I always thought they were seashells, I'm sure

[sovay]

Under normal circumstances I would have posted my schedule for Readercon at the beginning of the week, but everything medically is really just the pits and so I am getting around to it now. The convention this year is virtual and stripped-down and I expect it to be wonderful. So is my schedule.

Children of the Daughter of the Night: Descendants of Tanith Lee
Friday 7 pm, Main Track 3
KT Bryski, Gemma Files (m), Nicole Kornher-Stace, Yves Meynard, Sonya Taaffe

The fiction of Tanith Lee slyly and subtly glides along and over the margins, enchanting rather than enlisting its fans. Tracing her influence can be a challenge; her fiction is liminal, syncretic, frequently funny, and occasionally preposterous, and a great many authors have been inspired by one or more of those aspects. This panel of Lee devotees will trace the literary taproots and tendrils that drink from her work.

Improbable Research Dramatic Readings
Saturday 8 pm, Main Track 1
Marc Abrahams (m), Robin Abrahams, C.S.E. Cooney, Sara Dion, Rose Fox, David Kessler, Sonya Taaffe

Highlights from Ig Nobel Prize-winning studies and patents are presented in dramatic mini-readings by luminaries and experts (in some field).

Grappling with Imperialism's Traumas
Sunday 4 pm, Main Track 1
Aliette de Bodard, Anil Menon, Sherwood Smith, Sonya Taaffe, teri.zin (m)

In a 2019 interview for the Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog, Zen Cho suggested that white Westerners who write SF/F tales of rebellion against empire are trying to shake off guilt about benefiting from real-world empires. Many white Western readers seek out those stories for the same reason. But underdog daydreams do little to confront or process the traumas wrought by imperialism. What are better options, for writers and readers?

Who may I expect to see digitally there?

Comments

Raises hand!

[jesse_the_k]

I'm excited to be able to observe. For anyone pondering whether to go, I was particularly tickled they offer a year-round Discord server, which means that if I do manage to thwack my way through Discord's interface, there's a chance of maintaining relationships as well as time to practice using it.

On that server I read an announcement that the taped panels will be available for several months following the con's end. This time shifting makes the $25 membership a wide investment.

Re: Raises hand!

[sovay]

I'm excited to be able to observe.

w00t!

I am glad the availability of the panels is a functional enticement, too.

[yhlee]

I won't be there but I hope y'all have a great time!

[sovay]

I won't be there but I hope y'all have a great time!

Thank you!

[batdina]

not sure I'll make it, but greatly I'm interested in the Imperialism panel. Looking forward to hearing about how it goes, and what suggestions get made.

[sovay]

not sure I'll make it, but greatly I'm interested in the Imperialism panel. Looking forward to hearing about how it goes, and what suggestions get made.

Thank you! I will attempt to report intelligently back.

[gwynnega]

I'll be there!

[sovay]

I'll be there!

I look forward!

[selkie]

You're doing Imperialism and I have to lock myself in the basement this weekend?! Gaaah.
Please, for me, inject a li'l "FUCK CLIVE OF INDIA. FUCK CLIVE OF INDIA IN SPACE, EITHER!"
...this is why I don't do panels. I'd say words. But I am envious and I hope you have a fuckton of fun.

[I will tell the child we can catch up with you next Tuesday or something!]

[sovay]

Please, for me, inject a li'l "FUCK CLIVE OF INDIA. FUCK CLIVE OF INDIA IN SPACE, EITHER!"

FIRE UP THE HARPSICHORD INTO THE SUN, BARTHOLOMEW.

...this is why I don't do panels. I'd say words. But I am envious and I hope you have a fuckton of fun.

Thank you. You would actually be wonderful on panels, if you ever did them. I hear the words you say.

[I will tell the child we can catch up with you next Tuesday or something!]

(Is a deal.)

[minoanmiss]

Have a wonderful time. I send you energy and strength.

[sovay]

Have a wonderful time. I send you energy and strength.

Thank you. And thank you!

[dramaticirony]

I'll be there, pitching in as a Discord monitor, and attending some sessions when I'm not volunteering. I had helped out preparing some of the prerecorded stuff, which is really cool, and I'm looking forward to the live panels and discussions!

[sovay]

I'll be there, pitching in as a Discord monitor, and attending some sessions when I'm not volunteering.

Oh, sweet! Did I encounter you in my pre-recorded panel, then?

[dramaticirony]

Sadly, real life intruded, and I missed that practice session. But very much looking forward to the live and recorded stuff at the con!

[asakiyume]

I'll be there! Definitely looking forward to this panel.

ETA: And you're wondering why I'm saying "this panel"--it's because I was referring to the imperialism panel, and I forgot that mind-reading is not yet a thing. I also think you'll be fabulous in improbably research dramatic readings! And no doubt for the Tanith Lee one too, but I have never actually read any Tanith Lee (beyond a short story that was in one of the Clockwork Phoenix anthologies--I had the honor of proofreading that one), so I am just nodding respectfully to it from across space and time.

[sovay]

And you're wondering why I'm saying "this panel"--it's because I was referring to the imperialism panel, and I forgot that mind-reading is not yet a thing.

I generally find that it works when it's important and when it's funny and otherwise all bets are off. I'm glad you will be in the audience and, I hope, a bit in the Discord halls, although I will be have to be careful about those if I don't want to burn Bertie out.

[handful_ofdust]

So...was that just a rehearsal or did we actually record it? I'm so confused.;)

[sovay]

So...was that just a rehearsal or did we actually record it? I'm so confused.

I'm pretty sure we actually recorded it! So I guess I can watch myself and try not to leave the country immediately afterward.

[handful_ofdust]

Okay, cool. :)

[nineweaving]

I'll be there!

Nine

[sovay]

I'll be there!

Good! You should be!

[sara]

In re. that last panel: I think it's less guilt, in my case, and more that I'm proud to be descended from revolutionaries? Stories of overthrowing the empire are familial origin stories, for me.

[sovay]

Stories of overthrowing the empire are familial origin stories, for me.

I fully expect there to be argument as well as assent with the panel's mission statement. Some of the best panels work that way.

[sara]

I can see why someone coming out of a majority non-white former British colony that kicked them out later than we did would have that take. But it's more anglocentric than I'd find interesting or accurate.

[rosefox]

If everyone on a panel agreed, it would be a very boring panel, and we try not to have those. :)

[sovay]

If everyone on a panel agreed, it would be a very boring panel, and we try not to have those.

We did get quite a lot of mileage out of fanning over Tanith Lee!

[oracne]

I will be there! Going to try and watch at least some panels. I think we can watch them at different times?

[choco_frosh]

Mercifully, yes!* since I'm going to be trying to fit the con in around work, household tasks, bellringing practice, and a hike that I hadn't realized I'd double-booked.
* See Jesse the K's comment at the top.

[sovay]

I will be there!

Yay!

[choco_frosh]

I will definitely be there for the Improbable Research! Possibly also for imperialism. Nope, gonna be up a mountain, or maybe on my way back.

[sovay]

I will definitely be there for the Improbable Research!

Cool!

Nope, gonna be up a mountain, or maybe on my way back.

(Legit. Which mountain?)

[choco_frosh]

teenybuffalo and I are climbing Wachusett.

[sovay]

teenybuffalo and I are climbing Wachusett.

Have a wonderful time!

[boxofdelights]

It was delightful to listen to you reading about structured procrastination!

[sovay]

It was delightful to listen to you reading about structured procrastination!

Thank you! I had a delightful time doing it.