First held in 2011, CRSF is an annual postgraduate conference designed to promote the research of speculative fictions including, but not limited to, science fiction, fantasy and horror.
Here is an archive of past events, CFP’s and photos!
— 18th June 2011 —
University of Liverpool
Keynote Lectures from:
Professor Adam Roberts (Royal Holloway, University of London)
Mr Andy Sawyer (Science Fiction Foundation Collection Librarian; Director of MA in Science Fiction Studies, University of Liverpool)
First of many end of day photos
Once again we received papers and delegates who were open, friendly, engaging and constructive. Here’s how Leimar Garcia-Siino, one of the delegates, described it:
The conference was superb, balancing nerd-excitement and the thrill of academic SF perfectly.
Current Research in Speculative Fiction 2013
— 17th June 2013 —
University of Liverpool
Keynote Lectures from:
Pat Cadigan (Double Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author),
Dr. Peter Wright (Edge Hill University)
Current Research in Speculative Fiction 2012
— 18th June 2012 —
University of Liverpool
Keynote Lectures from:
Professor David Seed (University of Liverpool),
Professor Fred Botting (Kingston University London)
‘We heard everything from zombies to umwelts, Doctor Who to the Holocaust, Final Fantasy to the Mars Trilogy, William Gibson, Margaret Atwood, and so much more besides.’
Current Research in Speculative Fiction 2014
Friday 20th June 2014
University of Liverpool
With Keynote Lectures from:
Dr. Mark Bould (University of the West of England)
Prof. Roger Luckhurst (Birkbeck University London)
Current Research in Speculative Fiction 2015
Monday 8th June 2015
University of Liverpool
With Keynote Lectures from:
Dr. Andrew M. Butler (Canterbury Christ Church University) Dr. Sarah Dillon (University of Cambridge)
Current Research in Speculative Fiction 2016
With keynotes from:
Dr Caroline Edwards (Birkbeck, University of London)
and Dr Patricia Wheeler (University of Hertfordshire)
Current Research in Speculative Fiction 2017
Current Research in Speculative Fiction 2018
Current Research in Speculative Fiction 2019
Thursday 6th June 2019
University of Liverpool
With keynotes from:
Dr Paul March-Russell (University of Kent)
and Dr Nicole Devarenne (University of Dundee)
Current Research in Speculative Fiction 2020….2021!
New Team…
New Logo!
Our online conference photo! Lot’s of people could not stay for the social. There was a record number of delegates (over 60!)
July 1st-2nd 2021
Online – Zoom
Keynotes from:
Alex Goody (Oxford Brookes)
Dr Caroline Edwards (Birkbeck University)
CRSF 2022
Due to the SUCCESS of our Online 2021 conference, we decided to host CRSF2022 as a hybrid conference, including online attendees and papers, in-person attendees and papers, as well as pre-recorded video papers as an option for those with schedule conflicts, illness or time-difference issues. This was an amazing event, with accessibility options for all!
With over 120 EventBrite tickets booked (over two days, online and in-person tickets) we hit a new record!
Want to read more about CRSF 2022? Conference reports are available in Foundation Science Fiction Review, as well as on The Fantasy Hive
CURRENT RESEARCH IN SPECULATIVE FICTION (CRSF) 30th June to 1st July – Conference Report by T.O.Munro
KEYNOTES:
Dr. Christy Tidwell (South Dakota School of Mine & Technology) Dr. Jalondra A Davies (Writer and Scholar)
WORKSHOP: Sell Your Stories: Writing and Submitting SFF Short Fiction.
