May 27-30, 2005: WisCon 29
April 28-May 1, 2005 — Nebula Awards Ceremony and Banquet
April 8-10, 2005 — OdysseyCon V
February 10-13 2005: Capricon 25
Odyssey Con IV April 2-4 2004 at the Radisson Inn, Madison, Wisconsin.
Any excuse to go to Madison. I'm not firmly committed to attending yet, but most likely I'll be there. It's a neatly-run general interest sf convention with a slant toward written sf and I've tried to support it since it got started.
April 16—18, 2004, I'll be at the Nebula Awards Weekend at the Westin Seattle.
There will be a book launch party for the Nebula Awards Showcase 2004 which I'm planning to attend, and of course I'll be at the banquet. I've never been to Seattle before, so I'm looking forward to seeing that beautiful city as much as meeting old friends and acquaintances (and, I hope, making some new ones).
Wiscon 28 May 28-31 2004 at the Concourse Hotel in Madison, Wisconsin.
I've been asked to do a poetry workshop this year. I've been attending Wiscon since the early '90s and in recent years I've been on panels, done readings, and conducted a critique-session fiction workshop. Wiscon is "The world's only feminist science fiction convention," and is always a great mix of the serious, not-so serious and outright whimsical. They hold an entertaining auction that helps fund the Tiptree Awards (and this year the Tiptree Awards ceremony will actually be held at Wiscon!). Wiscon is becoming more and more like a family reunion for me every year, and Madison is one of my "fave rave" cities (though yuppification has recently taken down two of my favorite restaurants).
SFRA Conference June 3 - 6, 2004 in Skokie, Illinois at the Doubletree Chicago/Northshore.
The theme of the conference this year is "Taking Science Fiction Seriously—But Not Solemnly." The focus is on humor in science fiction. I've been looking for an excuse to attend a SFRA conferences for ages, and at last they've brought it so close to my home that I can't find an excuse not to go. I've been invited to a first-night panel of science fiction writers, so I will definitely be at that event, and maybe a few others.
Windycon XXXI — November 12-14 2004
Oakton Community College's Alliance for Lifelong Learning:
Short Story Writing (February 2004)
Poetry Workshop (February 2004)
December 15 2003: Rich and Pam do it together again! As part of the Twilight Tales reading series, in Chicago, at the Red Lion Restaurant & Pub, 2446 N. Lincoln Avenue. It starts about 7:30. $4 cover. Food and drink available downstairs. Reading madness goes on upstairs.
Pam will be reading from a sequence of poems, "The Body at Fifty" a work (like the body) in progress. I'll be reading from . . . something. Very likely from my "revised for the final final time" version of "In Tibor's Cardboard Castle" (the third "saur" story). Author's mind subject to change without notice.
Together, we'll be reading a "Battling Bickersons" routine (we've been doing it without a script for years, we thought we'd try it live for once) and, if we're feeling really lucky, we'll attempt a reading of Robert Frost's "The Witch of Coos."
Come one, come all!
November 2003: Pam and I are scheduled to read together for the first time in many years at the Red Lion Pub, in Chicago, Tuesday, November 25, 2003. The event starts at 7:00 p.m. with the Tallgrass Writers' Guild's regularly scheduled open mike. There's a $5 cover charge, $4 for students with ID. The Red Lion Pub is at 2446 N. Lincoln Avenue, almost just across from the Biograph Theater. The reading and open mike will take place upstairs.
Pam and I are known in some circles as the "Ma and Pa Kettle of Chicago poetry." Pam's had a long association with Tallgrass, dating from back when it was known as the Feminist Writers Guild. This will be my first reading for them (though I've read frequently at the Red Lion when Twilight Tales has the space on Monday nights). Although I have no idea what I'll be reading, it promises to be a special evening. Pam will no doubt be reading a number of poems from her new collection, Recipe for Disaster from Mayapple Press . Come one, come all!
Capricon, Saturday, January 31, 12:00 PM, Conference Room 16
I'll be at Capricon for this one panel: Saturday, January 31: 12:00 PM, Conference Room 16: Who Writes Wonder Wonderfully? Not just a panel, but a discussion of what authors people read when they need to fulfill their sensawundah. Are the old classics the best, the old forgotten stories, new authors who have built on them? What lights the fires of your imagination? Come and tell others about those that have given you a sense of wonder. Other panelists include Leah Smith, Bev Friend, and Jeffrey Liss.Along with the panel, I'll be wandering around the dealer's room, art show and attending other panels during the day. Stop and say hiya.
Windycon XXX—November 7-9 2003 at the Hyatt Regency Woodfield, in Schaumburg, Illinois.
I'm the coordinator for their Writers Workshop (and now I've been asked to judge their short story contest as well), but I hope to get away and do a few panels and possibly a reading as well.
Chambanacon 33 November 28 - 30 2003, at the Hilton Springfield, in Springfield, Illinois.
This is a relaxacon, so the programming is very light—usually a "hat panel" and some readings. The fellow who's running programming is thinking of scheduling a manuscript critique session, but I'm guessing this will be on the informal side as well. Might do a reading too, but I think most of the action will be at the banquet and the annual poker game (no, I'm not a poker player, so I'll be elsewhere). You can write to them at CHAMBANACON, PO Box 199016, Indianapolis IN 46219-9016.
