I figured I should post my Arisia schedule before the con is actually upon us. I am going into this year in dreadful shape, but I am going. Saturday looks hardcore.
Strange Horizons Reading
Friday 7:00 PM
Lila Garrott, A.J. Odasso, Sonya Taaffe, MJ Cunniff
Come listen to various staff members of Strange Horizons, the weekly speculative fiction magazine, read from their own original works.
Traditional Ballad Bingo
Saturday 2:30 PM
Lynn Feingold (m), Sonya Taaffe, April Grant, Lee C. Hillman, Angela Kessler
A themed open sing wherein attendees take turns performing traditional ballads for the assemblage. Listen carefully to mark your Ballad Bingo cards when you detect such classic tropes as Drowning, Pregnancy Out of Wedlock, or Murder of a Loved One. Cards will be provided. Compete for "valuable" prizes!
Genderfluidity and Queerness in Genre
Saturday 4:00 PM
Rose Hayes (m), Mark Oshiro, Jon Erik Christianson, Sonya Taaffe, MJ Cunniff
We used to get one ambiguously gay character . . . usually a queer-coded villain. We never got anyone nonbinary (why would aliens even have a gender binary?). As LGBTQIA people are getting more recognition in society, we're finally getting more queer characters in fiction. We're finally beginning to see queer communities,as opposed to The Token Gay Friend. The lesbians don't die at the end! Let's talk about the exploration of gender and sexuality in genre fiction, and how we'd like to see it expand.
Welcome to the Underworld
Saturday 7:00 PM
Terri Bruce (m), Gabriel Squailia, Daniel José Older, Greer Gilman, Sonya Taaffe
Mythic, personal, or speculative, we'll be talking about human consciousness after death and what it may or may not encounter. What are the most compelling afterworlds in fiction, which ones have the best shot at being plausible, and which ones inspire you in life?
Remembering Leonard Nimoy
Sunday 7:00 PM
Keith R. A. DeCandido (m), Santiago Rivas, Sonya Taaffe, Daniel Miller, Ken Schneyer
Leonard Nimoy, one of the greats, passed away in 2015. Although he remains best known for Star Trek, he had along and varied career, excelling as an an actor and a director, working as a voice actor and a photographer, and hosting documentaries. We'll look back at his life (even his musical career), and talk about how much Nimoy meant to people both as a man and as a performer.
I Hate the Hero
Monday 1:00 PM
Heather Urbanski (m), Kim Pinto, Carl Fink, Sonya Taaffe
Is there a story with a protagonist that you dislike or maybe is just not likeable? I don't mean, "The heavy is cooler than the hero," which is common. I mean you loathe the hero, to the point of rooting for the antagonist just to see them fail. What makes a hero likeable and do they have to be likeable for fans to be interested in the story?
The Story Within the Story
Monday 2:30 PM
Heather Urbanski (m), Greer Gilman, Sonya Taaffe, Elizabeth Birdsall, MJ Cunniff
Relatively few SFnal works give narrative the kind of central role within their heroes' world that it often plays in our own. What works have best created stories within a story, and which are notable for the absence of a literary tradition where you might expect to find one?
So that's where I'll be this weekend. Anyone else?
Strange Horizons Reading
Friday 7:00 PM
Lila Garrott, A.J. Odasso, Sonya Taaffe, MJ Cunniff
Come listen to various staff members of Strange Horizons, the weekly speculative fiction magazine, read from their own original works.
Traditional Ballad Bingo
Saturday 2:30 PM
Lynn Feingold (m), Sonya Taaffe, April Grant, Lee C. Hillman, Angela Kessler
A themed open sing wherein attendees take turns performing traditional ballads for the assemblage. Listen carefully to mark your Ballad Bingo cards when you detect such classic tropes as Drowning, Pregnancy Out of Wedlock, or Murder of a Loved One. Cards will be provided. Compete for "valuable" prizes!
Genderfluidity and Queerness in Genre
Saturday 4:00 PM
Rose Hayes (m), Mark Oshiro, Jon Erik Christianson, Sonya Taaffe, MJ Cunniff
We used to get one ambiguously gay character . . . usually a queer-coded villain. We never got anyone nonbinary (why would aliens even have a gender binary?). As LGBTQIA people are getting more recognition in society, we're finally getting more queer characters in fiction. We're finally beginning to see queer communities,as opposed to The Token Gay Friend. The lesbians don't die at the end! Let's talk about the exploration of gender and sexuality in genre fiction, and how we'd like to see it expand.
Welcome to the Underworld
Saturday 7:00 PM
Terri Bruce (m), Gabriel Squailia, Daniel José Older, Greer Gilman, Sonya Taaffe
Mythic, personal, or speculative, we'll be talking about human consciousness after death and what it may or may not encounter. What are the most compelling afterworlds in fiction, which ones have the best shot at being plausible, and which ones inspire you in life?
Remembering Leonard Nimoy
Sunday 7:00 PM
Keith R. A. DeCandido (m), Santiago Rivas, Sonya Taaffe, Daniel Miller, Ken Schneyer
Leonard Nimoy, one of the greats, passed away in 2015. Although he remains best known for Star Trek, he had along and varied career, excelling as an an actor and a director, working as a voice actor and a photographer, and hosting documentaries. We'll look back at his life (even his musical career), and talk about how much Nimoy meant to people both as a man and as a performer.
I Hate the Hero
Monday 1:00 PM
Heather Urbanski (m), Kim Pinto, Carl Fink, Sonya Taaffe
Is there a story with a protagonist that you dislike or maybe is just not likeable? I don't mean, "The heavy is cooler than the hero," which is common. I mean you loathe the hero, to the point of rooting for the antagonist just to see them fail. What makes a hero likeable and do they have to be likeable for fans to be interested in the story?
The Story Within the Story
Monday 2:30 PM
Heather Urbanski (m), Greer Gilman, Sonya Taaffe, Elizabeth Birdsall, MJ Cunniff
Relatively few SFnal works give narrative the kind of central role within their heroes' world that it often plays in our own. What works have best created stories within a story, and which are notable for the absence of a literary tradition where you might expect to find one?
So that's where I'll be this weekend. Anyone else?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}