Readercon 14 Progress Report 2 July 12–14, 2002 Boston Marriott Burlington Burlington, Massachusetts 781-229-6565 Hotel rooms: $97 plus tax reserve by June 20 Guests of Honor Octavia E. Butler Gwyneth Jones Memorial Guest of Honor John Brunner Memberships: $35 until end of June, $45 at the door Greetings from the Readercon Committee we have the delightful problem of selecting from too many This is a great year to attend Readercon. fine candidates. Gwyneth Jones stands out, even among these marvelous writers, for her unique approach to Not only do we have awesome Guests of Honor, but we are intelligent, literary, feminist fiction. Her books are densely also thrilled to be hosting the Tiptree Award ceremony written, with a great deal happening on each page, shown again. There’s going to be a lot of great stuff going on as from alien viewpoints; with those of the visitors from space usual, and you sure as heck don’t want to miss it. not necessarily being the most alien. For example, in White Queen, one of the first Tiptree winners, Jones proceeds with Please be sure to make your hotel reservation soon: June a great deal of indirection; her aliens, visiting Earth, show 20th is the last day on which the hotel guarantees the up early as "explorers" on the fringes of a human scene, convention rate. and it only slowly becomes clear that they are not just odd — Amy West and Karl Wurst humans; after all, they're shopping for clean underwear. Throughout the book, humans and aliens consistently Our Guests of Honor misunderstand each other's motivations, projecting their own expectations onto foreign beings. Particularly, this is At Readercon we have a tradition of honoring authors who true for gender roles; hence the Tiptree. The follow their own unique visions. Octavia Butler is, of misunderstandings never clear up for the characters—and course, one of those writers. Octavia Butler takes many of the reader has the enthralling challenge of working to our traditional science-fiction ideas and themes and turns understand, in their stead, while puzzling out an exciting them not just on their heads but inside out. “Bloodchild”’s and complex story. It's a very Readercon sort of pleasure; placement of the alien not outside of us but within us was please share it with us this July. such a striking turnabout that it has stayed with me since I — Michael Matthew read it in high school. Octavia Butler’s skill and talent in writing transformed me for that day from an adolescent girl Memorial Guest of Honor John Kilian Houston Brunner with a mundane life into an adolescent human boy with an (1934-1995) published his first novel, Galactic Storm alien parasite within me. An experience I wouldn't relive (1951), at age 17. He is particularly remembered for Stand until I became a mother. And then there's Kindred, and the on Zanzibar (1968), which won the Hugo Award for Best Xenogenesis novels. Novel in 1969, The Jagged Orbit (1969), The Sheep Look Up (1972), and The Shockwave Rider (1975). They each Octavia Butler is a great American writer who can write a extrapolate a particular dystopian theme: Zanzibar beautiful story that challenges you and shakes your addresses overpopulation, Jagged Orbit deals with racism, perceptions to the ground. She has won Hugos, Nebulas, Sheep considers pollution, and Shockwave Rider anticipates and is a MacArthur fellow. Readercon is honored with her computer viruses and related information technology issues company this year. Come join us as we honor her this year. and has been called the first cyberpunk novel. — Amy West When the Readercon committee chooses a Guest of Honor, In addition to writing books, short stories, essays, and poetry, he edited The Science Fiction Stories of Rudyard The program consists of two main tracks of panels, a couple Kipling (1992). He was also a noted critic of pseudo- of mini-tracks, readings, kaffeeklatsches, and interviews science, such as the writings of Erich von Daniken and L. with the Guests of Honor. We plan to start programming Ron Hubbard. And he was active in the Campaign for around 4pm on Friday, and end at midnight. Our annual Nuclear Disarmament in his native England. Meet the Pros(e) party will start around 9pm. He suffered a stroke at the 53rd World Science Fiction On Saturday, we’ll start around 10am and run two main Convention in Glasgow, Scotland, on August 24, 1995, and tracks, two discussion tracks, and two tracks of readings died the next day. A special memorial edition of the until mid-afternoon. Then we will hold our Guest of Honor convention newsletter included a tribute from Gwyneth interviews, and have a break for dinner. We’ll pick things Jones. up