The 2024 Worldcon in Glasgow: My Schedule

The 2024 Worldcon in Glasgow, Scotland is now only a week away, and today the convention programme has been published. It is, unsurprisingly, chock full of fascinating stuff that has already got me gritting my teeth and wishing I could be in two or three places at once. The excellence of the programme is also the reason I found myself unable to say no to any of the events I was offered, which is why my Glasgow programme is the busiest I've ever had.

First up, my book Track Changes: Selected Reviews will go on sale on August 8th (eagle-eyed blog visitors may have noticed the dedicated book page on the blog title bar). We will be having a launch event for the book at Worldcon on Friday the 9th. If you're around, I'd love to see you there.

Friday, August 9th, 11:30        Book Launch: Track Changes by Abigail Nussbaum
Argyll 3, In Person

Abigail Nussbaum is a Hugo Award-winning critic and author of the blog Asking the Wrong Questions -- and now, author of the collection Track Changes: Selected Reviews! Join Abigail and Niall Harrison for a discussion about sf criticism, the state of the field, and the intersections between the fantastic genres, politics, and culture, followed by the opportunity to buy Track Changes.

And the rest of my programme:

Thursday, August 8th, 17:30        Fight the Power: Systems as Villains in SFF
Abigail Nussbaum (m), Aliette de Bodard, Charles Stross, John Scalzi, SJ Groenewegen
Lomond Auditorium, In Person + Online, Recorded

Sometimes the system (or society) is the bad guy. This panel will look at stories that engage with problematic systems and how they cause evil, as well as what heroes can do to fight them.

Friday, August 9th, 13:00        Hugo Shortlist Discussion: Best Novel, Series and Graphic Story
Duncan Lawie (m), Abigail Nussbaum, Adri Joy, Ed Fortune, Ruth O'Reilly
Gala, In Person

Our group of critics and reviewers will talk about our Hugo nominees for Best Novel, Series and Graphic Story before the winners are announced, what they say about the state of the genre, and discuss the spread!

Friday, August 9th, 17:30        The Sinister Underbelly of Iain M. Banks' The Culture
M V Melcer (m), Abigail Nussbaum, David Haddock, Simone Caroti, Tom Toner
Castle 1, In Person

Most of Iain Banks's science fiction novels were set in the universe of The Culture, an advanced society of humans (or humanoids), drones, and unfathomably advanced machine intelligences. The Culture is usually presented as a utopia, with its inhabitants living lives untroubled by want in a society without property, government, or money. But is there a dark side to The Culture, with its tendency to interfere violently in the affairs of societies outside it? And have The Culture's humans given themselves over to decadence, abandoning their independence as they leave all decision-making to their machines?

Friday, August 9th, 19:00        The Spectrum of Climate Fiction
Su J Sokol (m), Abigail Nussbaum, Jasmine Kirkbride, Niall Harrison, Tara Campbell
Dochart 2, In Person

As the undeniable effects of climate change become more and more a part of our daily lives, so too are they becoming more present in our speculative fiction. Join SFF authors for a discussion on the various approaches to imagining and navigating future worlds with hotter temperatures, water scarcity, rising sea levels, crop failures, and the movement of climate refugees. How do you balance research and narrative, science and opinion, horror and hope?

Sunday, August 11th, 11:30        The Legacy of the Discworld
Abigail Nussbaum, Adrian Emery, Anna Stephens, C K McDonnell, Rick Danforth
Argyll 2, In Person

Since Great A'tuin first swam into the cosmos in 1983, the Discworld has dominated the fantasy genre. Terry Pratchett has legions of fans and has converted readers to fantasy with satirisations of the genre's excesses, as well as Shakespeare, economics, the very idea of story, and much more. Our group of Discworld fans will talk all things flat, including adaptations, Roundworld meet-ups, and the ongoing influences of Pratchett's titanic literary achievement.

Sunday, August 11th, 14:30        30 Years of MYST
Sarah Gulde (m), Abigail Nussbaum, Benjamin Liar, Casey Lucas, Sam Wilson
Alsh 1, In Person + Online, Recorded

It's been 31 years! MYST debuted in 1993 and led to a series of games, books, soundtracks, and more! This panel will discuss the history of our favorite puzzle game and look at new developments in the works.

For those of you who won't be attending Worldcon, some of the convention's events will be livestreamed. An online membership can be purchased at the convention website, and confers access to the con discord, and to every event marked as "Online" on the programme. Events marked as "Recorded" will also be available for members to rewatch for several months after the convention concludes. Unfortunately, most of my events are not in rooms with streaming capabilities, but if you are interested, I'm sure a glance at the programme will reveal many other items of interest.

Comments

Pharisae said…
Wish, I could be there. Been reading your Blog and many of your Publications for quite some Time now and ngl, I'm obsessed. Lovin' it.
August 05, 2024 3:31 AM

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