Fantasycon - 2021 Birmingham 24th to 26th September

Location – Jury’s Inn Birmingham

The question ‘what have you been up to recently?’ has been a bit difficult to ask recently. My biggest trip to meet people has been the supermarket since March 2020. But things are slowly getting better and so vaccinated, masked, and deciding that personally this was an acceptable level of risk to take I went to Birmingham for the 2021 Fantasycon. As with many of the other guests that I met on Friday there was a feeling of how exactly does this all work? Our social skills were rusty and bear in mind we are introverts are already used to staying quiet that is saying something but slowly it all started coming back to us and for me it was a rather lovely weekend I really needed.

This was my third Fantasycon and with circa two hundred guests the smallest I’d been to, but I think everyone understands the circumstances. What was lovely was meeting the friends I’d not seen for years and then the new friends I’ve made online playing the complex game of what exactly does this person look like (even harder if one of you is know for being a womble) and there are the brand-new people you bump into for the first time.

Friday was the hardest day as suddenly being surrounded by people was very much exhausting, but some quick highlights were Bringing Character were in particular Neil Williamson, Jen Williams and Phil Sloman had a great discussion on how characters were formed. Interesting that different views existed on how much description characters were given in their work but it also really good that this group of the panel understood the importance of diversity in characters. I then spent a little time decompressing and seeking food before finishing the night off with World Horror. A slightly unusual topic for a group of UK and notably white authors which the panel themselves pointed out. So, I was really pleased the panel quickly moved the debate onto the difference between the remakes and original material. The discussion of the importance of cultural references and translations led to a really interesting discussion on which works best. Special shout out to Laura Mauro for explaining the myths of Japanese Toilet demons which was fascinating!

Saturday, I had slept and after a full breakfast started the busiest day of the con. Early at 9am I attended a great look at Fairy Tales and Folk Lore where the politics, prejudices and origins of these stories were discussed with Anna Smith Spark, Teika Bellamy, Charlotte Bond and Lucy Hounsom who all had a really good debate with book recs and even a bone harp to look at. Cons are also a great opportunity to look at new releases and the Indie Presses had quite a lot to shout out about. Wizards Tower Press, Luna Publishing and Unsung Stories had really entertaining readings and sounds like more cool stuff is to come! The afternoon then gave me some really interesting discussions in the afternoon. In Researching the Novel Stewart Hotston, Adrian Tchaikovsky, and Ashley Stokes discussed how much research goes into finding out how to give a novel some depth. Really interesting the debate on how much is too much, that actually finding out how normal people lived is one of the hardest things to find and the value of experts over Google were really unusual discussions. The other highlight was Representing Race with Stewart Hotson, CC Adams and Saara El-Arifi which actually turned the spotlight on the issues the Publishing Industry is still causing and the slight signs of improvement as more authors of colour and equally important roles in publishing become less white. A really thoughtful and useful discussion which underlined we still have a lot to press for when it comes to change.

Evening entertainment involved a really touching look at the drawbacks and pluses of reviewing as Jim McLeod of the excellent Gingernuts of Horror blog talked though some of the more weirder author mistakes trying to get a review but also the joy of a helpful review helping push a book or short story. It was lovely to see someone who really loves what they do and great motivation to keep on blogging. The con allows for authors to perform readings and I saw the excellent Juliet E McKenna, Dave Wragg, RJ Barker, Stark Holborn, and Allen Stroud all provide some great readings and I am tempted…The evening finished with that newish Fantasycon tradition the D&D comedy game for writers known as Dungeons and Disorderly. This time the eighties were the setting and yet for the first time the body count was zero! SHOCK!!! The video for this is on youtube...

Sunday was an unusual day I joined the British Fantasy Society a couple of years ago as it felt something I should do but I would have to admit I’ve never been too sure what it actually does. I’d been to a couple of AGMs, and they were…interesting. This year though saw a first a contested election. There are some valid questions about what exactly is this Society for and how is it geared to promote the speculative fiction genre in the twenty first century? The pitches by the candidates that won promised a fresher take on direction, fan and author engagement, support of Indie presses and a push for more events outside the M25. I am very interested where the new team of President Juliet Mushens, Chair Shona Kinsella, Secretary Karen Fishwick and Treasurer John Dodd take this group into the next decade. One to watch but for me a welcome set of changes.

The last panel I attended was a very very funny ‘special’ episode of Writeopolis with hosts RJ Barker and Kit Power plus special guests Stark Holborn and Laura Mauro play a hard (certainly if you look at the scoring system) of guessing which classic book got which one star review. It was a perfect way to unwind. Finally, the closing ceremony was the British Fantasy Society Awards. The Juries had delivered excellent diverse shortlists representing the quality of the genre and a host of worthy winners were announced but special applause and delight for seeing the awesome Alasdair Stuart winning the Karl Edward Wagner Award for their services to this genre was an excellent choice. Alasdair is one of the key voices constantly inspiring, supporting, and highlighting the best in this field from podcasts, films to writers and they’re not afraid to also say when change and reform is needed to help the wider community flourish. They’re always a great example of what we should be doing day in and day out. It was so good to see an awards ceremony that promoted diversity, treated all awards and their nominees with respect and didn’t allow those of the past to insult the present and future of the genre. A good example that many award organisers should pay attention to. Special mention to the great Katherine Fowler who has done wonders in ensuring these juries represent all of fandom.

It was a very relaxed convention experience and I’m very glad of that because I really had to take several little breaks to just relax (and read). But I was not short of things to do and had a great time and left tired but very recharged. As the world starts to perk up and we more closely look at a world that isn’t ever going to be the same again this felt a suitable break from it all I saw awesome people, picked up both cool books and recs and actually relaxed in my own community. Thank you to HWS Events & Projects for organising what I imagine was one of the most challenging cons to get right. Roll on 2022 I’ve got my ticket already 😊