The Philippine Online Chronicles

During the last week of October, I found myself at the World Fantasy Convention 2011 (#WFC2011), held at the Town and Country Resort and Convention Center in San Diego, California. The convention is a meeting place for professionals in the speculative fiction genre (you can read more about its history here) which has been running since 1975, and I got this rare chance to be part of it. I had never been to a convention outside of the Philippines before, and it was interesting to witness how different foreign conventions were compared to locally-run ones.

Writers Patrick Rothfuss (The Name of the Wind) and Kat Howard (Stories)

What’s immediately noticeable is the venue: forget about shopping malls or concert halls, this was held in a hotel — and in this case, a sprawling one reminiscent of The Prisoner (or Double Team for the young ones). At any one time, there were at least two panels and two readings taking place simultaneously, in addition to any unofficial literary events taking place within the vicinity. From 10 am to 11 pm, these rooms were all occupied, and that’s not including the large Dealer’s Room where books, art, and jewelry were being sold.

Attendees of the convention were all given a bag full of books. Yes, an entire bag, which could easily have been my carry-on at the airport. It’s a mix of random and non-random books: for example, the hardcover tenth anniversary edition of American Gods by Neil Gaiman was in every bag, while lucky recipients might score a copy of The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle or an Advanced Reader’s Copy (ARC) of the upcoming anthology Under the Moons of Mars edited by John Joseph Adams. Personal favorites from the stash were Glitter Rose by Marianne de Pierres and Real Unreal: Best American Fantasy Volume 3 edited by Kevin Brockmeier. There is also a Book Swap table where attendees unload their unwanted books (it’s a big, heavy bag after all) and can easily pick up a title that others might have left.

There was also a massive three-hour book signing on Friday evening, with various authors participating. Guest of Honor Neil Gaiman was present and there was the expected long line which made the organizers extend his signing to Sunday.

But what was really exciting were the authors who were there.

While chatting with a friend by the Terrace Cafe & Deli, my friend mentioned having met writer Connie Willis at a previous convention. At that exact moment, Connie Willis passed by, a few meters from where we were sitting.

On another occasion, I was chatting with Sean Wallace of Prime Books about eBooks when an elderly gentleman with a short white beard joined our conversation. He was clearly an author, talking about his science fiction story being reprinted in an anthology, but it wasn’t until he left that I asked Sean who he was. “Oh him? That’s Robert Silverberg.” It wasn’t the last time that I would casually run into someone who has a lengthy Wikipedia entry.

Also at the convention was Peter S. Beagle, who made it a point to personalize and briefly chat with everyone who approached him; Mary Robinette Kowal, who aside from being a great author, held a three-minute puppet show; Young Adult literature was not under-represented with authors like Malinda Lo, Cindy Pon, and Sarah Beth Durst; and authors/editors who were simply amazing like Kate Elliott, N.K. Jemisin, Ellen Datlow, Shawna McCarthy, Samantha Henderson, Vylar Kaftan, Mur Lafferty, Terry Bisson, Garth Nix, etc.

Sean Williams (Star Wars: The Force Unleashed), Garth Nix (Sabriel),

and Jonathan Strahan (The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year)

It would also be unfair of me if I did not mention the Guests of Honor (Jo Fletcher, Neil Gaiman, Parke Godwin, Shawna McCarthy, Ruth Sanderson, and Connie Willis), the Lifetime Achievement Winners (Peter S. Beagle and Angélica Gorodischer), and the 2011 World Fantasy Award Winners: Nnedi Okorafor for Who Fears Death (novel), Elizabeth Hand for “The Maiden Flight of McCauley's Bellerophon” (novella), Joyce Carol Oates for “Fossil—Figures” (short fiction), Kate Bernheimer for My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me (anthology), Karen Joy Fowler for What I Didn't See and Other Stories (collection), Kinuko Y. Craft (artist), Marc Gascoigne for Angry Robot (Special Award Professional), and Alisa Krasnostein for Twelfth Planet Press (Special Award Non-Professoinal). A full list of the nominees can be found here.

What makes the World Fantasy Convention unique

What sets this convention apart from other similar conventions is its ratio of professionals to fans. This is geared more towards the former as I encountered authors, editors, artists, publishers, agents, and booksellers one after the other. No one was swarmed with fans, except perhaps Neil Gaiman (and even then, they were all on their best behavior)

Similarly, the appeal of #WFC2011 isn’t so much what takes place in the event proper, but what happens around it. It’s the time for reunions (there was a Clarion East reunion for example), to socialize with peers, to conduct some business (meeting with editors, agents, or publishers), or simply to party until the wee hours of the morning (various hotel rooms had parties every night and prove that authors can hold their liquor).

There were also unofficial events that took place within the vicinity, such as book readings and book launches (everyone should check out Delia Sherman’s The Freedom Maze and N.K. Jemisin’s The Kingdom of Gods).

It’s a relatively small convention with around a thousand attendees but this relatively intimate number and professionally-oriented crowd makes this the perfect time for a literary-oriented individual to recharge their batteries, socialize, and have some fun. Admittedly it’s not for everyone, but if you’re looking to acquaint yourself with the fantasy industry, this is the place to be.

Charles Tan was the first-ever recipient of the World SF Travel Fund, which seeks to enable one international personality involved in science fiction, fantasy or horror to travel to a major genre event.

Photos by the author. Some rights reserved.