FantasyCon Schedule!

This weekend (September 5-7th) I shall be in York attending The British Fantasy Convention, and the organisers are inexplicably allowing me to appear on things and talk at people.

Here is my schedule:

Saturday 6th, 12:00 noon

Panel: Gentlemen Thieves, Loveable Pirates and Sexy Tricksters

Panellists: James Barclay, Joanne Harris, Kim Lakin-Smith, Frances Hardinge, Libby McGuigan

Why are untrustworthy characters and criminals among SFF’s most beloved characters? Does sympathy for the underdog shade into idealising predators?

Saturday 6th, 3.00pm

Panel: The Chosen One

Panellists: Gillian Redfearn, Tom Pollock, James Oswald, Joanne Hall, Frances Hardinge, Helen Marshall

From Neo to Barack Obama. Many works of SFF place the fate of the world on the shoulders of a single, pre-ordained hero, who often possesses some magical trait. The panellists discuss ideas and subversions of the One in SFF and beyond. Are there echoes in real world politics? Is the concept stale and regressive, or can it be redeemed by a more diverse range of Chosen Ones in pop culture?

Saturday 6th, 5.00-5.20pm

Reading – extracts from Cuckoo Song

Saturday 6th, 8.00pm

Just A Minute

FantasyCon’s resident quizmaster, Paul Cornell, hosts this classic panel gameshow.

Paul Cornell, Kate Elliott, Stephen Gallagher, Gillian Redfearn, Frances Hardinge

Hope to see some of you there!