I have a Readercon schedule! O my friendlist, tell me which of you I can hope to see there.
Friday, July 15
11:00 AM
Rudyard Kipling, Fantasist and Modernist
Gardner Dozois, Gregory Feeley, Theodora Goss, Darrell Schweitzer, Sonya Taaffe (leader)
When Doris Lessing was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2007, many genre readers celebrated the recognition of a writer who had at least dabbled unapologetically in SF. But in fact the seventh Nobel Prize ever awarded, in 1907, went to Rudyard Kipling, who not only published SF (most notably "With the Night Mail") but also fantasy, ghost, and horror stories, and whose influence remains apparent today in writers as diverse as Mike Resnick and Neil Gaiman. Poul Anderson once wrote, "His influence pervades modern science fiction and fantasy writing," and John W. Campbell was said to have regarded him as the first modern SF writer. Did Kipling really help shape the modern genre, and is his influence still relevant?
12:00 PM
The Readercon Classic Fiction Book Club: Howl's Moving Castle
C.S.E. Cooney, Gemma Files, Theodora Goss, Kelly Link (leader), Sonya Taaffe
Diana Wynne Jones's death earlier this year gave rise to a seemingly endless series of blog posts extolling her many books. Howl's Moving Castle, first published in 1986, was one of the most frequently mentioned titles. This powerful story of magic, riddles, and romance is packed with allegory, clever subversions of common fantasy tropes, metafictional humor, and meditations on the nature of change. Such a work is necessarily slippery, but perhaps 25 years of analysis will help us get a grip on it.
2:00 PM
No Childhood Left Behind
Leah Bobet, Chris Moriarty, Sonya Taaffe (leader), JoSelle Vanderhooft, Rick Wilber
As YA publishing expands and the internet connects readers from tremendously different backgrounds, it's no longer possible to talk about a "classic" set of formative first reading. How does our collaborative discourse on texts change when we have little in common among our formative reading experiences? And how do we engage with the often problematic heritage of our childhood favorites when no one we want to discuss them with has read them?
4:00 PM
Mythic Delirium/Goblin Fruit group reading
Mike Allen, C.S.E. Cooney, Theodora Goss, Nicole Kornher-Stace, Shira Lipkin, Sonya Taaffe
Contributors to the Mythic Delirium and Goblin Fruit speculative poetry magazines read selections from their work
5:00 PM
Steam-Powered I & II group reading
Mike Allen, C.S.E. Cooney, Nicole Kornher-Stace, Matthew Kressel, Shira Lipkin, Sonya Taaffe, JoSelle Vanderhooft
Contributors to Steam-Powered: Lesbian Steampunk Stories and Steam-Powered II: More Lesbian Steampunk Stories read selections from their work.
[N.B. I do not have a story in either of these anthologies; I will be reading from Jeannelle Ferreira's "A Thousand Mill Lofts Gray."]
Saturday, July 16
2:00 PM
How We Wrote "The King of Cats, the Queen of Wolves"
Mike Allen, Nicole Kornher-Stace, Sonya Taaffe
Mike Allen, Nicole Kornher-Stace, and Sonya Taaffe discuss the collaborative writing of their epic speculative poem.
Sunday July 17
11:00 AM
Absent Friends: Remembering the People We've Lost This Year
Lila Garrott, Geoff Ryman, Sonya Taaffe (leader)
In the past year, the field lost authors Diana Wynne Jones, Joanna Russ, James P. Hogan, E.C. Tubb, and Brian Jacques; artists Jim Roslof and Doug Chaffee; publishers April Derleth and Margaret K. McElderry; critics Melissa Mia Hall and Neil Barron; and others. Come join us as we celebrate their lives and work.
12:00 PM
Reading
Sonya Taaffe
Taaffe reads "A Wolf in Iceland Is the Child of a Lie."
1:00 PM
I Know What I Like: The Artistic Tastes of Characters
Greer Gilman, Geary Gravel, Resa Nelson, Margaret Ronald, Sonya Taaffe (leader)
Exploring the artistic tastes of characters can lead to interesting and subtle exposition of personality—or be a ham-fisted shortcut that reinforces stereotypes. Talking about art also expands the setting of a story, as all art is an expression of culture. What are some of the pitfalls of approaching a character from this angle and how do you avoid them?
Man, am I moderating a lot of panels this year. I should also be at the Rhysling Award Poetry Slan, although it's not formally on my schedule; I haven't missed a year before now.
