I’ll be at LonCon3 in August (Pt 1)

I’m very much looking forward to taking part in Worldcon at ExCel, London from 14th-18th August. I’ll post my panels in three parts; first of all, here are the literary ones – plus a (shared) Kaffeeklatsch and, yes, a reading:

Adult Readers Within the YA Market

Saturday 13:30 – 15:00, Capital Suite 10 (ExCeL)

Age recommendations on books are meant to be a useful feature for readers. What are the risks and benefits associated with age classification, and is it a necessary evil or a marketing mistake? And what’s all this we hear about the emerging “New Adult” market? Will this have on YA books? Moreover, how do the growing number of adult readers affect the YA market? Are we leaving actual young adult readers behind in favor of attracting adult buyers?

Sarah Ash , Joshua Bilmes, Ben Jeapes , Bella Pagan

Kaffeeklatsch

Saturday 17:00 – 18:00, London Suite 5 (ExCeL)

Sarah Ash , Jonathan Oliver

Seeing the Future, Knowing the Past

Sunday 12:00 – 13:30, Capital Suite 7+12 (ExCeL)

Fantasy’s use of prophecy – knowable futures – often parallels the way it treats the past, as something both knowable and stable: details of history known from a thousand years back, kingly bloodlines in direct descent for several hundreds of years, etc. In reality, George I of England was 58th in line for the throne and there is a Jacobean claimant still out there somewhere. No one really knows where France originated. History is messy and mutable. Why is fantasy so keen on the known?

William B. Hafford (M), Sarah Ash , Liz Bourke , Karen Miller, Kari Sperring

Reading: Sarah Ash

Sunday 18:30 – 19:00, London Suite 1 (ExCeL)