Reimagining the Archive: Eaton Speculative Fiction Conference

andré carrington
English
UC Riverside

The 2020s thus far have been defined by numerous interrelated crises which have prompted widespread conversation about the urgent need to imagine and implement innovative solutions for the future. Influenced by feminist, queer, decolonial, and critical race theories, speculative fiction writing and scholarship have likewise become increasingly invested in care, resistance, and liberation as strategies toward futurity. In accordance with these concerns, we are relaunching the Eaton Conference of Science Fiction around the theme “Re-imagining the Archive” to investigate reparative approaches to speculative fiction and its history, specifically with the archive. From the prominence of the Eaton Collection of Science Fiction and Fantasy to its Speculative Fictions and Cultures of Science program, the study of speculative fiction has deep significance at the University of California, Riverside. In reimagining the Eaton Conference, we aim to leverage UC Riverside’s reputation in the field and foster collaboration with a new network of experienced and emerging scholars and artists. Supporting emergent talent is an ongoing act of care that this version of the conference will prioritize as it addresses ongoing disparities in the field (and across academia) and (re)imagines the future of speculative fiction.