2023 World Fantasy Convention Report
The 49th World Fantasy Convention was held as a hybrid event October 26-29, 2023, with the in-person portion held at the Sheraton Kansas City Hotel at Crown Center in Kansas City MO. Guests of honor were Adam-Troy Castro, Kij Johnson, Elizabeth Leggett, Jonathan Strahan, and Vincent Villafranca, with toastmasters Steven Barnes and Tananarive Due. Pat Cadigan had been announced as a special guest but was unable to attend. Life Achievement Awards winners were Peter Crowther and John Douglas (posthumous).
The con reported around 550 total memberships registered for the convention, with around 400 warm bodies present and 92 virtual warm bodies and supporting members. A grant from Discon III provided a few additional memberships to attendees from underrepresented communities. These numbers were down from the 2022 hybrid World Fantasy Convention, which saw 652 total memberships: 490 warm bodies at the con proper, 71 virtual warm bodies, 14 supporting memberships, and 77 no-shows. The 2021 convention, held when people were just beginning to go to events again, had 470 registered members. World Fantasy attendance has yet to reach prepandemic levels; the 2019 convention saw 660 warm bodies out of 762 memberships purchased.
Con-goers received the customary book bag as well as a digital ‘‘book bag.’’ They also received the full-sized, perfect-bound souvenir book, which features the committee list; the World Fantasy Award nominations and honorees; appreciations and bibliographies for the toastmaster, GoHs, special guests, featured guest, and Life Achievement Awards winners; an in memoriam; plus short stories, poetry, art, and book excerpts by the guests.
CONVENTION NOTES
Programming began at 11:00 a.m. Thursday morning with ‘‘The Worst Advice’’ featuring Phillip Drayer Duncan, Adam-Troy Castro, and Usman T. Malik; and ‘‘The Infernal Salon’’ with C.S.E. Cooney and Carlos Hernandez. Opening Ceremonies were held at 8:00 p.m. that evening.
Convention chairs reported 60 panel discussions on topics including ‘‘Fantasy and the Civil War’’ with R.W.W. Greene, Donna J.W. Munro, Steven H. Silver, and L.P. Kindred; ‘‘Colonial Gaze/White Gaze’’ with Steven Barnes, Chịkọdịlị Emelụmadụ, Angeli Primlani, and Moses Ose Utomi; ‘‘Animals in Fiction’’ with Laura Anne Gilman, Rich Horton, Kij Johnson, and Rachel Neumeier; and the ever-popular ‘‘Brandon O’Brien’s Fantastical Speculative Open Mic Night,’’ where anyone could read their work. Virtual and recorded items were broadcast via Zoom. The schedule also included panels on business-oriented topics – such as ‘‘Kickstarter: The Ins and Outs’’ with Blake Hausladen, Carlos Hernandez, J.M. Landels, and Joshua Palmatier; and ‘‘The Best of Both Worlds? Hybrid Traditional/Self Publishing’’ with Summer Hanford, Gini Koch, and Paul Levinson–which remained very popular.
There were around 80 readings, comparable to previous years. This year’s readers included Eileen Gunn, Alex Jennings, Rajan Khanna, Saytchyn Maddux-Creech, T.K. Rex, Rebecca Roland, Andrea Stewart, Aparna Verma, and Ann Marie Wilson. Programming also included several sketchbook tours, kaffeeklatsches, and two morning Tai Chi sessions led by Barnes.
Co-chairs Ruth Lichtwardt and Rosemary Willams commented, ‘‘We had a tremendous amount of positive feedback about the program this year. Highlights included Artist Guest of Honor Vincent Villafranca’s sculpture workshop, panels on genre-blending, and deep dives into topics near and dear to underrepresented populations.’’
The dealer’s room and art show were located in the same room, and, per the con chairs, full of ‘‘wonderful books and amazing art.’’ Seventeen dealers were present, including Larry Smith Books, who also handled consignments, and a number of book publishers, such as Fairwood, Tachyon, and Guardbridge. More than 20 artists displayed work at the art show. Foot traffic was slow, however, perhaps due to a lack of signage directing people to the right place.
The Sidewise Awards for Alternate History were presented in a ceremony on Friday afternoon. The award for the Long Form category went to The Peacekeeper by B.L. Blanchard. The short form category had a tie; the two winners were ‘‘A Dream of Electric Mothers’’ by Wole Talabi and ‘‘A Sky and a Heaven’’ by Eric Choi.
