Tag: World Fantasy Convention
World Fantasy Convention 2013
Shortly after the St Jude storm had batted the British Isles around like a bored cat with a paper boat, I travelled down to Brighton for the World Fantasy Convention. Nobody had told the local winds that the storm was over, so whenever I ventured out I kept both hands clamped protectively over my hat.
Once again I had the joy of meeting a lot of people I only knew through Twitter, email and the mailing list of the Scattered Authors’ Society. (I grew quite accustomed to the words ‘I recognised you from your hat!’)
I was also introduced to Shadwell, one of the small felt pigeons acting as ‘ambassadors’ for Loncon 3 next year.
The first evening of the convention was Halloween, so there were many splendid costumes on display.
There were also magnificent displays of steampunk regalia, and three gentlemen with four-foot-wide hats made out of modelling balloons and flashing lights.
On the Friday I appeared in a panel with a stellar collection of authors – Garth Nix, Holly Black, Sarah Rees Brennan, Chris Priestley and Chris Wooding. This was the brief.
The Next Generation” Not in Front of the Children: How Far Should You Go in Young Adult Fiction? (Oxford)
Our chair, Sarah Rees Brennan, gave a wonderfully tongue-in-cheek performance as the Voice of Moral Outrage, declared us all ‘sinners’ and corrupting influences from the very start, and introduced us by ominous nicknames. I’m very happy with my new title, “The Grande Dame of Darkness”…
I have long held the view that young readers are tougher and smarter than many adults realise, and are generally the best judges of whether they are ready to read certain kinds of material. It became clear that most of the panel was broadly in agreement, but it was still a fun and interesting discussion. Chris Priestley gave an eloquent defence of books that purely entertain, rather than making heavy-handed attempts to educate or ‘improve’. Holly Black discussed the perpetual nervousness with which the adult world regards teenagers. Garth Nix stated that YA should not be considered subset of children’s fiction, but of adult fiction (hence the name). By age sixteen Chris Wooding had been not only reading horror novels but writing them.
On Sunday I took part in a joint reading with other children’s/YA authors from the Scattered Authors’ Society – a ‘taster menu’ of extracts offering a mix of comic, haunting, exciting and chilling. My fellow readers were Emma Barnes, Cecilia Busby, Teresa Flavin, Amy Butler Greenfield, Katherine Langrish, Katherine Roberts, Linda Strachan and Lucy Coats.
Over the weekend I had the chance to listen to a number of fascinating panels, covering subjects such as world-building, YA as a genre, historical fantasy and the influence of real landscapes and places upon fantasy writing.
In the upstairs art gallery, like everyone else I was hypnotised by Tessa Farmer‘s otherworldly aerial battle made almost entirely out of dead things, suspended from the ceiling by threads. Sheep skulls were dreadnaughts, and tiny ant-like fairies rode dead bees, beetles and sea-horses into combat. I also took a shine to Autun Purser’s Fantastic Travel Destinations, advertising trips to the likes of Yuggoth, Midwich and the end of the Earth with cheery 1940s style posters.
Now I have convention withdrawal symptoms… and I have to find somewhere to store all my loot.
Happy Halloween!
Usually on a Halloween evening I would be lurking in full costume, waiting to dole out sweets to trick-or-treaters. (I usually end up eating quite a lot of them myself. The sweets, not the trick-or-treaters.) This year, however, I am instead heading to Brighton for the World Fantasy Convention!
On the Friday, from 4pm until 5pm, I will be appearing on a panel with a stellar collection of YA authors – Garth Nix, Sarah Reese Brenna, Chris Priestley, Holly Black and Chris Wooding. The title is “Not in Front of the Children: How far should you go in YA Fiction?” and the panel will be discussing how far sex, drugs, violence, etc. have a place in Young Adult fiction.
On the Sunday between 11am and 12am I will be joining a group of seven other writers of children’s fantasy: Emma Barnes, C J Busby, Teresa Flavin, Amy Greenfield, Katherine Langrish, Katherine Roberts and Linda Strachan. We will each be giving a short five minute reading from one of our books.
Meanwhile, my good friend Rhiannon Lassiter is holding her own online Halloween party. It’s a blog party celebrating the release of Little Witches Bewitched, a collection of short stories about two young people who remain admirably good-natured and level-headed when somebody transforms them into witches in a fit of pique. (Just for Halloween, you can buy the book at a reduced price.)
Have a wonderful Halloween, everybody, and hope to see some of you at the World Fantasy Convention!
