Worldcon Ho!
On August 4, I blogged about booking my airfares to attend Worldcon, the World Science Fiction & Fantasy Convention being held in Melbourne from 2-6 September.
As of Friday, the official programme was confirmed and these are the events I’ll be part of:
Fri 3, 1500 : Eowyn and Sam—Underappreciated Heroes in The Lord of the Rings: Everybody talks about Gollum, Gandalf, Frodo and Aragorn – but what about the other characters of The Lord of the Rings? An examination of the underappreciated characters among Tolkien’s extensive cast – why they work, why we love them, and how they are handled both in the books and in Peter Jackson’s film adaptations.
Laurie Mann, Helen Lowe, Rose-Marie Lillian, Alison Croggon
Sat 4, 1500: Myth and Folklore of Australia and New Zealand—with Tehani Wessely and Ian Nichols. Further details to be advised.
Sun 5, 1000: The Eternal Stories: Myths and Legends in YA Spec Fic—Myths and legends resound through much of our finest speculative fiction. In this panel, writers share their influences, thoughts and experiences.
Jenny Blackford, Catherynne M. Valente, Alison Croggan, Helen Lowe (chair)
Sun 5, 1300: Fantasy Before Fantasy, Science Fiction Before Science Fiction—The Odyssey, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Frankenstein, Gulliver’s Travels, Journey to the West: A look at classic works of world literature that, while not written as science fiction and fantasy, have been co-opted in the 20th and 21st centuries by speculative fiction readers and used as inspiration by the writers.
Rani Graff, Carol Ryles, Helen Lowe, Ben Chandler
Sun 5, 1500: Reading—with Alan Baxter.
Mon 6, 1000: Writing Strange Lands: Other Cultures in YA Speculative Fiction–-This panel will discuss the impact of dominant cultures in writing YA Speculative Fiction.
Karen Healey, Gillian Polack, Helen Lowe (chair)
Mon 6, 1100: Kaffeeklatsche—with Alison Croggon, Catherynne M Valente, and Grá Linnaea.
Mon 6, 1300: Signing—(thank you to Mary Victoria for reminding me to add this to the schedule :-))
Hope to see some of you in the throng.
Will make a note of them.
You’re chair – awesome! Congratulations!
The Sunday ones look like you should get a bit of rest and time for lunch between them.
I’ll look forward to seeing your face in the crowd, Jan–and I agree the Sunday ones are quite nicely spaced.
Super Helen! Looks like some very cool panel discussions… Are you doing a signing, too?
Yes, I’m looking forward to it—and your discussions as well. Am down for a signing as well; you’re right, I should add that in!