Fantasycon - 2024 Chester

Dates – 11/10-13/10

Location – The Queen At Chester Hotel

In fantasy coming back to where you started suggests the end of a journey and you’ll spot how you’ve changed and how your home has changed. Back in 2018 I attended my first ever Fantasycon at The Queen In Chester. This blog was just 18 months old, I remember being incredibly nervous (I am still quite shy around strangers) plus I’d heard Fantasycon could be sometimes a little too professional focused. That wasn’t happily true. I had a great time, a good laugh and found my online community in reality (they all sadly disappointed that I was not a real womble) and I’ve been attending Fantasycon ever since because it really does feel like being around people I click with, share a passion for the genre and they’re also some of the loveliest people on the planet. I look forward to this every year and it was interesting coming back seven years later to see the changes – not just in the location but the convention and the British Fantasy Society itself. It is in the best health it has been for years and deliver an exceptionally good con.

Friday

I had a lovely 45 minute trip from Liverpool to Chester; which is a lovely North West town full of intriguing sights. I wish all cons did this but I accept the need that they need to move around for everyone else but just saying…

First order of events was the AGM. This is where the British Fantasy Society reports back to the members on the previous year; potential changes to the rules, plans for the year to come. Traditionally this has been very early on a Sunday (and a test of stamina for that reason 2 days into a con). I am all in favour of this being a Friday event. Slightly avoids having to give up other panels for two hours and we are a little more awake. Three main takeaways – The Society is in the best health it has ever been. On the cusp of 800 members (a little over 200 when I joined), well on course for its target of 1000 by 2026, the finances are now very healthy and allowing the Society to do two things – giving the tools the society needs to operate and more importantly support events for Members. This last year has seen sponsorships, a new vibrant Discord community, a writer’s retreat, various online events, publishing events and this year also ran the con. They also have great plans for 2025, and mentorship programmes are on the horizon. There was a great and civilised debate over some changes to the rules that I feel offer greater transparency and protect the integrity of the awards.

The Executive Committee for the BFS are to be congratulated on a brilliant year. I am very glad more people of joining it to support the team and I strongly recommend that if you’re an author, in publishing, tangentially related as a reviewer or fan then it is worth joining up

They are doing an amazing job and I can’t wait to see what they do next.

After that I got to enjoy some panels

It’s Not Just Writing That Goes Into A Book – David Thomas Mooore (mod) Katie Bruce, George Sandison, Jenni Coutts and Amanda Rutter

This panel helped demystify the publishing process and it was great t have people from a range of non-writing roles (editor, agent, cover artist, and someone who specialises in helping organise things for authors). This covered everything from querying, editing to the tense part so negotiation selling to stores and even book design. Very interesting elaboration of how many people are involved; how authors have to be aware of not just what is in their book but things like the market and who can assist them with these other skills. It is hard if you’re self published, indie published or one of the top five and really useful to remember what goes into the book you’re picking up.

Horror and Female Representation – Collen Anderson (mod) Priya Sharma, Charlotte Bond, Carl Bayley and Vicky Brewster

Coming back to a them of progression I really enjoyed this panel that started to discuss, challenge and move away from the ‘classic’ such as Alien to more recent changes in the world. The panel loved how we see more women in actual roles on purpose such as Clarice Starling where they have agency. This got into discussions of body horror, motherhood, menopause and where we go with the interpretation of the crone. There was a discussion how academics had skipped over some of the best past writers and how folk tales had mixed messages.

Sountracks of Space and Time  - Annie Czajkowski (mod) Oliver Arditi, Roseanne Rabinowitz, Andrew Knighton, Lauren McMenemy

This interesting discussion looked at how writers use music in their work. The music they listen to as they write. How they can link it to certain themes or characters or a certain type of scene they can use. A really interesting discussion about how one form of art influences another.

Using The Real: Economics, Society, Religion and Politics in SFF – Iain Grant (mod) Justin Lee Anderson, Adri Joy, Jonathan Oliver and Saskia Slottje

So no small more agenda for one 50 minute panel! Despite that the panel did brilliantly with a great flowing discussion of using themes, how readers interpret these themes (across all ends of the spectrum) great and poor examples. There was a good exploration of when faith gets used well and too simplistically. A nuanced theme was very much people’s favourite and everyone agreed default medieval renaissance was looking a bit tired.,

I then finished by relaxing listening to the Karaoke. I do not sing

Saturday

The main day was as you’d expect a busy one

Who Owns the Book When It’s Finished? Anna Smith Spark (mod) Stew Hotston, Anne Corlett, Ian Hunter and Adri Joy

A little in my own wheelhouse as a blogger this discussed interpretation. From readers getting a different factual interpretation to what was on the page to how people see things that the author never intended. The discussion went on to look at author and reader expectations, the power of adaptations to change the focus of a work and also how sometimes authors themselves are not aware of what their subconscious is telling them. A useful one for me when I think about what did the author do in a particular book.

