Thursday, November 20, 2008

Philcon Schedule

Even though I'll only be there a day and a half, as usual the programming folks have loaded me up with a lot of work. (And we'll see if that means that the move to Cherry Hill has accelerated the flight of pros from Philcon, or just that they really, really love me.)

Here are the appropriate links, if you're in the northeast and are likely to run off to a SF convention at the drop of a hat in mid-November: Philcon. The mighty Crowne Plaza Cherry Hill.

If you'll be at Philcon, and want to hear me blather in person, these are your best opportunities:
Sat 11:00 AM in Plaza II (Two) (1 hour)
SCIENCE FICTION HAD A LOT MORE FREEDOM IN "THE GOOD OLD DAYS" (25)
[Panelists: Diane Weinstein (mod), Alexis Gilliland, Andrew Wheeler, Gardner Dozois, Ian Randal Strock]
Remember when it was possible to sell an Avram Davidson short story collection and a R. A. Lafferty novel in a mass market paperback, along with other strange stuff? In the quest for the next best seller, the Science Fiction field seems to have narrowed considerably in the last 30 years. Has Science Fiction become a victim of its own success?

Sat 1:00 PM in Plaza III (Three) (1 hour)
THE BEST WEBCOMICS YOU'RE NOT READING! (128)
[Panelists: J. Andrew World (mod), Tony DiGerolamo, Scott Christian Sava, Andrew Wheeler, Phil Kahn]
Lots of fans are reading XKCD, PVP, and/or Questionable Content. But if you don't know what any of those are, you REALLY need to come to this panel! And even if you DO know, you STILL need to come to this panel, because there's still a LOT of great stuff out there you might be missing.

Sat 4:00 PM in Plaza V (Five) (1 hour)
NOT THE AMERICAN CENTURY (64)
[Panelists: Andrew Wheeler (mod), Andre Lieven, James Daniel Ross, Michael Swanwick, Catherine Asaro]
It seems increasingly likely that the 21st Century may not be dominated by the United States. Has there been much Science Fiction about this?

Sun 12:00 PM in Plaza II (Two) (1 hour)
THE GREAT ROBERT E. HOWARD REVIVAL (23)
[Panelists: Andrew Wheeler (mod), Eric Avedissian, Victoria Janssen]
There are a tremendous number of Robert E. Howard new editions, repackaging and even a forthcoming Library of America edition. What makes him still relevant and vital?

Sun 2:00 PM in Plaza IV (Four) (1 hour)
MY COLLEGE MAJOR AND SF...HOW OUR OUTSIDE INTERESTS SHAPE THE SF WE LIKE (212)
[Panelists: Tobias Cabral (mod), Rebecca Marcus, Andrew Wheeler, Crystal Paul]
How do our college majors, jobs, and other outside interests effect the SF we read, watch and like?

Bonus points! If there's anything I should say (or not say) on any of those topics, let me know now, while I still have a chance to say, or not say, it.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

[Note: Blogger/LJ OpenID seems to be broken right now]
I hope someone takes notes on the webcomic panel; my bookmark folder of recs is getting a bit low. I just typed a huge list of links to obscure comics I like, but Blogger deleted it (it may be that LiveJournal and OpenID aren't working together). Instead of typing all that again, here's a link to my Comic-Nation profile

Brad Holden said...

I am gonna second the call for recs from the webcomics panel.

Also, didn't a lot of 20th century SF have the US not being top dog? All that post-nuclear SF?

Brad Holden said...

I realize I should be slightly more specific.

Besides post-apocalytic stuff, I remember a number of stories where, in the Future, as our hero flys his car to work, he mulls that the great war of the 1990s changed the balance of power and so the Chinese/Japanese/Brazilians/Antarticans ruled the planet.

Anonymous said...

Konrad, LJ knows they screwed up their OpenID, but they don't seem to be doing much about it. Please put in a support request so I don't seem like the lone nut.

Andy, speaking of comics, today's WashPost has an article on Otaryman.

Anonymous said...

So, did anyone take notes? I've Googled a bit, and so far the only person I've found who admits to attending is Steve Brinich, and he only named one webcomic I don't already read.

Andrew Wheeler said...

Konrad: I made a short list of comics that the others mentioned that I didn't, but I haven't even managed to look at them yet.

I don't think anyone made a comprehensive list.

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