo (University of Kansas) – “The Evolution of Science Fiction languages and the Role of Linguistics  + Delany, Form, and the Influence of Modernism”
  • Jarod Valencia-Cheng (University of Kansas) – “Reimagining a Spectrum of Mimesis in Speculative Literature”
  • Jordan Straunch (Indiana University) – “Temporality and World in Dhalgren”

 

Pedagogy Panel: Teaching Delany and SFF  |  3:00-4:30

  • Margaret McBride (University of Oregon)
  • Margarita Nunez Arroyo (University of Kansas)
  • Giselle Anatol (University of Kansas)
  • …and more (TBD)

 

 

Sponsors

We are grateful for contributions by these generous sponsors for our 2024 symposium.

  • Cindy Reiss-Clark
  • KU Office of Research
  • The Hall Center for the Humanities

and the following Departments, Programs, and Centers: 

  • English
  • Jewish Studies
  • Slavic, German, and Eurasian Studies
  • Spencer Museum of Art
  • Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS)

Links

Questions?

  • Contact us at sfcenter@ku.edu.