Friday, February 6, 2015

Upcoming Cons!

There's a few different conventions/conferences coming up, all worthy of your attention. Over on the CNSC Facebook, somebody linked to "10 Reasons to Go to a Con (even if it's your first Con and you're scared)", check that out! These are a great way to meet people, learn stuff, have a good time.
  • Capricon: Fan-run con with good programming and lots of literary content, Feb. 12-15, in Wheeling IL. More info on that below!
  • Chi-Fi: Fan-run con, kind of "all geek" genre, March 19-22 at the Palmer Hilton in the Loop in Chicago. Only the second year for this con; I'm hoping to see it take off since Chicago has a large active fannish community but, other than Chi-Fi, no fan-run cons in the city proper.
  • C2E2: April 24-26. Primarily focused on comics, gaming, and television, this large event at McCormick Place also features SF/F authors (Charlaine Harris & Patrick Rothfuss featured this year) and literature-related panels. Also look for panels from or involving local fannish groups and establishments.
  • The Oak Lawn Public Library Fan Fest: First year for this mini-con-type event. Looks fun, will have some crossover with Free Comics Day. May 2nd, in Oak Lawn, IL.
  • A Celebration of Supernatural: Okay so I'm bending Positron rules a bit here ("Supernatural" the television show, not a text-based SF/F thing) but this deserves a shout-out. DePaul University has started doing these one-day pop-culture conferences--last year's Whedon event was fantastic. Expect a good mix of fannish celebration and scholarly analysis. Read more on their Facebook; you can submit paper proposals up until March 1st. Free, at DePaul's Loop Campus, May 9th.
  • Wiscon! May 22-25 in Madison, WI. Wiscon is a fan-run feminist SF/F con, and truly fantastic. More reader/writer focused than many cons; while still fannish, Wiscon is also more scholarly than the norm (academic track submissions for papers or panels are open until February 23). Positron is hosting a panel on the academic track, looking at "Cognitive Diversity" in SF/F. There is still a spot left on the panel, and we could use a moderator. If you're interested, email positronchicago@gmail.com. But check out Wiscon either way!

Capricon is next week, February 12-15. It's just outside Chicago proper, in Wheeling, IL, at the Westin Chicago North Shore. Capricon is run by Phandemonium, an SF/F club mostly based in the Northern/North-Western parts of Chicagoland.

Programming for Capricon is up and packed with good stuff, including lots of readings by author guests. Look out for folks from lots of area SF groups, including the Blackstone FSF, Chicago Speculative Fiction Community, and the Chicago Nerd Social Club (Michi is on a few different panels and there will probably be other CNSC folks involved as well).
A few panels that might particularly be of interest to SF/F readers:

Thursday
  • 5pm- "How To Review Books"
Friday
  • 10am- "Fanwork: Subverting and Reinforcing the Canon"
  • 10am- "Urban Fantasy vs. Paranormal Romance"
  • 11:30am- "Judging a Book by Page 119"
  • 1pm- "I, Robot"
  • 1pm- "Ringworld & Rama: Big Dumb Objects"
  • 4pm- "Not Your Children's Fairy Tales: A Discussion of Fairy Lore From Celtic Times"
  • 5:30pm- "Comics without Capes"
  • 5:30pm- "Hugo Awards Nominating"
Saturday
  • 10am- Chicago Speculative Fiction Book Club: "The Three-Body Problem" by Cixin Liu, trans. Ken Liu
  • 10am- "Del Rey Centennial"
  • 10am- "Historical Mythology vs. Constructed Mythology"
  • 11:30am- "Eco-SF"
  • 11:30am-Phandemonium Book Club- "Vegas Knights" by Capricon Guest of Honor Matt Forbeck
  • 1pm- "Big Reader, Little Time"
  • 4pm- "GRRM vs. JRRT"
  • 5:30pm- "Queer Eye for Sci Fi"
  • 7pm- "Why We Love Audiobooks"
Sunday
  • 10am- "Libraries and Librarians in Science Fiction and Fantasy"
  • 1:30pm- "World War I as a theme in SF/F"

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