Dr Phoenix Alexander (University of Liverpool)
ONLINE ROUNDTABLES including special guests:
Gareth L Powell (2022 Stars and Bones, 2016 Embers of War)
Adrian Tchaikovsky (2016 Arthur C. Clarke Award Winner; Children of Time, Upcoming: Ogres, 2022)
Professor Adam Roberts (2012 BSFA Winner; Jack Glass. Recent: Purgatory Mount, 2021)
Laura Jean McKay (2021 Arthur C. Clarke Award Winner; The Animals in That Country 2020)
Sue Burke (SFFWorld: Best of the decade list 2011-2020; Semiosis 2018 and Interference 2019)
Vanada Singh (Philip K Dick Award Finalist: Ambiguity Machines and Other Stories 2018)
Aliya Whiteley (Arthur C Clark finalist: Loosening Skin 2018, The Beauty 2014, Skyward Inn 2021)
Chana Porter (Playwrite and Author: The Seep, Leap and the Net will Appear)
Current Research in Speculative Fiction 2024
14th Annual Conference
4 July – 5 July 2024, University of Liverpool, In Person and Online – https://crsfhome.home.blog/
“I realize I don’t know very much. None of us knows very much. But we can all learn more. Then we can teach one another. We can stop denying reality or hoping it will go away by magic.” (Octavia Butler, Parable of the Sower)
KEYNOTES: Lindz McLeod (Turducken; published with Catapult and Apex); Dr Xavier Aldana Reyes (Manchester Metropolitan University)
AUTHOR ROUNDTABLE:
Ray Nayler (The Tusks of Extinction; The Mountain in the Sea)
Oliver Langmead (Calypso; Birds of Paradise)
Ai Jiang (Linghun; I AM AI)
Emily Tesh (Some Desperate Glory)
Tlotlo Tsamaase (Womb City; The Silence of the Wilting Sky)
ACADEMIC PUBLISHING ROUNDTABLE:
Paul March-Russell (SF Foundation; Gold SF)
Jen Vennall (Taylor & Francis)
Jonathan Thornton (SF Foundation Reviews Editor; Fantasy Hive reviewer)
Matthew Munro (Fantasy Hive reviewer)
SF WRITING WORKSHOP: Dr Rachel Handley (Possible Worlds and Other Stories; stories published in The Liminal Review and Sonder Magazine)
OTHER ACTIVITIES (in person): OPEN MIC (July 4th)
“Economics was like psychology, a pseudoscience trying to hide that fact with intense theoretical hyperelaboration. And gross domestic product was one of those unfortunate measurement concepts, like inches or the British thermal unit, that ought to have been retired long before.” (Kim Stanley Robinson, Blue Mars)
“When the reasoning mind is forced to confront the impossible again and again, it has no choice but to adapt.” (N.K. Jemisin, The Fifth Season)
Whether it is science fiction, fantasy, or horror, speculative fiction allows us to imagine new worlds, for authors and readers to fully engage their imaginations to what is beyond our current capabilities and comprehension. We build up Earth in beauty and destruction. We think of distant new planets or dimensions, radical and fantastical species, and find that even in the darkest dystopias there is something to learn. For CRSF’s 13th year, this hybrid offline/online event seeks to generate
interdisciplinary discussions of growth in speculative fiction, exploring the theme in its many different guises.
We welcome papers from the fields of literary studies, creative writing, media studies, philosophy, art, anthropology, sociology, and political theory that speak to, but are not limited to:
- Technological growth, uplift fictions; advanced societies
- Expansion; population growth; space colonisation; speculative worlds
- Representations of waste such as nuclear waste; humans and animals as waste; natural resources
- Representations of transhumanism, augmented or artificial intelligence, robotics, and extra-terrestrial life
- The body and its transformations (the posthuman body; the racialised & gendered body; the queer body)
- Speculative fiction as a vehicle of political critique and social transformation
Interrelationships between power, fantasy, actors, action, forms, and reality - Forms of alternative kinship made possible (or restricted) by speculative fiction
- Breaching boundaries in speculative fiction
We welcome proposals for academic and artistic contributions that speak to any of the issues. Papers should be 15-20 minutes long. Abstracts (max. 300 words) and a short biographical note (max. 100 words) should be submitted to crsf.team@gmail.com by March 24th (extended until April 1st). For those reading at the open mic, please submit your piece (any speculative prose, poetry, or drama, max. 5-minute reading) to the same address by May 31st to secure a reading spot on the night. All queries can be directed to the above email address or message on Twitter @CRSFteam or Instagram @crsfliverpool.
Current Research in Speculative Fiction Conference 2026 