Program Schedule

Transcripts of the panels are now available. Expand the panel entries for links.

Tuesday 28th July

• 8pm NZST • 9am BST • 4-5am EDT • 1-2am PDT

  What Is Modern Aotearoa New Zealand Speculative Fiction?

  Panel: Cassie Hart (M), AJ Fitzwater, Andi Buchanan, Sascha Stronach
  Watch Here

  Transcript

  Surrounded by oceans and living cultures, Aotearoa New Zealand speculative fiction authors are in a position to create a unique aesthetic. Who are the authors and what are the themes at play in current NZ speculative fiction, and how does genre fit within the NZ literature scene?
  

• 5-6am NZST (next day) • 6-7pm BST • 1-2pm EDT • 10-11am PDT

  Dear WorldCon Fandom: Welcome to Booktube

  Panel: Claire Rousseau (M), Jocelyn @ Yogi With A Book, Noria @ Noria Reads, Emily @ Emiloid, Marines @ My Name is Marines
  Watch Here

  Transcript

  BookTube is the corner of YouTube dedicated to all things reading. On this platform, avid SFF readers and fan critics chronicle their reading, share book reviews, and engage in lively discussions about the genre – are you watching SFF BookTubers? Panellists discuss the unique challenges of YouTube as a reviewing platform and how you can become a part of the community.
  

• 7-8am NZST (next day) • 8-9pm BST • 3-4pm EDT • 12-1pm PDT

  Fanzines Online: Fan publications in the age of social media

  Panel: Alasdair Stuart (M), Adri Joy, Travis @ The Fantasy Inn, Gavia Baker-Whitelaw, Nisha @Cloaked Creators
  Watch Here

  Transcript

  Over the past decades SFF fan culture has moved online in a big way, with a constellation of book blogs, websites and newsletters dedicated to all areas of the fandom. What are the main features of online fanzine culture in 2020? What benefits do these spaces bring, especially in an online culture dominated by Twitter and other short-form social media formats? How do online fanzines contribute to the continuous conversation that is SFF fandom? And where do we see online fanzines going in future?
  

Wednesday 29th July

• 5-6am NZST (next day) • 6-7pm BST • 1-2pm EDT • 10-11am PDT

  Your Fave Is Problematic: A Perennial Fandom Dilemma

  Panel: Noria Reads (M), Russell A Smith, Jeannette Ng, Shaun Duke, Foz Meadows
  Watch Here

  Transcript

  So you’ve found a new piece of media you really enjoy, and it’s going great! Except, all of the characters just happen to be white, cis and straight, with not a disabled body in sight. Somehow, all the mothers are dead, all the girlfriends have been fridged; that’s a lot to write off as an accident. Maybe new information has come to light about the media creator, and you can’t watch without thinking about it. What can you do? Our panelists explore the many ways fans choose to engage with problematic work without excusing the inexcusable: from critical analysis and transformative works, to walking away if they need to.
  

• 7-8am NZST (next day) • 8-9pm BST • 3-4pm EDT • 12-1pm PDT

  A New Century of Conversation: What books from 2000 - 2020 will we still be talking about in 2100?

  Panel: Sean Dowie (M), Stewart Hotston, Hammard @ Galactic Journey and Cloaked Creators, C @The Middle Shelf
  Watch Here

  Transcript

  Speculative fiction is often defined as works in conversation with each other. What works of recent SFF do we want to be part of the conversation in 2100? What stories, trends and movements from the last two decades do we hope will persist, and are there elements we want our successors to outgrow? What is our era of SFF going to look like to future generations? This panel takes a whirlwind tour through the genre fiction of the new now, stopping off on what we think are modern masterworks, overlooked gems and reflecting on the great stories the first two decades of this millennium gave us.
  

Thursday 30th July

• 5-6am NZST (next day) • 6-7pm BST • 1-2pm EDT • 10-11am PDT

  Dragons On A Spaceship: the resurgence of science fantasy & genre-bending fiction

  Panel: Bogi Takàcs (M) Gareth L Powell, DongWon Song, Jeannette Ng, Suyi Davies Okungbowa
  Watch Here

  Transcript

  We’re in the Mercury Age of speculative fiction: we like our fiction freeform and boundless and pushing genre conventions every turn. From NK Jemisin’s Broken Earth Trilogy to Tamsyn Muir’s Gideon the Ninth, by way of The Unspoken Name by AK Larkwood, and Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee, so much recent fiction blends traditional science fiction and fantasy tropes. What do we love about blending elements from different genres? How does it allow us to explore the structures of genre? And how can I get some motherforking dragons on this motherforking spaceship?
  

• 7-8am NZST (next day) • 8-9pm BST • 3-4pm EDT • 12-1pm PDT

  Worlds that Breathe: Interactive Worldbuilding for Games

  Panel: Noria Reads (M), Avery @redrocketpanda, Helen Gould, Tanya DePass, Elsa Sjunneson
  Watch Here

  Transcript

  Games like Horizon Zero Dawn, Dark Souls, Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and Dragon Age immerse us in rich, interactive worlds. What makes worldbuilding in games unique and challenging when players can interact, explore, and miss things? How do game creators balance storytelling with the world itself needing to be a legible interface? How are players influenced to explore or ignore? How do biases on the part of the creators limit worldbuilding, and conversely, how do fans react to them?
  

