ACCSFF '22 June 3-4, 2022	Program History Home
	The first ACCSFF after the pandemic was also the first public event that the Merril Collection held once the moratorium on such gatherings was lifted. Strict protocols were in place to ensure the safety of all who participated. Once again, the conference was two days long, and this time there were eight sessions scheduled, although after one speaker cancelled the final session was down to one presenter. Fortunately, we had no concurrent sessions, so all participants were able to hear all the papers. The breadth of topics covered was truly remarkable, with sessions not just on science fiction and fantasy but also on environmental themes, fantastic music, games and gaming, and feminist fantastic fiction. As has become common, there was a session devoted to the work of Margaret Atwood; other creators discussed included Robert Charles Wilson, Peter Watts, Cherie Dimaline, Tanya Huff, Guy Gavriel Kay, Jo Walton, Eric Walters, Sylvain Neuvel, Kelly Robson, and the bands Skinny Puppy and Voivod. Our Author Keynote Address speaker was novelist, short story writer, dramatist, and essayist Drew Hayden Taylor, who offered us an account of what storytelling meant to him from childhood on. Science fiction was an early interet of his, and he has found a way to incorporate the genre's tropes in his works on Indigenous themes. His lively presentation on Friday evening was very well received. Graham J. Murphy began things on Saturday morning with his Scholar Keynote Address, discussing his own history of interest in and scholarship about fantastic literature, notably cyberpunk fiction. ACCSFF '22 began with introductory remarks by Chair Allan Weiss, and then a short presentation by Kim Hull on the Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation and Fantasy, the conference's host institution for most of the period of 1997-2022. The science fiction session followed with papers by Jaime Babb on Robert Charles Wilson and Dominick M. Grace on Peter Watts. The session on environmental themes featured discussions of Cherie Dimaline by Michele Braun and young adult author Evan Winter by Monica Sousa. Lisa Macklem and Ewelina Feldman-Kolodziejuk spoke on The Handmaid's Tale and its sequel, The Testaments, in papers that very much spoke to each other. The music session looked at Tanya Huff's Sing the Four Quarters, in a paper on the role of music in the novel by Bettina Juszak, and Daniel Lukes and Nicholas Serruys described science fiction themes in contemporary music. Session V was on Canadian fantasy; Sylwia Borowska-Szerszun discussed the fiction of Guy Gavriel Kay, which has been strangely neglected by critics, and Huw Osborne analyzed gender themes in Jo Walton's Among Others. Apocalyptic and dystopian fiction formed the subject of the next session, as Stephen Cain looked at changes in the depiction of Toronto in post-apocalyptic fiction, Cat Ashton discussed Eric Walters's The Rule of Three, and Isabelle Guy spoke on Sylvain Neuvel's The Test. Session VII dealt with feminist fantastic fiction: Ariel Kroon gave a paper on Cold War-era science fiction by women, while Clare Wall presented on gender in Kelly Robson's science fiction. David Milman rounded out the day by discussing the links between cyberpunk and role-playing game narratives. As always, we depended heavily on assistance from the Toronto Public Library. With Annette Mocek's retirement, we were assisted by services specialist Ames Geddes as well as Senior Department Head Sephora Henderson. Volunteers included social media guru Clare Wall, refreshments volunteer David Cheater, and all who agreed to help out at the registration desk and in other ways, like Annie Luong, Monica Sousa, and Bettina Juszak. The Department of English, led by Chair Tina Choi and administrator Rose Crawford, provided invaluable help both financial and otherwise. Thanks to you all!