Friday, July 15
11:00 AM
Rudyard Kipling, Fantasist and Modernist
Gardner Dozois, Gregory Feeley, Theodora Goss, Darrell Schweitzer, Sonya Taaffe (leader)
When Doris Lessing was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2007, many genre readers celebrated the recognition of a writer who had at least dabbled unapologetically in SF. But in fact the seventh Nobel Prize ever awarded, in 1907, went to Rudyard Kipling, who not only published SF (most notably "With the Night Mail") but also fantasy, ghost, and horror stories, and whose influence remains apparent today in writers as diverse as Mike Resnick and Neil Gaiman. Poul Anderson once wrote, "His influence pervades modern science fiction and fantasy writing," and John W. Campbell was said to have regarded him as the first modern SF writer. Did Kipling really help shape the modern genre, and is his influence still relevant?
12:00 PM
The Readercon Classic Fiction Book Club: Howl's Moving Castle
C.S.E. Cooney, Gemma Files, Theodora Goss, Kelly Link (leader), Sonya Taaffe
Diana Wynne Jones's death earlier this year gave rise to a seemingly endless series of blog posts extolling her many books. Howl's Moving Castle, first published in 1986, was one of the most frequently mentioned titles. This powerful story of magic, riddles, and romance is packed with allegory, clever subversions of common fantasy tropes, metafictional humor, and meditations on the nature of change. Such a work is necessarily slippery, but perhaps 25 years of analysis will help us get a grip on it.
2:00 PM
No Childhood Left Behind
Leah Bobet, Chris Moriarty, Sonya Taaffe (leader), JoSelle Vanderhooft, Rick Wilber
As YA publishing expands and the internet connects readers from tremendously different backgrounds, it's no longer possible to talk about a "classic" set of formative first reading. How does our collaborative discourse on texts change when we have little in common among our formative reading experiences? And how do we engage with the often problematic heritage of our childhood favorites when no one we want to discuss them with has read them?
4:00 PM
Mythic Delirium/Goblin Fruit group reading
Mike Allen, C.S.E. Cooney, Theodora Goss, Nicole Kornher-Stace, Shira Lipkin, Sonya Taaffe
Contributors to the Mythic Delirium and Goblin Fruit speculative poetry magazines read selections from their work
5:00 PM
Steam-Powered I & II group reading
Mike Allen, C.S.E. Cooney, Nicole Kornher-Stace, Matthew Kressel, Shira Lipkin, Sonya Taaffe, JoSelle Vanderhooft
Contributors to Steam-Powered: Lesbian Steampunk Stories and Steam-Powered II: More Lesbian Steampunk Stories read selections from their work.
[N.B. I do not have a story in either of these anthologies; I will be reading from Jeannelle Ferreira's "A Thousand Mill Lofts Gray."]
Saturday, July 16
2:00 PM
How We Wrote "The King of Cats, the Queen of Wolves"
Mike Allen, Nicole Kornher-Stace, Sonya Taaffe
Mike Allen, Nicole Kornher-Stace, and Sonya Taaffe discuss the collaborative writing of their epic speculative poem.
Sunday July 17
11:00 AM
Absent Friends: Remembering the People We've Lost This Year
Lila Garrott, Geoff Ryman, Sonya Taaffe (leader)
In the past year, the field lost authors Diana Wynne Jones, Joanna Russ, James P. Hogan, E.C. Tubb, and Brian Jacques; artists Jim Roslof and Doug Chaffee; publishers April Derleth and Margaret K. McElderry; critics Melissa Mia Hall and Neil Barron; and others. Come join us as we celebrate their lives and work.
12:00 PM
Reading
Sonya Taaffe
Taaffe reads "A Wolf in Iceland Is the Child of a Lie."
1:00 PM
I Know What I Like: The Artistic Tastes of Characters
Greer Gilman, Geary Gravel, Resa Nelson, Margaret Ronald, Sonya Taaffe (leader)
Exploring the artistic tastes of characters can lead to interesting and subtle exposition of personality—or be a ham-fisted shortcut that reinforces stereotypes. Talking about art also expands the setting of a story, as all art is an expression of culture. What are some of the pitfalls of approaching a character from this angle and how do you avoid them?
Man, am I moderating a lot of panels this year. I should also be at the Rhysling Award Poetry Slan, although it's not formally on my schedule; I haven't missed a year before now.
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