Thursday, August 21, 2014

Blogcon: absence makes the heart grow fandomer

[UPDATE: Martin Wisse's gigantic links roundup!]

Some WorldCon posts etc.:

"ON SUNDAY, 17 August, I toasted the memory of Iain Banks next to a chair made of human bones. Single malt, of course. [...] Banks was born in 1954 and published 27 novels over his career, alongside a short story collection and Raw Spirit, a tour of Scotland's distilleries. His unparalleled dual career as a writer of science fiction, published with the middle initial M (for Menzies), and of literary fiction, published without, made him one of the most popular and critically acclaimed British authors of the last thirty years." Martin Petto: In the Wake of the British Boom: The 72nd World Science Fiction Convention.

"Well, here I am, back from London and Loncon, with much to tell. I combined my third foray to Worldcon (and my first as a Hugo nominee) with a family vacation, both of which were delightful if a little tiring--a classic "I need a vacation after this vacation" situation. The experiences of both convention and city are already swirling in my head, so I'd better get them down while it's still possible to make sense of them [...]" Abigail Nussbaum: London and LonCon.

"LonCon3, the 72nd World Science Fiction Convention, was happening too close to me this year for me to be able to resist temptation. So last Saturday I got up at an ungodly hour, got on a train to London, and spent the day at the ExCel Convention Centre attending panels where writers and critics I admire discussed various aspects of speculative fiction and fandom, going to readings by some of my favourite authors, and wandering around [...]" Ana S: LonCon3 Report.

"When I’m at conventions I am so fully immersed it takes me a long time to be able to order my thoughts well enough for a blog post. Sometimes I never get round to writing about the particularly intense cons because there’s simply too much trying to get out of the narrow funnel from my brain to my fingers. As I said to a friend earlier, trying to write about Nine Worlds and Loncon 3 back to back is like trying to stuff a pillow down the nib of a pen." Emma Newman: Nine Worlds and Loncon 3.

"I asked a question at the Queer Desires in Fandom panel about whether different types of fandom attracted fans with different types of queer identities, but realised later that it was the wrong question. What I should have asked was whether the panellists found that their personal experiences of queerness affected how they engaged with fandom and even which sort of fandom they preferred to engage with [...]" Not By Its Cover: Queerness and Fandom, Reading the Other, A Singularity for the Rest of Us.

"This weekend I've been to LonCon3, my second WorldCon. I went last year and had a lot of misgivings. This year erased those misgivings entirely. What a great experience. What a great con. Let me count the ways." Andrea Phillips: Loncon3, A Retrospective.

"You may or may not recall, dear readers, that I was traveling to foreign English lands all last week, in order to attend Nine Worlds 2014, and LonCon3: the 2014 World Science Fiction Convention. Many were the adventures of your intrepid correspondent! Much did she travel! Far did she wander on untrodden paths [...] Well, maybe not so much with the untrodden [...]" Liz Bourke: Adventures in Visiting England and Conventions, Parts I, II, III, IV, V, final thoughts.

"We registered at Loncon late today, so we missed the huge lines (I don't know if that suggests any problem with the con itself or is just inevitable). The convention center that the con is in one end of is certainly very, very long. But on the bright side, that means lots of mall-food-court type food and lots of tables with chairs where people can hang out, which Chad & I did after our program items. Anyway, my first panel was today [...]" Kate Nepveu: Loncon: The Superhero-Industrial Complex, Loncon: Translating Genre, Loncon: Fallen London: Recreating London in Games, Loncon: Content and Form: Writing SF/F in non-Western Modes, Loncon: Imagining Fantasy Lands: The Status Quo Does Not Need Worldbuilding, Loncon: Welcome to Night Vale, Loncon: some general stuff, Loncon: Fan Activism, Loncon: Feminism and Sexism in Fandom, Loncon: the Canon is Dead. What Now?, Loncon: I Before They, Except After You, Loncon: the Gendered AI, Loncon: Quick Follow-ups.

"For my followers who aren't SF/F fans, Worldcon is the annual World Science Fiction Convention, which is held in a different city each year (local convention groups bid to run it). It's mostly stateside, but gets out to the UK about once a decade. This year the 72nd Worldcon was LonCon3, being held at the Excel centre in Dockland from 14th to 18th August. [...] For SF/F fans who don't otherwise know me, I'm also a disability rights activist, so I probably came at Worldcon from a slightly different angle to most people - about two feet lower and on wheels <g> [...]" David: Worldcon on Wheels.

"I’m home! With books galore! [...] And con crud. But books!! [...]" Lisa: Con Report: Loncon 3.

"I headed to London straight from the studio to be in time to catch up with Rina & Jacob from Tachyon Publications, and Rani Graff from Israel, for dinner. There was a party at Rina & Jacob’s apartment last night, at which I managed to catch up with a bunch of people, including Pat Murphy whom I have not seen in ages. Her work in progress sounds very interesting. Also John Kessel told me he has a novel that he’s almost ready to shop around, which is excellent news. [...]" Cheryl Morgan: Day 0, Day 1, The Trans Stuff at Worldcon, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Worldcon Wrap, A Few Brief Hugo Stat Comments, Academics at Worldcon -- What Went Wrong? (argh that's me).

"Having worked and attended a select handful of 'Geek' events, I was hugely excited as I headed to LonCon3, this year’s WorldCon host. Before I begin, I want to say the biggest Thank You to Kate Nepveu, and her excellent “Con or Bust” project, any spare money I have goes to promoting Chinese culture, and without the project, I would have been unable to attend [...]" Xueting Ni: A Recapitulation of Loncon3.

"Only a week after the event, here’s my event report. Just like back in school. The short version: a great time was had and lots of new and interesting people were met, including some heroes of mine in within fiction writing. Can’t say fairer than that [...]" R.A. Smith: Fun and Games at Loncon3.

"The dust has settled and I’m peering over the precipice of a new job which begins September 1st, so I thought it would be a good time as any to get this pesky con-report-blog thing out of my way." J.D. YangConventionally speaking.

& Madeline Ashby's report -- but has it disappeared for now ... ?

& Prince Jvstin's pics on Pinterest. & Gemma Thomson's pics, & Gemma's storification of the re-creation of Iain M. Banks's one-game-to-rule-them-all, Azad.

& some Hugo winners: Mary Robinette Kowal, Kameron Hurley, Ann Leckie, Charlie Stross ...

& Gene's convention survival guide.

& Jonathan McCalmont on the future of WorldCons: make them conventions held all over the world!

& @Hello_Tailor (I think) on Worldcon, Nine Worlds, & the generation gap.

Earlier: My Loncon schedule.

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