SFRA 2026

Into the Slipstream: Watering Futures

Michigan State University, USA

June 17th – 21st

Lead Organizer: Sonja Fritzsche

Call For Proposals

(download)

“They tried to bury us, they didn’t know we were seeds.”

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 paradigm of disruption, 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 CiFi 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@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.