I'm attending the World Fantasy Convention from October 27 to 30 in Columbus, Ohio. I'm both covering the convention for the media like I did at Worldcon (follow me at @jasonsanford to see my coverage) and taking part in two panels.
I'll also be giving away signed limited edition copies of my novelette "Blood Grains Speak Through Memories," published earlier this year by Beneath Ceaseless Skies. If you see me feel free to ask for one.
My panels:
Friday at 1 pm, DELAWARE CD
Fantasy Emerging from Crisis. Are there trends in fiction that can be tied to global crises? E.g., certain kinds of fantasy emerged from the instability that led up to WWI. The Lord of the Rings is a clear response to the Great War. Are there directions we can anticipate with near-future environmental conflicts (water wars), destabilizing natural disasters, rising seas, income inequality issues, etc. perhaps leading to more political works (especially considering the popularity of Game of Thrones)? 9/11 produced Lavie Tidhar’s World Fantasy Award winning Osama and also inspired stories by Lucius Shepard, Richard Bowes, Jack Ketchum, and others. Fantasy inevitably arises from the zeitgeist. It can also come right out of the headlines. Chris Phillips, Jason Sanford (m), Gary K. Wolfe, Chrisopher Husberg, Caroline Yoachim
Saturday at 9 pm, DELAWARE CD
Strange Drugs. Opium and the like have always had a romantic allure. How about imaginary drugs? Alice in Wonderland? Clark Ashton Smith? How does the fantasy pharmacopeia differ from the real thing? What kind of drug do you take to see into the future or enter another world? Brady McReynolds, Jason Sanford, Anya Martin, Alvaro Zinos-Amaro, E.J. Stevens (m)
I considered not attending this year's con because of all the controversy surrounding World Fantasy. However, the con is local to me and I already had a ticket. More importantly, the convention also responded to criticism by vastly improving their program. And, as always, the main attraction of any con is seeing all the people I like and admire in the genre community.
So we'll see how the con goes. And I'm definitely looking forward to seeing everyone.