How to Avoid Gillian at Loncon
It's easier to avoid me at Loncon than at any other SF convention I've ever been to. Loncon is so big that you can find other things to do, easily. Awesome other things. The programme is totally amazing and is here: http://guide.loncon3.org/
Now for the nitty-gritty of avoidance. First up, you might have to skip the Opening Ceremony and the Hugos. I'm only a miniscule part of both, but I *am* a miniscule part. Bring your mobile along, maybe, and carefully tweet about other things to blot me out? For the rest of it, this is my programme. I'm sorry that you'll have to skip hearing some of my favourite writers, but it's the only way to avoid me. Also to avoid the usual stuff I bring, like books and toffees. Speaking of books, there will be a very limited number of advance copies of Langue[dot]doc 1305 at the Ticonderoga stall in the dealer's room, and I don't even have to be bribed to sign them! I do have to be bribed if you want me to sign them legibly. I have to be bribed enormously if you want me to sing you a Medieval song* while I sign. None of this qualifies as Gillian-avoidance, however.
As for the rest of it, this is me, I am here:
Thursday, August 14 7pm
YA Books Set in London Capital Suite 8 (ExCeL)
Tom Pollock, Edward James, Ian McDonald, Gillian Polack, Liesel Schwarz
Dark alleys, cocky cockneys, a stewpot of cultures from every corner of the globe and layer upon layer of history... London is the perfect setting for adventures of every sort. What are the best YA books that London has inspired? Have any of them added to the city's mystique? What can the viewpoint of a YA protagonist bring to the reader's perception of this magnificent city that an adult viewpoint couldn't?
Friday, August 15 11am
Feeding the Imagination: Food in SF/F Capital Suite 3 (ExCeL)
Shana Worthen, Aliette de Bodard, Gillian Polack, Jo Walton, Fran Wilde
The food in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series is described in such detail that cookbooks have been published in response. What other genre works have focused heavily on food to develop the world and characters? What does food say about an invented society? Are stories that lack an exploration of the diet of their characters lacking something?
Friday, August 15 1:30pm
Fantasy and Medievalism Capital Suite 7+12 (ExCeL), 1:30pm - 3pm
Kathryn (Kate) Laity, Robin Hobb, Marieke Nijkamp, Lynda Rucker, Gillian Polack
High fantasy is almost invariably set in invented worlds inspired by medieval Europe. Can we put this down to the legacy of Tolkien and to genre works being in close conversation with each other? Or is there something about the place that medieval Europe occupies in our imagination that makes it a perfect companion for tales of epic striving and larger-than-life Good versus Evil? Either way, does this help or hinder the genre?
Saturday, August 16 12pm
Representing Indigenous Cultures in Speculative Fiction Capital Suite 6 (ExCeL), 12pm - 1:30pm
Ronald Meyers, Christopher Kastensmidt, Maureen Kincaid Speller, Gillian Polack
Three academics each give a presentation followed by a jointly held 30 minute discussion and Q&A with the audience.
Christopher Kastensmidt, "Simone Saueressig and the Indigenous Epic"
Maureen Kincaid Speller, "The Silence of the Indian: Representations of Indigenous North Americans in Science Fiction and Fantasy"
Gillian Polack, "Old cultures, new fictions: introducing three Indigenous Australian writers of speculative fiction"
Saturday, August 16 8pm
Free Trips To Foreign Parts Capital Suite 2 (ExCeL)
Curt Phillips, Gillian Polack, Rob Hansen, James Shields, Kylie Ding
The Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund was the first of the fan funds and was created in 1953 for the purpose of providing funds to bring well-known and popular [science fiction] fans familiar to those on both sides of the ocean across the Atlantic. How can you get fans to pay for you to jet off to exotic foreign locations? Come along to meet our knowledgeable panelists to find out how to compete for and win a fan fund.
