The 63rd World Science Fiction Convention Glasgow, United Kingdom 4-8 August 2005 SPLITTING INFINITY Guests of Honour Greg Pickersgill Christopher Priest Robert Sheckley Lars-Olov Strandberg Jane Yolen Special Guests Alan Lee Professor David Southwood Splitting Infinity 2 Interaction View From The Helm Vincent Docherty with many items inspired by themes and dreams from Glasgow and Scotland: exploration, Science Fiction is often invention, politics, myth and ancient landscapes. described as evoking our Wider British influences are covered through our ‘sense of wonder’ – a term academic conference on ‘The Matter of Britain’ and coined many years ago, the contribution of many fans and professionals, some say by Hugo including two of our Guests of Honour, Greg Gernsback of Hugo Pickersgill and Chris Priest. We are also the 2005 Awards fame. Trying to Eurocon, and are delighted to have the first Nordic evoke that sense of wonder Guest of Honour at a Worldcon, Lars-Olov through an SF convention is Strandberg. We are, finally, the Worldcon, and the an ambitious goal, but one that we are attempting. world is represented in full, with people from By applying a bit of imagination and through the dozens of countries, including Japan, which hosts use of a unifying theme – Spaceport Glasgow – we its first Worldcon in two years’ time, and the USA, hope we will induce an additional ‘wow factor’. home for our remaining Guests of Honour, Robert To increase the impact, the theme – inspired by Sheckley and Jane Yolen. Adding to the Glasgow’s shipbuilding past and the city’s international flavour, both Robert and Jane spend renewal, especially of the riverside areas – has much of their time outside their homeland – in always been intended as a surprise to the Jane’s case, her summers in Scotland. thousands of fans arriving at Interaction. This is Writing this introduction is also one of the few why it has not been discussed very openly so far. perks that (co-)chairing a Worldcon offers. By a In fact it was ‘Project X’ for much of the organizing quirk of timing, I missed contributing to the period of the con – the full story known only to a ‘Alternate Worldcons’ books edited by Mike few of us. Resnick back in the mid-nineties, so here is my Of course the best secrets are – like Poe’s ‘The chance! In my parallel universe, the first Worldcon Purloined letter’ – hidden in plain sight. Jim wasn’t actually held in 1939 in New York in Burns’s superb series of Progress Report covers conjunction with the New York World’s Fair, but a follow a journey up the Clyde to Glasgow and year earlier in Glasgow, in conjunction with the through time to the creation of the Spaceport, near 1938 Empire Exhibition which was famous for its the futuristic buildings of the SECC and Glasgow Art Deco architecture (of which sadly, only a little Science Centre. The journey concludes with survives). Since the name ‘Worldcon’ was partly another wonderful Jim Burns cover on this inspired by the World’s Fair, this suggests that we Souvenir Book – the Spaceport in all its glory, and might have run an ‘Empirecon’ first. We would the arriving ship – the WSFS Armadillo – on which have reverted to ‘Worldcon’ in 1939 and thereafter you will all be departing soon. (in the now traditional fashion of time-travel ‘reset’ buttons), since the Empire effectively came to an We hope this dream of a future Glasgow will add end (becoming the Commonwealth) before the first to your enjoyment of the convention and that you (next) UK Worldcon in London in 1957. will join with us in creating and using all the facilities that Spaceport Glasgow has to offer. Taking this line of thought further, perhaps Watch out for unscheduled events as well! fannish historians would still debate whether the 1938 Glasgow Empirecon was really a ‘canon’ Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the ‘Glasgow Worldcon, (like the argument over whether the Style’ have provided further inspiration. Scottish first ‘real’ SF con was in 1936 or 1937). Maybe the heritage, Art Nouveau, the Arts & Crafts later UK Worldcons would have considered Movement, and Japanese forms and design calling themselves Empirecons, or more likely, the influenced this style. Arts and Crafts were all more politically correct, Commonwealthcons. about combining great design with quality There could be a story in there for me to write, but handcrafting, which is also, I suppose, a it will have to wait for ‘Last Alternate Worldcons’ reasonable definition of much of our fannish – that’s a hint, Mike. activity, including running conventions. This is my second Worldcon Souvenir Book Interaction’s programme covers the diversity of SF, introduction as co-chair, and probably