I don’t normally go for “end of year” posts, let alone “end of decade”, but thinking back over 2009 I have realized that it was fairly interesting in many ways and therefore probably deserves a retrospective. The year began in a very worrying way with a real possibility that I might never be allowed back […]
I think I have probably mentioned this before, but they’ve just put up a web site so it is a good opportunity to mention it again. On May 28th & 29th next year the University of Northampton is running a conference called Magus: Transdisciplinary Approaches to the Work of Alan Moore. It is an academic […]
I’m in another one of those SF Signal Mind Meld things. This one is all about what Worldcon and Conic-Con can learn from each other. The responses are interesting, but perhaps not as useful as they might be because most of the people responding haven’t actually run a Worldcon, or indeed any convention. Almost some […]
The UK has an awful lot of municipal literary festivals. None of them are at all welcoming to speculative literature, unless they are specifically aimed at children. I have thought for a long time that there was a huge gap in the market here, and that some enterprising city ought to step up and found […]
Finncon reports ought to begin with a heartfelt “thank you” to Otto and Paula. This year the convention was in Helsinki, so I got to stay with them all week. However, even when the con is in another city I tend to prevail upon them on my way there and back. It is much easier […]
It is the last day of the con here in Epinal. The sun is shining brightly outside and the hotel lobby is full of people checking their email, sad creatures that we are. I appear to have failed to post anything at all on this blog yesterday, so here’s a pile of catch-up. Yesterday I […]
Well, I am here. Epinal looks to be a lovely town, and they are really taking the convention seriously. When I walked out of the station I was greeted by a large poster advertising Imaginales. There are posters in the streets, and in my hotel. It is wonderful. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Thanks […]
Well, headlines anyway… This being the year of the Montréal Worldcon, it seems to be a good time to look into what is happening in the genre community in French-speaking countries, and in particular in France. I’m off to London tomorrow afternoon, and on an early morning Eurostar to Paris, and then TGV to Epinal, […]
Here’s what the next few months have in store: May 14-18: Imaginales (Epinal, France) May 29 – Jun 1: Conscription (Auckland, New Zealand) Jun 5-8: Conjecture (Adelaide, Australia) July 3-5: Diana Wynne Jones Conference (Bristol, UK) July 9-12: Finncon (Helsinki, Finland) Aug 6-10: Worldcon (Montreal, Canada) OK, sometimes I think that maybe I am crazy. […]
I have been buying tickets. I now have the train tickets to get me to London and back later this month. I already had the plane tickets to Montreal for the Anticipation committee meeting. I’ll also be at the London Book Fair on the 21st and 22nd. And I have my Eurostar and TGV tickets […]
Heads up, Irish readers. Children’s Books Ireland has announced the program for its Summer Conference (May 16/17) and one of the guests is the fabulous Australian artist and story-teller, Shaun Tan. (This news via the good folks at Aussiecon Four where Shaun is also due to be a guest.) Other guests include local star Eoin […]
This section of the web site is devoted to extended reports from various conventions I have attended. Thus far we have: 2019 Finncon 2019 (July 2019) 2015 BristolCon (September 2015) 2014 BristolCon (October 2014) Åcon 7 (May 2014) Finncon 2014 (July 2014) 2013 Liburnicon (August 2013) World Fantasy (November 2012) 2012 Kontakt – Eurocon (April […]