Saturday, August 16 10pm
Fan Funds Casino Fan Activity Tent (ExCeL), 10pm - 2am
Jim Mowatt, Justin Ackroyd, Kylie Ding, Janice Gelb, Jerry A. Kaufman, Patrick McMurray, G. Patrick Molloy, Carrie Mowatt, Maree Pavletich, Mihaela Marija Perkovic, Curt Phillips, Alan Stewart, Gillian Polack
There'll be spinning roulette wheels, Blackjack and gambling galore in the Fan Funds Casino. It'll all be just for fun but there will be plenty of opportunities for you to contribute to the various fan funds who raise money to send fans on cultural exchange trips to far flung corners of the world. The croupiers are nearly all fan fund winners and this gathering is almost certainly the largest collection of fan fund winners ever gathered in one place. Come join in our own Vegas style fun and be there at this historic occasion.
Sunday, August 17 12pm
Fan Funds Auction Capital Suite 9 (ExCeL), 12pm - 1:30pm
Jim Mowatt, Justin Ackroyd, Carrie Mowatt, Curt Phillips, Gillian Polack
Fans from around the world have sent in all manner of delightful items for your bidding pleasure. There'll be rare books. There'll be weird and wonderful action figures. There will almost certainly be Tim Tams. Come bid on these items and marvel at our wild cavorting auctioneers who strut and fret their hour upon the stage. Come buy these marvellous goodies and in so doing support some of the fan funds such as TAFF that raises money for the cultural transfer between Europe and North America and GUFF which raises money for the exchange between Australia and Europe.
Monday, August 18 11am
How To Read Safely in a Science Fictional Universe: Coping With Time Travel Narratives
Capital Suite 4 (ExCeL)
Geoffrey Landis, Joe Haldeman, Gillian Polack, Suzanne Palmer, Ian Watson
In their introduction to The Time Traveller's Almanac, Ann and Jeff VanderMeer note that "time travel stories are devious narratives." Part of this deviousness lies in their variety: they can be mazes or messages, experiments or adventures. What are the challenges for the writer in composing such deviousness – and for the reader in unravelling it? What are the literary effects of building a story around (semi)-credible science versus entirely invented fantasy?
ETA (for I didn't have any footnotes!!) *The song you are most likely to be forced to endure if you bribe me sufficiently is from the first Robin Hood musical. I can sing it in several dialects, if I'm drunk enough.
Now for the nitty-gritty of avoidance. First up, you might have to skip the Opening Ceremony and the Hugos. I'm only a miniscule part of both, but I *am* a miniscule part. Bring your mobile along, maybe, and carefully tweet about other things to blot me out? For the rest of it, this is my programme. I'm sorry that you'll have to skip hearing some of my favourite writers, but it's the only way to avoid me. Also to avoid the usual stuff I bring, like books and toffees. Speaking of books, there will be a very limited number of advance copies of Langue[dot]doc 1305 at the Ticonderoga stall in the dealer's room, and I don't even have to be bribed to sign them! I do have to be bribed if you want me to sign them legibly. I have to be bribed enormously if you want me to sing you a Medieval song* while I sign. None of this qualifies as Gillian-avoidance, however.
As for the rest of it, this is me, I am here:
Thursday, August 14 7pm
YA Books Set in London Capital Suite 8 (ExCeL)
Tom Pollock, Edward James, Ian McDonald, Gillian Polack, Liesel Schwarz
Dark alleys, cocky cockneys, a stewpot of cultures from every corner of the globe and layer upon layer of history... London is the perfect setting for adventures of every sort. What are the best YA books that London has inspired? Have any of them added to the city's mystique? What can the viewpoint of a YA protagonist bring to the reader's perception of this magnificent city that an adult viewpoint couldn't?
Friday, August 15 11am
Feeding the Imagination: Food in SF/F Capital Suite 3 (ExCeL)
Shana Worthen, Aliette de Bodard, Gillian Polack, Jo Walton, Fran Wilde
The food in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series is described in such detail that cookbooks have been published in response. What other genre works have focused heavily on food to develop the world and characters? What does food say about an invented society? Are stories that lack an exploration of the diet of their characters lacking something?
