Contact2016 is the National Australian Science Fiction Convention this year. It will be held in Brisbane from Friday 25 March until Monday 28 March… which means it starts in just ten days! The Guests of Honour are Ben Aaronovitch, Jill Pantozzi, Keri Arthur, Kirilee Barker and Maria Lewis.

I will be attending this year and am very much looking forward to making some new friends as well as catching up with some old ones.

Where to find me

I’m delighted to be sitting on four panels during Contact. Exact details are subject to change.

 

Networking vs Building Community

When: Saturday, 26 March, 1:30 PM

Where: South Stradbroke Room

Panellists: Helen Stubbs, Jill Pantozzi, Marlee Jane Ward (M), Elizabeth Fitzgerald

Is networking really all about self-interest? Will building community inevitably drain organisers and lead to infighting? Is there really a difference between networking and building community?

A subject close to my heart.

 

Drawing SF: anime and animation tackle spec-fic

When: Sunday, 27 March, 9:00 AM

Where: South Stradbroke Room

Panellists: Shauna O’Meara, Peter M Ball, Queenie Chan, Elizabeth Fitzgerald

Animation has always offered new and relatively inexpensive ways to capture our imaginations. From Phillip K Dick’s A Scanner Darkly to Attack on Titan to Science Ninja Team to Hayate! the Combat Butler, sometimes the limit really is an artist’s imagination.

I’ve had a blast talking with Shauna about this topic at Conflux in previous years and am super excited that Peter and Queenie will be joining us.

 

Writing the fantastic city

When: Sunday, 27 March, 4:00 PM

Where: South Stradbroke Room

Panellists: Ben Aaronovitch, Rjurik Davidson, Lynette Noni, Elizabeth Fitzgerald (M)

The best stories have a sense of place–whether in our real world, in new universe or a mix of the two. This panel looks at how to create the worlds in which characters walk and live. How do you write a world where zombies stalk the night or aliens live in slums and make it resonate and real?

This is probably the panel I’m most looking forward to, especially after recently reading Ben Aaronovitch’sRivers of London/Peter Grant series.

 

Dodging Deggan

When: Monday, 28 March, 10:00 AM

Where: South Stradbroke Room

Panellists: Lois Spangler, Jessica Biggs, Elizabeth Fitzgerald

Deggan’s Rule, like the better known Bechdel test, applies a series of questions to assess how race is portrayed on screen. But we rarely see it applied in reviews or discussions about spec-fic tv or movies. Are we scared of what we will find?

The blog has long been quietly concerned with diversity and equality. This panel is going to be a great opportunity to discuss that in a more in-depth way.

 

Aside from the panels, I’ll also be attending the Aurealis Awards on Friday at 7 PM and the convention banquet on Saturday at 6:30 PM. If you have an interest in speculative fiction and can make it along, please stop by and say hi! I love getting to know new people. However, if Brisbane is a little too far away for you or attending conventions is not your sort of thing, there’s no need for you to miss out entirely. I shall be posting a convention report once the excitement is over (and I’ve had the chance for a few restorative cups of tea).