The British Fantasy Society (BFS) has announced the cancellation of this year’s FantasyCon, their annual conference, originally scheduled for September 16-18, 2022 in London:

On Thursday, Lee [Harris] informed the BFS Executive Committee that the con as he had planned it was not financially viable and therefore he would be cancelling the convention and refunding all ticket-holders.

Harris explained:

WisCon 45 was held May 27-30, 2022, in person at the Concourse Hotel in Madi­son WI, as well as online. Sheree Renée Thomas and Rebecca Roanhorse were guests of honor; Roanhorse participated virtually. Zen Cho and Yoon Ha Lee, also originally scheduled as guests of honor, were unable to participate but were honored nonetheless. There were 763 memberships, with 216 virtual memberships and an estimated 407 in-person attendees. Programming offered ...Read More

Chicon 8, the 80th World Science Fiction Convention, has announced Steven Barnes and Tananarive Due as guests of honor. They join previously announced guests of honor Floyd Norman, Joe Siclari & Edie Stern, and Erle Korshak (posthumously), plus special guests Eve L. Ewing, Gene Ha, and Eric Wilkerson. Toastmasters are Charlie Jane Anders and Annalee Newitz. As previously announced, Charles de Lint stepped down as guest of honor.

Chicon 8 ...Read More

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) announced the removal of this year’s SFWA Grand Master, Mercedes Lackey, from the virtual conference on May 22, 2022. The official statement said:

We learned yesterday that while participating in the “Romancing Sci-Fi & Fantasy” panel, Mercedes Lackey used a racial slur. First, we apologize to our attendees and the other panelists who were subjected to that slur. We’ve disabled access ...Read More

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) has announced that Neil Gaiman and Connie Willis will be Toastmasters at the 2021 SFWA Nebula Awards, to be presented in an online ceremony on May 21, 2022.

President Jeffe Kennedy says, “I’m delighted that Connie and Neil have so graciously taken time from their busy schedules to lend their voices and dynamic presences to the Nebula Awards ceremony. I’ve caught a ...Read More

Westercon has announced that as of the April 15th deadline, there have been no bids filed to host Westercon 76. The Site Selection is now open, and those interested in bidding can still file until July 2, 2022 to be eligible as a write-in bid.

If there are no eligible bids, the site selection will fall to the Westercon Business Meeting on July 3, 2022.

For more information, see the ...Read More

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association have announced more than 200 scholarship opportunities to help “members of underserved communities to attend” the 2022 Nebula Conference Online, being held virtually May 20–22, 2022. The deadline for applications is May 1, 11:59pm Pacific Time. Opportunities include:

• Scholarship for Black and/or Indigenous Creators: This scholarship is open to Black and/or Indigenous creators in the United States and abroad. (quantity: 80)
• Scholarship for

In partnership with Den of Geek, Tor Books, Forge Books, Tordotcom Publishing, Tor Teen, and Nightfire have announced TorCon, a virtual convention to be held June 9, 2022.

TorCon will feature panels and presentations with ten authors, including Olivie Blake, Nghi Vo, Catriona Ward, Rita Woods, and Neon Yang.

TorCon is free, but registration is required to watch each panel. For registration links and more information, see their event page. ...Read More

Chicon 8, the 80th World Science Fiction Convention has announced with regret that Charles de Lint will be stepping down as guest of honor of this year’s convention.

We were utterly thrilled in 2020 when Mr. de Lint agreed to be our Author Guest of Honor and have been looking forward to having him at the convention. However, we completely understand that his current situation will not allow him to ...Read More

Chengdu Worldcon 2023, the 81st World Science Fiction Convention, to be held August 23-29, 2023 in Chengdu, China, has posted a list of 12 questions and answers about fees and membership.

The organizers note, “If you bought a 2023 Advance Supporting Membership from DC3, you don’t have to do anything to upgrade…. You automatically have WSFS MEMBERSHIP, and you have been given a full ATTENDING MEMBERSHIP for free, both in-person ...Read More

The 81st World Science Fiction Convention, to be held August 23-29, 2023 in Chengdu, China, has an official name: Chengdu Worldcon, as announced on Twitter.

The convention has also released membership rates: full attending memberships with voting rights are $120, while attending memberships without voting rights are $70. Supporting memberships (which grant voting rights but not attendance) are $50. Virtual memberships with voting rights are $60, while basic virtual memberships ...Read More

The 2022 World Fantasy Convention (WFC) has announced that Iris Compiet will be the artist guest of honor.

She joins the other previously announced guests: Ginjer Buchanan, Andrei Codrescu, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Victor LaValle, Jo Walton,  and toastmaster Ursula Vernon.

WFC 2022 will be held November 3-6, 2022 in New Orleans LA at the Hyatt Regency. The theme is “Old Souls and New Rhythms.”

For more information, see the World ...Read More

Since a Certain Bug from outer space or wherever stopped last year’s national Swedish con, the year 2020 was added to the 2021 Swecon. The event took place in Dieselverk­stan, Stockholm, November 19-21 with guests of honor Peadar Ó Guilín (Ireland), Adrian Tchaikovsky (UK), Eva Holmquist (local writer), and Maria Nilsson (local scholar). But we were lucky! Despite having Europe’s lowest virus curves – with cases dropping – our ever-so-wise ...Read More

Orlando has announced its bid for the 2023 North American Science Fiction Convention (NASFiC), a convention held in years when Worldcon takes place outside North America. (Chengdu, China won the bid for the 2023 Worldcon.)

The organizers say, “We’re focusing on the same area the 1992 Orlando Worldcon, MagiCon, used. There are multiple hotels there that can hold a larger-than-average NASFIC, and the Orange County Convention Center.”

For more information, ...Read More

Chengdu, China’s bid to host the 2023 Worldcon was successful, with 2,006 votes received in favor out of 2,915 valid votes. The opposing bid for Winnipeg, Canada received 807 votes. Other votes included seven for the withdrawn Memphis TN bid, 75 “no preference,” and various write-in choices. There was a discussion during the WSFS Business Meeting and a non-binding resolution passed regarding ballot requirements, which will be covered in our ...Read More

The 47th World Fantasy Convention was held as a hybrid event November 4-7, 2021, with the Hôtel Bonaventure in Montréal, Canada hosting the in-person portion. Guests of honor were Nisi Shawl, John Picacio, and André-François Ruaud, with special guests Owl Goingback, Yves Meynard, Brandon O’Brien, and Julie E. Czerneda; Christine Taylor-Butler was toastmaster. Life Achievement Awards winners were Megan Lindholm and Howard Waldrop.

In-person attendance was fraught with the challenges ...Read More

DisCon III has announced the first World Science Fiction Convention program stream devoted to speculative fiction by Africans. Organized by Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki and Nick Wood, the virtual track will allow 22 African panelists to speak on topics including “gender roles, climate change, publishing, and traditional beliefs and science… all from African perspectives.” The full list of events can be found here.

As previously announced, the Nommo Awards ceremony will ...Read More