Friday, August 15 1:30pm
Fantasy and Medievalism Capital Suite 7+12 (ExCeL), 1:30pm - 3pm
Kathryn (Kate) Laity, Robin Hobb, Marieke Nijkamp, Lynda Rucker, Gillian Polack
High fantasy is almost invariably set in invented worlds inspired by medieval Europe. Can we put this down to the legacy of Tolkien and to genre works being in close conversation with each other? Or is there something about the place that medieval Europe occupies in our imagination that makes it a perfect companion for tales of epic striving and larger-than-life Good versus Evil? Either way, does this help or hinder the genre?
Saturday, August 16 12pm
Representing Indigenous Cultures in Speculative Fiction Capital Suite 6 (ExCeL), 12pm - 1:30pm
Ronald Meyers, Christopher Kastensmidt, Maureen Kincaid Speller, Gillian Polack
Three academics each give a presentation followed by a jointly held 30 minute discussion and Q&A with the audience.
Christopher Kastensmidt, "Simone Saueressig and the Indigenous Epic"
Maureen Kincaid Speller, "The Silence of the Indian: Representations of Indigenous North Americans in Science Fiction and Fantasy"
Gillian Polack, "Old cultures, new fictions: introducing three Indigenous Australian writers of speculative fiction"
Saturday, August 16 8pm
Free Trips To Foreign Parts Capital Suite 2 (ExCeL)
Curt Phillips, Gillian Polack, Rob Hansen, James Shields, Kylie Ding
The Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund was the first of the fan funds and was created in 1953 for the purpose of providing funds to bring well-known and popular [science fiction] fans familiar to those on both sides of the ocean across the Atlantic. How can you get fans to pay for you to jet off to exotic foreign locations? Come along to meet our knowledgeable panelists to find out how to compete for and win a fan fund.
Saturday, August 16 10pm
Fan Funds Casino Fan Activity Tent (ExCeL), 10pm - 2am
Jim Mowatt, Justin Ackroyd, Kylie Ding, Janice Gelb, Jerry A. Kaufman, Patrick McMurray, G. Patrick Molloy, Carrie Mowatt, Maree Pavletich, Mihaela Marija Perkovic, Curt Phillips, Alan Stewart, Gillian Polack
There'll be spinning roulette wheels, Blackjack and gambling galore in the Fan Funds Casino. It'll all be just for fun but there will be plenty of opportunities for you to contribute to the various fan funds who raise money to send fans on cultural exchange trips to far flung corners of the world. The croupiers are nearly all fan fund winners and this gathering is almost certainly the largest collection of fan fund winners ever gathered in one place. Come join in our own Vegas style fun and be there at this historic occasion.
Sunday, August 17 12pm
Fan Funds Auction Capital Suite 9 (ExCeL), 12pm - 1:30pm
Jim Mowatt, Justin Ackroyd, Carrie Mowatt, Curt Phillips, Gillian Polack
Fans from around the world have sent in all manner of delightful items for your bidding pleasure. There'll be rare books. There'll be weird and wonderful action figures. There will almost certainly be Tim Tams. Come bid on these items and marvel at our wild cavorting auctioneers who strut and fret their hour upon the stage. Come buy these marvellous goodies and in so doing support some of the fan funds such as TAFF that raises money for the cultural transfer between Europe and North America and GUFF which raises money for the exchange between Australia and Europe.
Monday, August 18 11am
How To Read Safely in a Science Fictional Universe: Coping With Time Travel Narratives
Capital Suite 4 (ExCeL)
Geoffrey Landis, Joe Haldeman, Gillian Polack, Suzanne Palmer, Ian Watson
In their introduction to The Time Traveller's Almanac, Ann and Jeff VanderMeer note that "time travel stories are devious narratives." Part of this deviousness lies in their variety: they can be mazes or messages, experiments or adventures. What are the challenges for the writer in composing such deviousness – and for the reader in unravelling it? What are the literary effects of building a story around (semi)-credible science versus entirely invented fantasy?
ETA (for I didn't have any footnotes!!) *The song you are most likely to be forced to endure if you bribe me sufficiently is from the first Robin Hood musical. I can sing it in several dialects, if I'm drunk enough.
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