GIFCon is nearly over and done with for another year, so time for a wee update on upcoming things:
Firstly, Oliver Langmead and I will be giving a version of our workshop, ‘Discover New Worlds Through Creative Writing’ on 13th June at the Glasgow Science Festival. If you missed our Edinburgh International Science Festival and GIFCon events, this will be your last chance to catch our workshops for a wee while. So, get yourself registered for free tickets at the link below, and we’ll see you there! We kick off at 5:30pm on 13th June at 5 University Gardens, University of Glasgow.
Before that, I’ll be appearing at the Satellite 6 convention in Glasgow at the end of May. Until the programme is officially announced (and I’ll post more then), here’s where you can register for this year’s event.
https://six.satellitex.org.uk/
As for 2019, I’ve been invited onto the Programming Committee for next year’s Eastercon, Ytterbium. With the delightful Frances Hardinge, John Scalzi, Sydney Padua, and DC as guests of honour, I’m really looking forward to working with Farah Mendlesohn and the team on next year’s event!
Finally, some fiction news. Towards the end of last year, I put in an application to do a creative doctorate, and I’m happy to say the department accepted me. So, this coming Autumn, I’ll be starting on the DFA in Creative Writing programme at the University of Glasgow. I’ll be working with Zoe Strachan, Dr Rob Maslen, and Dr Matt Barr on a long-form project about patriarchal theory, video-gaming, and Hamlet. I’ll be hoping to keep my hand in Fantastic academia and aiming to get a couple of papers published during the course. For now, I’m really looking forward to getting stuck into a larger fiction project and tackling some ideas that have been on my mind since my time as a raider a decade ago.
In the meantime, this Summer will be devoted to finishing my dissertation for the MLitt in Fantasy in Glasgow, moving house, and maybe finishing the odd short story. Best get back to that, then…!
…
Well, okay, before I go, here’s a few of my highlights from GIFCon, as captured on camera and reported by twitter (with huge thanks to Gabe Cohen, Taylor Driggers, Marita Arvaniti, Emma McMullan, and the wonderful Tex Thompson):
https://twitter.com/emma_inklings/status/989767679966830597
https://twitter.com/FemaleGabe/status/989781325128306688
https://twitter.com/FemaleGabe/status/989782794258845696
We eagerly await @UofGFantasy's next political fantasy! #GifCon18https://t.co/bvbxazrIRc
— GIFCon 2024 (@GIFConGLA) April 27, 2018
https://twitter.com/TaylorWDriggers/status/989803353029926912
@RuthEJBooth sets us off by asking whether someone WILL PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN #GIFCon18
— Marita Arvaniti (@excaliburedpan) April 27, 2018
https://twitter.com/TaylorWDriggers/status/989803974646816768
https://twitter.com/TaylorWDriggers/status/989804351148392448
@RuthEJBooth explaining the meaning of Kamikakushi #GIFCon18 pic.twitter.com/MhTy0SDQRj
— Marita Arvaniti (@excaliburedpan) April 27, 2018
https://twitter.com/TaylorWDriggers/status/989804839071870976
https://twitter.com/TaylorWDriggers/status/989805370641211392
https://twitter.com/FemaleGabe/status/989805760040366080
BABY BOH! #GIFCon18 pic.twitter.com/Ld6pOn8ED6
— Marita Arvaniti (@excaliburedpan) April 27, 2018
https://twitter.com/TaylorWDriggers/status/989806121308377088
In all fairness @RuthEJBooth if my name was Nigihayami Kohakunushi I would have forgotten it as well #GIFCon18 pic.twitter.com/mr5kkCtLVM
— Marita Arvaniti (@excaliburedpan) April 27, 2018
https://twitter.com/TaylorWDriggers/status/989806471226580993
https://twitter.com/TaylorWDriggers/status/989806829193572354
https://twitter.com/FemaleGabe/status/989806978116603904
https://twitter.com/TaylorWDriggers/status/989807432183484416
https://twitter.com/TaylorWDriggers/status/989807894307713024
https://twitter.com/FemaleGabe/status/989807910749384704
#GIFCon18 time to question our amazing panelists pic.twitter.com/6bveOz3Fs0
— Marita Arvaniti (@excaliburedpan) April 27, 2018
Do we have a moral imperative to tell hopeful stories instead of dystopian narratives? Asking the big questions #GIFCon18
— Marita Arvaniti (@excaliburedpan) April 27, 2018
https://twitter.com/FemaleGabe/status/989809702652477440
https://twitter.com/TaylorWDriggers/status/989810166693588993
Self call-out: totally just asked a Serious Academic Question about Chihiro's dragon boyfriend #GIFCon18
— Marita Arvaniti (@excaliburedpan) April 27, 2018
https://twitter.com/TaylorWDriggers/status/989819828469993472
@RuthEJBooth gets the deputy sheriff badge! ⭐️ well deserved. #GIFCon18
— Dr Lindsay Middleton is Well Fed&Well Read (@lindsmiddleton) April 27, 2018
The generous Arianne "Tex" Thompson (@tex_maam) kicks off her talk on the relationship between Westerns and Fantasy with the highest honour your social media bod has ever had! Thank you, Tex! #GIFCon18 pic.twitter.com/oJioKpUDwl
— GIFCon 2024 (@GIFConGLA) April 27, 2018
My pleasure, ma'am – you are the can-do hero this town needs, and the only shotgun socializer standing between us and perdition! (And you just make me sound so GOOD, too!)
— Tex Thompson (@tex_maam) April 28, 2018
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