Sadly, I won’t be able to make it in person to Worldcon this year. I have an important family event the next weekend and decided to try to avoid big social gatherings beforehand. I’m sad that I won’t be able to see friends and meet new people in person, but I am hoping to make it to World Fantasy Con in November.
However, I will be doing some online programming, including a virtual table talk, and would love to see people virtually. Here’s my schedule:
Virtual Table Talk – Friday, September 2 at 4:00pm CDT
Where: Airmeet Table Talk
Who: A. T. Greenblatt
Blending, Blurring, Evaporating Genres – Saturday, September 3 at 10:00am CDT
Where: Airmeet 4
Who: A. T. Greenblatt, Cassandra Rose Clarke (moderator), Julia Meitov Hersey, L. Marie Wood, Sherwood Smith
Description: Dragons in space? Magic robots? Speculative fiction has always refused to be confined between strict boundaries, and genre mashups and crossovers are now a common feature. How have our expectations for each genre changed over the years? How will they continue to change when “shelf space on a bookstore” is no longer a main concern?
One Hero to Save Them All – Saturday, September 3 at 2:30pm CDT
Where: Airmeet 3
Who: A. T. Greenblatt, Auston Habershaw, C.L. ClarkColin Alexander, John Appel (moderator), PJ Manney
Description: Many stories set in dystopias or featuring a revolution focus the narrative on a single, solitary hero. But is this realistic? Is it fair, either to the hero who must do all the work or to the secondary characters? Is it fair to readers, looking to effect changes in their own societies, to read about competent characters who can do it all? Come join the panelists as they explore and question examples of solitary heroes.
Hope to see you virtually this weekend!