The Future Worlds Prize panel – M H Ayinde (mod) Calah Singleton, Marve Michael Anson and Fatima Taqvi

This was a celebrations of this world’s Future World Prize Finalists which is very focused on finding writers from under-represented groups to address a long-standing industry problem. We got a host of talented writers talking about their early experiences of fantasy, how this influences their work, their current reads and what themes they find themselves coming back to as well as the really interesting question how you do juggle writing with all the other parts of your life. Finding new authors to read is always a pleasure and can’t wait to find their books

Guest of Honour - Priya Sharma – a really impressive interview conducted by Stew Hotston where Sharma discussed their impressive career to date. How an author finds their voice, the process they use on a story (using a couple of recent examples) and how often it never gets easy. It was a really interesting discussion, and I cannot wait to read even more of Sharma’s stories.

Where Are All the Mothers? Ionna Papdopalou (mod) Catriona Silvey, El McInerney, Charlotte Langtree, Tiffani Angus

Another good wide-ranging discussion on the role of the mother. Often in stories either killed off, viewed as an ending or evil. The panel discussed why this happened, what is missing in the portrayal of mothers and who is doing this well How fathers get contrasted was also explored. It does feel like things are changing but a long way to go

The Hook of the Short Story – Andrew Hook (mod) Dan Coxon, Hesper Leveret, Jan Edwards, Allen Ashley

This panel discussed the craft of writing a short story and what editors and publishers may be looking for. The idea of distilling it, the words, the title and the ending all had a really good focus and as a reviewer trying to make the Short Shelves come back to the blog really helped me consider what to look out for in my own blogging.

Diversity in Publishing: Breaking Through Barriers – Sarah Elliott (mod) Ioanna Papadipalou, M H Ayinde, S Naomi Scott and Nick Wells

I am these days really keen that we have diverse panels rather than placing authors in diversity panels BUT this one intrigued me as it actually wanted to explore Publishing which for me is one of the biggest hurdles the Industry needs to work on to get this improved. The discussion of those barriers (the very male, white and middle called nature of the traditional industry still) and what lessons some are now taking was evenly discussed by how important showing diversity to readers and future authors is.  It was a welcome discussion, and I think moving the focus in these to Publishers talking about what they do and not do right is perhaps something other iterations of this panel subject needs to do

Crafting Short Fiction Collections – Dan Coxon (mod) Priya Sharma, Margaret Eeve, Tim Major and Pete Sutton

This panel discussed when is the right time to create a collection; how you structure them, place the stories and work with editors in either anthologies or your own collection. Another thing I’m thinking about for focus on the blog in 2025 and I was really interested in the thinking that goes into this.

I finished it off by going to the BFS awards and it was a really good ceremony with a host of excellent winners. The field is still in very good health from newcomers to the established legends of our world

Guest of Honor Interview - Bella Pagan – A great and entertaining interview by David Green with one of the most accomplished editors of recent times. Fascinating insights into how the world has changed, the love of the genre and where we may be going next made this informative as well as introducing us to the term Shadowdaddy…

Sunday

Writing the monster – Sarah Jayne Townsend (mod) Anna smith Spark, Ioanna Papadipalou, Silas Bischoff and Dan Howarth

An interesting debate for 9am on a Sunday where Monsters get examined are they better human or inhuman. I found myself favouring the takes exploring the monsters from how monster’s see the world and I really enjoyed the different perspectives.

Responsible Redemptions Arcs and Villains – PS Livingstone (mod) Sarah Rees Brennan, Jen Williams and Amanda Rutter

Ooh this was good and had some excellent discussions. When do you deserve redemption. Is it ok to enjoy a good villain who does not get redeemed, what types of arcs exist and with a host of examples this was one of those panels I could easily have had another hour but hugely entertaining and thoughtful.

My last activity was a reading where Shona Kinsella, Neil Willaimson, Mark Stay and Juliet E Mckenna all gave us excellent reading of current work. One I loved hearing being told and the other three I now desperately want to get hold of

I finished the day talking to friends, sorting out reading piles and even while waiting for a train home reading a book. The hotel was lovely and impressively compared to some recent convention locations actually seemed to like having us there (staff numbers seemed to increase as the weekend went on). The dealers room was good but I wished a more general publisher was there to help promote the panels. The various rooms were very good and well sized.

I leave as always do very tired but with my love of the genre re-charged and also ideas for what I do as a blogger and reader. Fantasycon is in excellent health and I strongly recommend you try it.

Next year off to the seaside in Brighton (in October) and Fantasycon is combined with the World Fantasy Convention – my ticket is already bought! See you there!