WisCon 43 was held May 24-27, 2019 at the Concourse Hotel in balmy Madison WI, with Charlie Jane Anders and G. Willow Wilson as guests of honor. There were 940 full memberships sold, plus 51 teen/youth/child memberships (including many donated and assisted memberships). Programming offered 109 panels, solo presentations, and roundtables, focused on SF/F literature, diversity, feminism, disability, criticism, and more. There were 14 group readings plus GoH readings for ...Read More

The 2019 SFWA Nebula Conference was held May 16-19 at the Warner Center Marriott Woodland Hills in sunny Califor­nia for the first of two years. There were 465 warm bodies of the record-breaking 475 registered members, compared to 356 in 2018. The hotel was comfortable, with spacious mingling areas, a well-appointed bar, and eateries within a few (albeit large) blocks.

Each attendee received a logo-adorned bag stuffed with books. The ...Read More

This year marks the 10th Anniversary of Hal-Con Japan, which took place at the Kawasaki International Center, April 13-14, 2019, with international guest of honor Lavie Tidhar and Japanese guest of honor Misato Hisa. Past years have included writers like Ken Liu, Ann Leckie, Hannu Rajaniemi, Joe Haldeman, and Alastair Reynolds, with the goal of broadening the science fiction community here in Japan and fostering a more inclusive approach to ...Read More

Norwescon 42 was held April 18-21, 2019 in SeaTac WA at the DoubleTree by Hilton Seattle Airport. The theme was “Never Forget Your Towel.” Guests of honor were Mary Robinette Kowal (writer), Tran Nguyen (artist), Dan Koboldt (science), and Nancy Pearl (special guest). Subterranean Press was the spotlight publisher, represented by COO and managing editor Yanni Kuznia. Neil Clarke was honored professional.

Norwescon 43 will be held April 9-12, 2020 ...Read More

The fifth Bay Area Book Festival took place May 4-5, 2019 in Berkeley CA, with keynotes, interviews, and panels held on ten indoor stages. The festival also included an Outdoor Fair in Martin Luther King, Jr. Civic Center Park with over 200 exhibitors and free programming, including many events for children. Books were available for sale through various independent bookstore partners.

The festival included over 300 speakers and panelists, with ...Read More

StokerCon, sponsored by the Horror Writers Association, was held at the Amway Plaza Hotel in Grand Rapids MI, May 9-12, 2019. Guests of honor were Josh Boone (who was unable to attend), Kathe Koja, Josh Malerman, Robert R. McCammon, Kaaron Warren, and Stephanie M. Wytovich; Jonathan Maberry was emcee, giving a “moving opening speech” and keeping the “pace of the awards brisk.” Graham Masterton was the recipient of the Lifetime ...Read More

“We’re living in a time of walls,” said filmmaker Alex Rivera when introducing Sleep Dealer at the start of the 43rd Williamson Lectureship April 4-6, 2019 in Portales NM. “It’s a global obsession. How do we tell stories in such a world? In my film, I try to cross the consciousness of walls by looking at them, through them, and beyond them.”

Trans-border fantasies and nightmares were timely subjects for ...Read More

The 40th International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts (ICFA) took place March 13-16, 2019 at the Orlando Airport Marriot Hotel, with a theme of “Politics and Conflict.” Academics, writers, publishers, editors, artists, students, independent scholars, and more participated, with about 480 people attending (up from 457 last year) and about 285 either presenting a paper or appearing on a panel (down from 306 last year). G. Willow Wilson ...Read More

The 2019 Friends of Genre convention (FOGcon 9) was held March 8-10 at the Walnut Creek Marriot in Walnut Creek CA. 227 memberships were sold, plus an additional 61 day passes. The theme was “Friendship”, with honored guests Becky Chambers, Karen Joy Fowler, and Ursula K. Le Guin (posthumously).

Programming included 66 participants and 32 items, with panels on science, writing, publishing, literature, politics, and more, such as “Creating With ...Read More

The 44th World Fantasy Convention was held November 1-4, 2018 in the Renais­sance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel in windy and rainy Baltimore MD. Guests of honor were Kaaron Warren, Scott Edelman, Tom Kidd, and Michael J. Walsh, with special guest Aliette de Bodard, and toastmaster Linda D. Addison. Life Achievement Awards winners were Charles de Lint and Elizabeth Wollheim.

Attendance was up from the prior year, with 757 warm bodies and ...Read More