Friday 31st July

• 5-6am NZST (next day) • 6-7pm BST • 1-2pm EDT • 10-11am PDT

  SFF Awards in the 2010s: A Retrospective

  Panel: Shaun Duke (M), Bogi Takàcs, Didi Chanoch, Usman T. Malik, Jeannette Ng
  Watch Here

  Transcript

  Awards have been a space for contesting values, meaning, and social change over the last decade. Some key moments included the Puppies’ attack on the Hugos, N. K. Jemisin's Hugo hat trick, the creation of the Lodestar Award, the introduction of the game writing Nebula category, the Archive of Our Own winning a Hugo, and the renaming of the Otherwise and Astounding awards - let's look back on the decade's struggles, triumphs, and WTF moments. How have awards addressed issues of diversity? Has the meaning of SFF awards changed as SFF entered the media landscape mainstream? What lessons can we take forward into the 2020s?
  

• 7-8am NZST (next day) • 8-9pm BST • 3-4pm EDT • 12-1pm PDT

  Genre Podcasts: Beyond the Basics

  Panel: Jen Zink (M), Marguerite Kenner, Wil Williams, Tonia Ransom @ Nightlight Podcast, CL Clark
  Watch Here

  Transcript

  No one needs to ask what a podcast is anymore. But what differentiates an audio drama from audio fiction and are such distinctions even helpful to audiences? Why is audio presentation more prevalent among certain communities and genres? How do different podcasting formats facilitate critical analysis of books and media? Why aren’t transcripts commonplace, and will we see that change in light of the new ADA lawsuit against Gimlet Media?
  

Saturday 1st August

• 3-4am NZST (next day) • 4-5pm BST • 11am-12pm EDT • 8-9am PDT

  Tubes, Pods, Tweets and Blogs: Fan Criticism in the Digital Age

  Panel: Brent Lambert (M), Paul Weimer, Foz Meadows, Leslie Byron Pitt, Claire Rousseau
  Watch Here

  Transcript

  We live in an age with fantastic media coming at us from all angles: from ebook subscriptions to streaming services to podcasts, not to mention more traditional media. How do you write about the world of tomorrow when it’s coming at you this fast? What forms of criticism other than traditional long form reviews have evolved in the digital age? Our panel will discuss the many platforms and communities of fan criticism, from the audiovisual to the written word, and how different forms of critical discussion have evolved to create a “golden age” of fan criticism.
  

• 5-6am NZST (next day) • 6-7pm BST • 1-2pm EDT • 10-11am PDT

  Best Parts of the Worst Year: Favourite Books & Media of 2020

  Panel: Alasdair Stuart (M), Sean Dowie, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, R.S.A. Garcia, Joanne Hall
  Watch Here

  Transcript

  These first seven months of 2020 have been a long couple of years, but buried inside them have been a lot of truly exceptional stories of every length and format. So, if you’re looking to start building your Hugo ballot early or just want some recommendations for some of the best fiction produced so far this year? Do we have a panel for you! Join our panelists as they discuss the books and media they loved from 2020.
  

• 7-8am NZST (next day) • 8-9pm BST • 3-4pm EDT • 12-1pm PDT

  Making Space for the New: How YA Trends Predict Cultural Shifts in SFF

  Panel: Naseem Jamnia (M), Katherine Inskip, Whiti Hereaka, Melissa Caruso
  Watch Here

  Transcript

  Literature can give us a unique insight into the future, especially in science fiction and fantasy. But, what happens when we shift our perspective to that of young adults? Young adult SFF talks to our future generations about the future, and what our teens have to say matters. What can we learn from stories told to and by our younger generations, and how does YA change the conversation in SFF as a whole?
  

Sunday 2nd August

• 3-4am NZST (next day) • 4-5pm BST • 11am-12pm EDT • 8-9am PDT

  Sensitivity Reading: What is it, who does it, who needs it?

  Panel: Cheryl Morgan (M), Mike Carey, iori Kusano, Yvonne Lin, Corinne Duyvis
  Watch Here

  Transcript

  Sensitivity reading is a hot topic these days, on the one hand being seen as a must have, and on the other as part of “cancel culture”. But what does a sensitivity reader do? What skills does the job require? What should the sensitivity reader, author and publisher expect from the relationship?
  

• 5-6am NZST (next day) • 6-7pm BST • 1-2pm EDT • 10-11am PDT

  And There Was Only One Panel: The Joy of Fanfic, or Squeeing About Our Favourite Tropes

  Panel: Sam @ Thoughts on Tomes (M), Elizabeth Minkel, Brent Lambert, Iona Datt Sharma
  Watch Here

  Transcript

  Transformative fandom loves tropes: we love to see our favourite characters in familiar situations; the predictability is a feature, not a bug. The panelists discuss some of their favourite tropes: why do they work so well? What about these tropes resonates with us? And why do they work across so many fandoms?
  

• 7-8am NZST (next day) • 8-9pm BST • 3-4pm EDT • 12-1pm PDT

  Good News On The Horizon: Upcoming Books & Media We Can’t Wait For

  Panel: Natalie @ Galactic Journey (M), Rachel @ Kalanadi, Lali @ The Portal Bookshop, Thomas @ SFF180, Sean Dowie
  Watch Here

  Transcript

  Now that we’ve all got our Hugo Award ballots done for another year, and caught up on the highlights of the first half of 2020, it’s time to turn our attention to all the amazing new projects slated for release beyond July. Our panelists discuss the upcoming releases sure to capture our attention into the new year and beyond.