I have other updates to write, dear folks at lizargall.com, but as I spin many plates, here is my Worldcon schedule!
Worldcon August 13-17, Building Yesterday’s Future–For Everyone, is a traveling science fiction convention that has been held all around the world. This year it is being hosted in sunny Seattle! I have a few appearances and am very much looking forward to just saying hello to a big chunk of people.
This convention is normally hosted in a hotel, but this year it’s being held in the convention center, which means that there’s a range of hotel options and some folks will be catching the light rail in.
Thursday
Yep, your gal has a spot on Thursday! It’ll be when some people have not yet arrived or are unpacking, so do come and say g’day!
Table Talk, 1:30pm-2:30pm, Room 427
A table talk is where there are a series of tables in a room. Each author or artist has a table and people come by and talk to that person!
If you don’t have a particular thing you’d like to talk about, I will probably show you photos of Ngombor, a nonprofit based in Uganda that combines agriculture and tech to make a lasting difference in the West Nile part of Africa. I’m a bit like a new parent in that regard, there are so many lovely photos I’m excited to share with anyone who dares ask!
But don’t worry, I can also not talk about Ngombor, happy to discuss everything from how to publish short fiction, creating a writer group, technical writing, cartooning or do portfolio critiques.
Other folks in room 427 will be F.E. Choe, Janna Silverstein, Stoney Compton, Tom Coughlin and Jeff Sturgeon
When I moderate a panel
One thing I should warn you folks about is that I host a different kind of panel, it’s a bit informed by the New Writers Festival in Australia and the Graphic Medicine Conference. At the start of each session, I’ll introduce myself and the topic a bit. Then I’ll ask the audience about specific questions or things they’d like us to explore.
Then each panelist gets a little dedicated moment where they can introduce themselves and then we do interview or presentation style deeper dive into topics that panelist cares about. We use the questions from the audience to inform some of the things we explore. Other panelists are welcome to participate in the conversation, but it’s more Graham Norton’s couch than bouncing back and forth all the time.
Once we’ve had a chance to listen to each panelist, we then open up to a question or two.
It’s a bit different to many other Science Fiction and Fantasy panels, but it’s nice to have a few different approaches. Consider my panels a refreshing sorbet to liven the palette! They are a bit different, and that’s ok.
Friday
The Indie Comics Panel: The Big 25%, 9:00am-10:00am, Room 431-432
First, let’s get one thing straight, times have changed man! The Big Two Comic Book Publishers have a big presence, but that’s not the same as controlling the market. We’re talking perceptual market share. It’s a thing that happens, for example in 2016 Finding Dory outperformed Star Wars Rogue One and Captain America: Civil War, but it didn’t get quite the same level of journalistic attention.
The panel’s description is “The Big Two Comic Book Publishers control 75% of the market and get plenty of attention. If you’re curious about who makes up the Independent Comics market and where you fit in as a fan, this might be the panel for you!”
The world of comics is as vast as any Netflix subscription (almost said video store!) and I hope we can take you on a great tour of just some of it.
I’m excited that Alison Belle Bews, Howard Tayler, Kel McDonald and Rob McMonigal will be joining me on the couch.
Depicting Diversity in Visual Art, 10:30am-11:30am, Room 334-336
“Diversity improves art. Representation matters. How can artists, particularly artists working in imaginative and fantastic imagery, improve the diversity in the people (and other beings) that they’re depicting? (Aside from incorporating ethnographic features, and not just changing skin tone.) What are the dos and don’ts?”
I’ll be your moderator for this panel and when it comes to diversity in art, the particular experiences I have to offer are:
- Social justice cartoonist who uses her comics to address stigma around serious mental illness
- Artist model, I try to bring different kinds of diversity to my poses given the over served “unmarked state” gets pretty dull. I’ve also seen who gets passed over in service of what is over served.
- Former artist talent scout for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social message comics in Australia
- OMG portfolios that had actual diversity in them (in the mid-2000s) were SO rare!
But mostly I’m excited about creating a good space for our panelists Christine Sandquist, Weyodi OldBear and Dale Ray Deforest.
I looked up their bios and I think we’re all going to have a good time.
Terrible Craft Club 4:30pm-5:30pm, room 327
Make something terrible! Choice of projects, like “participation trophy “, “ugly vase”, “box to put stuff in” or “hideous accessory “. Mostly hot glue, plastic gems, beads, and Pom poms.
Theresa Halbert will be the hominid in charge of this one. I anticipate my role will be enthusiastic helper, tidier and trying not to burn myself with a hot glue gun!
Saturday!
Autograph Session, 1:30pm-2:30pm, Garden Lounge 3F
If we have not yet hung out, this will be a great place to meet up! I’ve loved being part of every autograph session, had conversations I never would have had elsewhere… but part of that is it’s often not very busy unless you’re the guest of honor!
So folks pop by, you get to know the person sitting next to you, I might even have some free stuff to give out…
The delightful hominids who will also be signing things, or politely hoping to sign things are,
Manny Frishberg, J.R. Dawson, James Patrick Kelly, Jared Pecha?ek, Jonathan Brazee, Joseph Malik, Joshua Palmatier, Kylie Lee Baker, L.J. Melvin, Laura Anne Gilman, Lawrence Watt-Evans, and David Brin.
Draw Yourself as a Simpson’s Character. 4:30pm-5:30pm
“Join us an learn how to draw a self-portrait in the style of a character from the Simpsons animated series!”
Back when I was script writer for comics and didn’t see myself as an artist at all there was a challenge in the coolest place in Australian Indy Comics, Pulp Faction. We were all challenged to draw ourselves as Simpsons characters.
It turned out to be a fun format that gave a lot of people permission to draw as it’s mostly organizing a series of familiar elements. Since then, I’ve run it at a few workshops and it’s been a lot of fun for folks new to drawing or seasoned hands that want a bit of fun.
Leave a Reply