The mass autograph session was Friday night, and featured over 120 individuals. Signers included John Joseph Adams, Sanford Allen, Paolo Bacigalupi, David Boop, Nkechi Chibueze, Ellen Datlow, Eva L. Elasique, Nicola Griffith, David Hopkins, Sam J. Miller, Mary Anne Mohanraj, Glenn Parris, Josh Rountree, Emma Törzs, Izzy Wasserstein, Fran Wilde, A.C. Wise, and more.
One new addition this year was the Dragon’s Den, an ‘‘expanded bar/socialization area on the hotel’s indoor Terrace’’ with plenty of round tables and chairs, mobile bars, and snacks. Created as an alternative to the hotel’s bar, which was not large enough to accommodate a WFC, the Dragon’s Den ‘‘proved to be wildly popular and received much positive feedback’’ according to the organizers.
AWARDS BANQUET
The World Fantasy Awards were held Sunday at 1:00 p.m. Approximately 120 people attended, up from the prior year’s modest 75. The overall mood was jovial, and the audience enthusiastic about the winners. The banquet room was atmospherically dark to highlight the lighted trees bedecked with charms centerpiecing each table.
Lichtwardt and Williams said, ‘‘The hybrid model worked very well for the awards ceremony this year. Many nominees who were not able to attend the convention itself were, in fact, able to participate in the ceremony virtually, and several winners gave their acceptance speeches via Zoom.’’
Toastmasters Tananarive Due and Steven Barnes opened by describing how much they enjoyed being at the convention. Due recalled dancing the Electric Slide the night before, and Barnes called the event a ‘‘family gathering,’’ describing the guests as ‘‘brothers and sisters walking the same road.’’ Barnes and Due introduced presenters Gordon Van Gelder and Ginjer Buchanan.
Van Gelder began with an advance apology, saying, ‘‘I can guarantee you, I’m going to screw up somebody’s name this year,’’ and described humorous ways that others had butchered his own name. He then led a round of applause for Lichtwardt, Williams, and the other convention organizers, acknowledging the unique challenge of planning a convention during the pandemic.
Van Gelder presented the Lifetime Achievement Awards. The first award was given to John Douglas, who died in August. Van Gelder described Douglas’s ‘‘tremendous’’ career path, and said of Douglas’s work for the WFA administration, ‘‘I came on board when he stepped down, and I still don’t feel like I’ve filled his shoes.’’ Buchanan – John’s widow – accepted the award, dressed in a Hawaiian shirt as a tribute to Douglas’s preferred attire. In her acceptance speech, Buchanan said, ‘‘Because of the circumstances, I can say things that he wouldn’t or couldn’t, since those who get awards are expected to be modest. I can, for example, say how extremely well deserved this honor is, not only for his decades of editorial work with a list of authors far too long to name – but I’m going to name a few of them: Guy Kay, Terry Pratchett, Roger Zelazny, and two of his authors who are with us tonight, Joe Haldeman and Walter Jon Williams – but also for his years of service with the board of this convention.’’
The other Lifetime Achievement winner was writer and PS Publishing editor-in-chief Peter Crowther. Van Gelder presented the award, and said, ‘‘In 2008, he and I were both up for Special Award, Professional and he came away with the award and I didn’t begrudge it to him. I think that’s about as high a compliment as you can give.’’ As Crowther was not in attendance, Van Gelder read his acceptance speech, which described his accomplishments and the way his ‘‘great love for the written word’’ has provided a source of joy amid recent health challenges.
The first World Fantasy Award of the evening, Special Award, Non- Professional went to Michael Kelly for Undertow Publishing. Ellen Datlow accepted on his behalf, and read his acceptance speech, in which Kelly called the award ‘‘truly unexpected and truly humbling’’ and thanked ‘‘everyone here today at the convention watching or listening, everyone creating stories, art, films, everyone supporting artists, every single one of you. Thank you for supporting the arts and the independent presses. We are thankful for all you do. Shine on.’’
The Special Award, Professional went to Matt Ottley, for The Tree of Ecstasy and Unbearable Sadness. In Ottley’s acceptance speech, he gave his ‘‘heartfelt thanks’’ to the convenors and judges and discussed the relationship between his writing and experience with mental illness: ‘‘Through the lens of fantasy, I’ve tried to give readers and listeners an insight in an artistic and hence safe way into what it is like to experience psychosis from an illness like bipolar type one. My aim is simply to contribute to the ongoing public conversation around these issues and to hopefully inspire a little more empathy in the world. Empathy is, I believe, the seed of all social change.’’
