This year’s World Fantasy Convention (1-4 November in Saratoga Springs, New York) was in some ways a huge con, and in other ways, very small. In some respects, it was wonderful, and in other ways, not so much. It was my first WFC, but by no means my first convention. I was lured by its location (driving distance from home), the fact that so many people tell me “this is the convention all the pros go to,” and the chance to experience something I haven’t before. It was a huge success in those three measures.
The WFC has developed certain traditions and ways of doing things that are unique to it; I’m not sure if they’re good or bad, but they definitely set this one apart. First among these is the goodie bag: traditionally, attendees receive bags filled to the brim with free books, usually donated by the publishers. This year’s bag, I gather, was somewhat lacking, because one major publisher’s shipment went astray, and a small-press publisher’s donations were lost somewhere in the hotel. But free books aren’t the only, or even a major, reason to go to a convention.
We go to conventions to discuss our favorite genres with like-minded people, and there was plenty of opportunity for that: open sitting areas, a nice bar (which I only made it to once, briefly), and a convivial atmosphere. The presence of cookies almost everywhere also helped (although it may have hurt many diets): the con committee finagled donations of Saratoga Springs sparkling water and Freihoffer’s chocolate chip cookies. There were so many boxes of cookies floating about that there was never a lack of something sweet to eat, no matter where or when I was.
In terms of big conventions, this one is fairly small. There were about 1300 people at this year’s WFC, which I gather is the largest WFC ever (attendance is usually capped at a somewhat smaller number, though I can’t imagine why). Nevertheless, there were people there I didn’t see once in the entire weekend. On the other hand, I did manage to run into new author Sarah Rees Brennan on Thursday (photo at right). She’s as bubbly in person as she was in our interview, and I look forward to seeing more of her in the future (in addition to her books).
Programming at WFC—and this is apparently a WFC tradition—tends toward the academic, rather than fannish, point of view. There are also only two tracks of panels, along with two of readings, running throughout the weekend. And since the convention is so popular with professionals (writers, editors, and such), most program participants were lucky to be on only one item (I had a reading, early Thursday evening).
Thursday evening, the International Horror Guild gave out its awards (see this article) in a mercifully brief, but well run presentation hosted by Paula Guran and emceed by artist John Picacio. There was also an opening ceremony (which I managed to miss) and an ice cream social (a staple of conventions run by the host committee, LASTSFA, and I highly commend them for it).
The parties at WFC ran later and stronger than I’ve seen at an East Coast convention in quite a while; I was pleasantly surprised (well, it wasn’t so pleasant in the early mornings, but I get a lot of my convention socializing done at the parties). This photo is from the party Tor Books hosted on Saturday night. Seated are three of the four Four Redheads of the Apocalypse: Linda L. Donahue, Julia S. Mandala, and Dusty Rainbolt. Stretched across them is Jammie Alexsaundra Sobley. At another party, I overhead one guy telling another “Wait, you were going to take me to the party with the fetching woman in striped socks who works for Popular Science. She was going to make me a cocktail.” It was a line that just had to be preserved, but I later ran into the fetching woman, and had a nice conversation with her. That’s one of the joys of convention parties: you never know who you’re going to meet, or how.
Friday night’s big event is the Autograph Reception (again, a WFC tradition). In this case, it’s a large ballroom with many tables, much noise, and as many authors as are at the convention and want to sitting down to sign their books for attendees. There was no discernable order, so finding an author you were interested in was random chance, but it seemed an enjoyable time for the few minutes I was in the room (I wasn’t much interested in getting autographs, and it was loud). The picture at right shows author Jackie Kessler, whose second novel, The Road to Hell, has just come out. She wins the prize for the best attempts at self-promotion, although she did tell me that “I write about a demon who beccomes a stripper, so I could be giving out g-strings.”
I also caught this shot of Ramsey Campbell (who, the night before, had been named a Living Legend by the International Horror Guild). If you can’t make it out, his t-shirt says “What part of ‘PH’NGUI MGUN’NAFH CTHULHU R’LYEH WGAY NAGL FHTAGN’ don’t you understand?”
At Lawrence Schoen’s reading that night, he mentioned that the second book from Paper Golem, his new small press, is tentatively titled Alembical, and that it will be an anthology of four novellas. His reasoning is that the novella is a wonderful length for speculative fiction, but is often overlooked because it’s difficult to publish. The book should be out next Autumn in both hardcover and trade paperback.
One of the Friday night parties was Shimmer Magazine‘s launch party for its special Pirate Issue, guest edited by John Joseph Adams. The photo at right is of publisher Beth Wodzinski holding the issue. I didn’t manage to get the shot (on the left) of Adams with his magazine until the next day.
Saturday was odd, because the convention seemed to his “pause” about 5PM, and didn’t return to “play” until the Art Show Reception at 8. This is one of the things I didn’t like about the convention. Since I was working in the dealers’ room, which was open the same hours as the art show, I didn’t get a chance to see the art until the reception, but by Saturday night, bidding had already closed.
After the (minor) disappointment of missing my chance to bid (though I did get to admire the wonderful art), the Saturday parties seemed to run the latest (see the picture up above). I lost track of who I ran into (though I tried to take some notes).
Sunday, too, held some traditions I didn’t really like. The convention seemed to wind up by noon, as that was the end of programming. The dealers’ room, however, was open until 4PM. I thought I could see the logic in that, as the World Fantasy Awards ceremony is held Sunday afternoon, so of course you’ll want the dealers’ room open for people to purchase work by the award winners (but with half the attendees leaving early Sunday morning to head home, that seems a really bad time for the major award event of the weekend). However, though the banquet started at 1, if you were following along at home (we posted the awards live on this page), you’ll remember that the awards didn’t end until 4:15, after the dealers’ room had closed. The dealers, of course, were standing around all afternoon with absolutely nothing to do and no one to sell to: poor scheduling. But it did give us all a chance to chat. One of the people I chatted with was Robert J. Sawyer, who was at a convention, for perhaps the first time, as a publisher (he was there with his Robert J. Sawyer Books imprint). In the photo at right, he’s standing with the books he’s edited: Getting Near the End by Andrew Weiner, Sailing Time’s Ocean by Terence M. Green, Birthstones by Phyllis Gottlieb, The Engine of Recall by Karl Schroeder, The Commons by Matthew Hughes, A Small and Remarkable Life by Nick DiChario, Rogue Harvest by Danita Maslan, and Letters from the Flesh by Marcos Donnelly.
And then, finally, it was time to drive home, which was entirely too late in the day. Overall, I had a great time, and I heartily congratulate the crew responsible for the convention. Next year’s will be in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. 2009 will see WFC in San Jose, California, and in 2010, it’ll be Columbus, Ohio. It’s a pricey weekend, but definitely worth a look if you’re any kind of fan of the genre.
I know these photos only give a very small taste of the weekend, so let me also point you at Scott Edelman’s and Ellen Datlow’s photos of the convention for a different photographic impression. John Klima had a completely different view of the convention than I did (although there’s still that emphasis on parties): you can read his write-up here, and see his photos of the convention at this link. Kathryn Cramer’s photos are available here.
(And if you took pictures and are willing to share them, click the “contact us” link at the top of the page and let me know.)