the last, 3 Splitting Infinity since only three people have ever (co)-chaired a course, the UK Worldcons have fallen just once in Worldcon twice and no one (yet) three times; a each decade since the 1950s. We hope you have record I have no wish to aspire to. Or perhaps the enjoyed looking back at some of these previous Ian Fleming quote would be better: “Once is events in our Progress Reports, and that you will Happenstance. Twice is Coincidence. The third enjoy the related exhibits in our Departure time it’s Enemy action”. Still, I hope the two Lounge. Glasgow Worldcons have been as memorable and fun for you as they have been for me. That’s what’s Lastly there is the journey of science fiction. most important. Perhaps every year feels unique when you are living it, but I am particularly delighted that Enjoy Interaction, enjoy Spaceport Glasgow and Interaction happens at a point when past and I’ll see you in the WSFS Armadillo when she present are both in our minds. 2005 contains an launches at the end of the Convention. unusual number of anniversaries: 50 years for the Lord of the Rings, 40 for Thunderbirds, 100 since the death of Jules Verne, 100 since Einstein’s ‘great Colin Harris year’ and relativity. The cinemas and the television schedules also seem full of the past, Welcome to Glasgow, to albeit wearing new (and usually CGI) clothes – the 63rd Worldcon – Batman, King Kong, War of the Worlds, Dr Who, Interaction – and to our Captain Scarlet, Star Wars and more. Yet at the Souvenir Book. Within same time, science fiction in the UK is perhaps at these covers you will find its healthiest and most creative for 30 years, as the usual eclectic mix of evidenced by the first ever all-UK Best Novel material, from the Hugo shortlist. mundane (and, much as I hate to upset the WSFS So here we are then, as all these journeys, the Nit-picking and Fly-specking Committee, the work, the energy and the ideas come together for WSFS Constitution does fit in that category) to the five days in Glasgow in August 2005. And the first sublime. And in between, a range of articles that thing to do is to thank all those who have made, hopefully say something about science fiction and and will make, this event real: the staff (from the fandom in the year 2005. gophers to my co-chair); dealers, artists, programme participants, our Guests of Honour As Vincent explains in his own introduction, we and Special Guests, the City of Glasgow, Tolkien have adopted ‘Spaceport Glasgow’ as a unifying 2005 and all of our sponsors. Most of all, we thank vision for the convention. However, as with all all of our volunteers for giving up their time and destinations, it is the journey that makes the trip effort – and we ask you to thank them in person worthwhile. I would therefore like to take a few too when you see their ribbons – or better still, moments to reflect on the journey through space volunteer yourself! and time that has brought us to here and to now. And so in a few days we will all move on again, Firstly, we have the journey of the convention and what seemed like the end of many journeys from the inception of the bid to the vote at will turn out to be only the beginning of many ConJosé, and then on to Glasgow and 4 August, more. Journeys to Los Angeles and Yokohama, 2005. Inevitably, in such a large and long new friendships and new experiences – and maybe undertaking, we have had highs and lows, none one day, the real Spaceport Glasgow (although more so than the sadness of losing some friends given the history of the British space programme, along the way. And we especially remember KIM we may be waiting a bit longer for that one …). Campbell, who co-founded the bid and brought so much sheer life to everything she did, and also to Chairing a Worldcon is a unique privilege (well for Johannes Berg, our Norwegian agent. Our most of us at least - only a few of us fail to learn selection of MacMillan Cancer Relief as our official our lesson the first time!). I’ve always found charity honours them both. myself especially conscious that whilst I will work on other conventions, and maybe on other Secondly we have the journey of Worldcons – and Worldcons, I will never do this job again. So for me of course of Eurocons. The European Worldcons personally, it is very much a case of ‘no second seem to mark out the passing of the years in chances and no regrets’. I want to be able to look Worldcons with their odd patterns and back in six months, or 20 years, and know that I synchronicities: two in London then one in did everything possible to make this the best Germany; two in Brighton then one in the Hague; convention I could, and the staff feel the same two in Glasgow then one in ….