Kinuko Y. Craft won the award for Best Artist. Buchanan read her succinct acceptance speech: ‘‘It is the ultimate honor for my work to be selected by artists whose works I admire very much.’’
Best Collection went to All Nightmare Long by Tim Lebbon. Lebbon’s acceptance speech, delivered via Zoom, contained an extensive list of acknowledgements beginning, ‘‘I followed my tradition of naming collections after songs. So I’d like to thank Thin Lizzy, Green, Fields of the Nephilim, Pearl Jam, and for this one, Metallica.’’ He also thanked Sarah Pinborough, who wrote the introduction; cover illustrator Daniele Serra; Crowther; and the judges. The tech team also received a large round of applause for setting up Zoom.
Best anthology went to Africa Risen: A New Era of Speculative Fiction, edited by Sheree Renée Thomas, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, and Zelda Knight. Alex Jennings read acceptance speeches on behalf of Knight and Thomas. Knight thanked her mother, co-editors, readers, contributing authors, publisher, and agent, and said, ‘‘The breadth and depth of Black speculative fiction is boundless and I’m thankful to have edited a part of that legacy.’’ Thomas thanked the contributing writers, ‘‘editor Eli Goldman and the Tordotcom publishing team, our readers, reviewers, the book clubs, the jurors, and the World Fantasy volunteers and hosts,’’ for ‘‘highlighting short fiction and shining a light on our work and its impact on the industry.’’ Ekpeki accepted via Zoom, saying ‘‘It was always a question throughout my life: How did you publish, you know, especially coming from the continent, there were not a lot of venues that could publish works with enough prestige for them to be recognized. So you know, when I published in 2018 in the pro mags, in my first sale, I thought, you know, I managed to publish but there’s still a problem with the industry. You know, there’s a problem with how many people coming from where I am can get to be on these elite magazines. My first publication in 2018, there was only one African on the magazine. In every magazine you could look at, there were only a handful of Africans, one, two, three, you know, and this hasn’t changed even till now. So I determined to try to see if there was a way that we would solve the problem of putting Africans on the scene, you know, places where they can be visible, where their works can vie for awards. Because awards are important: They create leadership, they create visibility, the symbol of excellence which encourages more people to come to the field. So how can we encourage more people to come to our field, more people like me? So luckily for me, I met people like Zelda Knight, Sheree Thomas who had been doing the work of publishing Black people already. So you know, we got together and you know the rest is history.’’ All three editors expressed hope that more African and African diaspora writers would be published and recognized in the future.
Van Gelder presented the award for Best Short Fiction to Due for ‘‘The Incident at Bear Creek Lodge’’. Due said, ‘‘This is my first major genre award and I’m so excited that it’s for short because as I tell my students all the time, don’t forsake the short story.’’ She added, ‘‘I just could not be happier to finally feel like my family, my African American family, my Black family, and my genre families are blending together and not just for me, but for so many other writers who have felt like they were on the outside had not been able to unite their families, and this is more meaningful to me than I can even say.’’
The presenters then paused to acknowledge the judges – Dale Bailey, Kelly Robson, Ginny Smith, A.C. Wise, and Ian Whates – who received a hearty round of applause from the audience.
The World Fantasy Award for novella went to Pomegranates by Priya Sharma. Ellen Datlow accepted on Sharma’s behalf. Sharma gave a speech by Zoom in which she said, ‘‘I am absolutely gobsmacked,’’ before thanking the jurors; everyone who nominated Pomegranates for the award; fellow nominees; editors and publishers, including Crowther, Datlow, Paula Guran, Kelly, Maria O’Regan, and Mike Smith; the PS Publishing team; illustrator Jeffrey Alan Love; and her parents, brother, and partner Mark.
The Best Novel Award went to Saint Death’s Daughter by C.S.E. Cooney. In her acceptance speech, Cooney said, ‘‘What I didn’t think about consciously while writing was that a book about the world’s friendliest necromancer who so intensely loves and reveres her gentle god of death might provide some peace and connection in a time of loss. I did believe books could be holy; I just didn’t think my book could be. And that it has been for some makes me so grateful.’’
The next World Fantasy Convention is scheduled to be held at the Sheraton Niagara Falls in Niagara Falls NY, October 17-20, 2024 with guests of honor Scott H. Andrews, Galen Dara, and Heather Graham; special guest P. Djèlí Clark; and toastmaster Michael Swanwick.
For more information, see the WFC 2024 site.
–Simon Herz
Photographers: Liza Groen Trombi, Travis Creason, Mari Kotani, Michelle Mitchell, Mary Anne Mohanraj, and Michelle Mitchell.
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