SFContario Panel: Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy

Notes behind the cut. People are attributed by initials; aud -> indicates an audience comment or question. As always, transcribed fast and edited only vaguely, misattributions and errors are my own. Assume everything outside of quote marks is a paraphrase. (?) indicates something that I missed.

Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy
Panelists: Peter Halasz, Robert J. Sawyer, Alison Baird (mod)
[Jo Walton and John Robert Colombo were scheduled but didn't make it. It was supper time.]

Description: The only Canadian writers read by significant numbers of people are published in the US, so is there any such thing as Canadian SFF? The British "New Wave" changed American SF forever, but is Canadian SF sufficiently distinctive and coherent to have a comparable impact? Why does the Canadian government give grants to writers nobody wants to read, while genre fiction writers starve to death?

( Read more... )

SFCOntario Panel: What Do You Mean My Stake Won't Work?

Notes behind the cut. People are attributed by initials; aud -> indicates an audience comment or question. As always, transcribed fast and edited only vaguely, misattributions and errors are my own. Assume everything outside of quote marks is a paraphrase. (?) indicates something that I missed.

What Do You Mean My Stake Won't Work?
Panelists: Stephanie Bedwell-Grime, Douglas Smith, Stephen B. Pearl, Karen Dales (mod)

Description: Drive a stake into the vampire's heart and it is dead right? In traditional vampire lore that stake better be made of Oak, Ash of Thorn wood, or you just made it mad! How incorporating facts from actual mythology can add conflict and challenge to paranormal fiction.

( Read more... )

SFContario Panel: Writing the Future

Notes behind the cut. People are attributed by initials; aud -> indicates an audience comment or question. As always, transcribed fast and edited only vaguely, misattributions and errors are my own. Assume everything outside of quote marks is a paraphrase. (?) indicates something that I missed.

Writing the Future
Panelists: Hayden Trenholm (mod), Robert Charles Wilson, Dr Alex Pantaleev, Ira Nayman, Madeline Ashby

Description: A lot of people seem to think the future will be like the past but with better gadgets. How do you create a credible near future (up to 50 years from now)? What things are likely to change and what will stay the same? Technological and scientific changes are important but they aren't the whole story. How do you incorporate probable or possible changes in the environment, economy and politics, culture and social mores, into a believable future?

( Read more... )

SFContario Panel: Disability in SF/F

Notes behind the cut. People are attributed by initials; aud -> indicates an audience comment or question. As always, transcribed fast and edited only vaguely, misattributions and errors are my own. Assume everything outside of quote marks is a paraphrase. (?) indicates something that I missed.

Disability in Science Fiction and Fantasy
Panelists: Teresa Nielsen Hayden, Jane Carol Petrovich, Mark Offer, Fiona Patton, Suzanne Church

Description: Disability is a theme treated fairly often in SF/F but not always with complete objectivity and accuracy. How are disabled characters portrayed in SF and Fantasy literature? What are the common misinterpretations and stereotypes of disabled life in Speculative Fiction and how can writers work to avoid these errors? What does Speculative Fiction say about the way disabilities will be treated or managed in the future? Finally, are there unrecognized or hidden disabilities that deserve more attention in Speculative Fiction literature?

( Read more... )

Almost caught up

So it's two days before Ad Astra, and I finally posted the last of my panel notes from SFContario. They're not as well formatted as other panel notes, but I'll fix that later.

The only outstanding one is my notes on Karl Schroeder's solo talk, but those were mostly scrawled for my own use anyway.

Onwards!