in the evening with the Dessert buffet, Tiptree Awards Ceremony, and finish Saturday with the Kirk Poland Brunner's work has been underrated, and we hope to begin Memorial Bad Prose Competition. to rectify this at Readercon this year. Please join us. — Ellen Brody Sunday will start at around 10am, and have two tracks of programming, two tracks of discussions, and two tracks of Tentative Schedule readings until we shut things down at 3pm. Come to the Friday Saturday Sunday gripe session at 4pm and let us know what you thought of Registration 2pm–9pm 9am–6pm 9am–1pm Readercon! Program 3pm–mid 10am–mid 10am-4pm Tiptree Bake Sale Bookshop 4pm–7pm 10am–6pm 10am–2pm Con Suite 3pm–9pm 9am–mid 9am–2pm To go along with our hosting of the Tiptree Memorial Awards, there will also be a Tiptree Bake Sale. Much of the Special Events money funding the Tiptree award is raised at bake sales at conventions around the country, and for the past few years Special events at the convention include the Meet the we have had one of the most productive. Come prepared Pros(e) Party on Friday night (where you can create with baked goods and/or healthy appetites! This year look recombinant literature), and the Tiptree Dessert Buffet and for the bake sale in the Bookshop. Awards Ceremony followed by the latest edition of the Kirk Poland Memorial Bad Prose Competition on Saturday Writers’ Workshop night. David Alexander Smith will once again lead a writers’ Tiptree Awards and Dessert Buffet workshop for amateurs and new pros on Sunday morning. To enroll, submit up to 7,500 words of fiction (a self- Save room after dinner, for the sweetness of a dessert buffet contained short story, chapters from a novel, or an outline) and Tiptree Awards Ceremony! We are honored to be by June 28 directly to David at: 112 Avon Hill St., hosting the Tiptree awards again this year. We start our Cambridge, MA 02140 (USA). For more information, call Saturday evening programming with a dessert buffet, David at 617-338-9484 x215, e-mail him at followed by the James Tiptree Jr. Memorial Award <[email protected]>, or write to him at the above Ceremony. Then we’ll clear the dishes and start the Kirk address. Poland Memorial Bad Prose Competition. Bookshop About the Program The Bookshop is our dealers’ room. Expect a varied The heart of Readercon is the program. Check our Web selection of new and used books and magazines from small site, http://www.readercon.org/ for descriptions of program and large publishers. We’ll also have a Readercon Café set items, which will include more titles in our popular “How I up in the Bookshop for the Tiptree Bake Sale. Wrote…” series! The current working list of panel descriptions is included later in this P.R., but note that a Policies few of them will end up on the cutting-room floor. There will also be a diverse set of discussions and “Chautauquas” · No smoking in programming areas or the Bookshop. on interesting topics, and of course a full track of author · Only service animals in convention areas. readings. · No weapons in convention areas. · Young children who are always with an adult are The Readercon Book Club this year will look at the latest admitted free; young adults attending programming on volumes in Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea series, Tales their own need a membership. From Earthsea and The Other Wind. Children at Readercon was in error, and June 20 is the cutoff date! Welcome to returning and first time ReaderKids! We will be offering our children’s program again this year! Thank How to Get There you for all your suggestions and feedback. The Burlington Marriott is northwest of Boston, at the intersection of Route 3A and Burlington Mall Road, right ReaderKids will offer boring-panel-free, supervised off of I-95/128 at exit 33B (Route 3A North). With over 15 playtime for kids ages 4 to 10 during which their parents restaurants of all kinds and the Burlington Mall within a can enjoy their panels. The children will entertain mile, you don’t need a car in order to get decent food or themselves with various activities including games, meet random personal needs. The Marriott has plenty of construction toys, drawing and coloring, making crafts, and free parking. socializing. By Car, from the South or West: The program will run two sessions on Saturday only. Each Take the Massachusetts Turnpike (I-90) east towards session will last about two hours, one from 9:45am until Boston. Take exit 14 and follow the signs for I-95/128 12:00n, the other from 1:45pm until 4:00pm. (Yes, we North. Continue with the “Northbound on I-95/128” know you would like more coverage, but we were unable to directions below.