My Worldcon (Loncon 3) Schedule

Thanks to assistance from ArtsNB, the NB Arts Board, I’m able to attend Loncon 3. If you see me wandering, do come and say hello and don’t wait for me to speak first. Talk to me about Blackdog or The Leopard or The Lady, or what I’m working on now or my books for children and non-fiction, or the weather or the British Museum or British beer … I’m going to Loncon eager to meet people, but I’m sort of overwhelmed by crowds (unless I’m standing in front of them speaking, in which case I’m fine).

Since it’s been pointed out that most of my photos online are actually photos of Mr Wicked, who distracts the eye of the viewer with his shiny white coat and noble pose, here’s what I look like without a dog — because it’s tricky to go around peering at nametags, right?

Here’s where to find me:

Crossing Boundaries: Histories of International SF/F for Children

Thursday 11:00 – 12:00, Capital Suite 6 (ExCeL)

Is there a ‘shared’ understanding of the fantastic across cultures? How have fantasy (and science fiction) narratives for young readers evolved in different countries and storytelling traditions? What kinds of stories succeed or fail in crossing national borders and why? How are these transnational stories from ‘Other’ places received and read in their new contexts? What are some affinities and tensions between these different ‘imagined communities’? This panel will address the development of international traditions of fantasy (and science fiction) for young readers and the relationship between the local, the national and the global in the world of children’s literature. Drawing upon the range of the panelists’ national and transnational experiences, we will explore issues around the intersections between regional, national and international literatures and the representation of diversity, identity and the Other in fantastic texts for young people.

Dr. Patricia Kennon (M), Sanna Lehtonen, Michael Levy, KV Johansen, Catherine Butler

Kaffeeklatsch

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

Fabio Fernandes, KV Johansen

Sense of Wonder in Children’s SF

Saturday 10:00 – 11:00, Capital Suite 1 (ExCeL)

YA books are well known for their dystopias and their grand adventures. What is it about these categories that have so effectively captured the young adult imagination? When Alice walked off the literary page she opened the door to a truly wondrous world filled with unimaginable things. Since then literary children have latched onto that sense of wonder in literature from Neverland, to Narnia, Hogwarts, and Panem. What is this “sense of wonder” within literature and how does it continue to “blow the minds” of young readers? What are the most spectacular feats of worldbuilding in the YA canon? Where can we find the best aliens? And what about those wondrous infernal machines?

Farah Mendlesohn, KV Johansen, Ian McDonald, Ben Jeapes, Jo Fletcher

YA Fiction: The History of a Genre

Monday 10:00 – 11:00, Capital Suite 1 (ExCeL)

Join our panelists as they drill down into the history of the YA genre from the old classics to hip new urban fantasies and science fiction novels.How has children’s literature changed? What turning points did young adult and middle grade literature going through in order to become the genre we are familiar with today? Has the genre solidified or is it still in transition? How has the re-categorization of books within the genre affected the history and development of literature, with a specific eye toward young adult fiction? What might be coming next?

Edward James (M), Helen E. Gbala, KV Johansen, Dr. Patricia Kennon, Michael Levy

I’m also going to be at DragonCon, where you’ll find me there hanging out at the Pyr booth.