Loncon
by
So! I am going to Worldcon this year! And I am on a few panels and have a preliminary schedule. Which is reproduced below for those who may be interested.
Short Fiction is Dead, Long Live Short Fiction
Thursday 19:00 – 20:00
Short fiction markets are always in flux, but the changes over the last decade have perhaps been particularly dramatic — a general shift from print to online, the rise of new funding models, and so on. And yet there is more short fiction published than ever: alongside print stalwarts such as Interzone and Asimov’s are online magazines such as Clarkesworld, Tor.com and Strange Horizons, any number of Kickstarted anthologies, and hybrid models such as Arc. For editors, what considerations go into developing a short fiction market for today’s readers? For writers, do the available venues shape what gets written, and if so in what ways? And why do so few British writers appear in online magazines?
Liz Gorinsky (M), Eileen Gunn, Simon Ings, Keffy R. M. Kehrli, Ann Leckie
A Queerer War
Sunday 13:30 – 15:00
Consideration of sexuality has been part of military sf since at least The Forever War, but while it’s easier than it used to be to find militaristic sf novels that address queer experience — Adam Roberts’ New Model Army, say, or God’s War by Kameron Hurley — they remain uncommon. Let’s talk about the implied or assumed links between combat, straightness, technology and morality, and how science fiction has succeeded and failed at complicating its understanding of the sexuality of war.
Duncan Lawie (M), Geoff Ryman, S. J. Groenewegen, Tanya Huff, Ann Leckie
Pew Pew! Where Have the Lasers Gone?
Monday 10:00 – 11:00
When was the last time you read a science fiction novel with lasers? Everything is flachettes and high explosive rounds. Do we blame William Gibson or has the technology of laser guns been debunked to the point that GI Joe and Cobra’s inability to actually kill one another has finally been explained? Is there still a place in science fiction for the obviously impossible and/or impractical?
Tom Becker (M), Gillian Clinton, Rachel Erickson, Neyir Cenk Gokce, Ann Leckie
In addition to these items, of course, I plan to attend the Hugo ceremony. There will probably be a few other things added into my schedule as the con draws nearer. Possibly quite a few, actually, but I do hope to be able to say hi to people I’ve so far only met online, and hi again to people I’ve met in person but don’t see often. The last couple Worldcons I’ve been to, I didn’t go to a single panel–wait, no, actually, the last two Worldcons, I did go to a reading or two but that was pretty much it–because I spent all my time hanging out with people. I suspect this one won’t be terribly different, except for my actually being on panels myself and having a reason this year to be busy doing book things.
Anyway, hope I see you there!