Welcome to Irish SciFi News Newsletter #24

Welcome to the first-ish Irish SciFi News newsletter of 2005.

Hopefully there’ll be more newsletters going out this year than last, where I only managed to send out four actual newsletters, not counting things like articles, competitions, addendums and corrections, and various notices about events. I’m hoping that this year is going to be *much* quieter for me last year, which was a whirlwind year for Deirdre and myself, filled with a bewildering amount of things, both good and not so good. Still, we lived through it all, and here we all are, safe and sound, in 2005.

Now, a few quick statistics about the newsletter: IrSFNews is going since June 2002. The subscription figures currently stand at 265, with about 6 mail addresses than need to be removed, due to no longer being active. Other than that, we’ve removed about another 20-30 for the same reason over the years, and have also had 3 requests to unsubscribe. Still, 3 out of a possible 300 isn’t bad. I plan to continue writing the newsletter for the foreseeable future, and am always interested in news, so if you have anything, please let me know.

The focus of the newsletter still remains largely the same, being news about Irish-related SF people and events, and this is largely how I intend to keep it. As well as whatever else catches my fancy, obviously.

So, on with the news, starting with a roundup of forthcoming SF conventions, roughly in chronological order, but first a word about a table quiz…

Table Quiz

As mentioned elsewhere, P-CON had a slight cost overrun, to the tune of about E200. To help fund this, we are holding a table quiz. The quiz will be held on Wednesday the 23rd of February at 8 PM, in the Brokers' Bar on Dame Street, part of the Mercantile group of bars near the end of George’s Street. The cost will be E24 per team of 4. Lots of prizes, and a raffle too. Questions will be set by myself, and will be the usual mix of SF, fantasy and horror, as related to books, TV, cinema, comics, cartoons, and general popular culture, as well as some general knowledge, just to keep you all on your toes. I hope to see some of you there.
What: SciFi Table Quiz
Where: Brokers' Bar, Dame Street
When: Wednesday the 23rd of February at 8 PM
How Much: E24 per team of 4

Mecon News

The people up in Queen’s University, Belfast have been quite low-key in preparations for this year’s Mecon, so a certain amount of information managed to pass me by completely. For a start, up to the last newsletter, I had the wrong dates for Mecon, as, due to circumstances largely beyond their control, they were obliged to move forward a week, but neglected to inform people in general.

The con will now be held over the weekend of 4th to 6th March in the Park Avenue Hotel, Belfast. A certain amount of information about the con is now on their website, and a bit more on their LiveJournal, but their website still contains a link to a flyer that has been out of date for quite some time now, containing both the wring date and the wrong venue, despite this being pointed out to them by a number of different people.

However, there has been a lot of activity recently, and they have announced their guest list. Guest of Honour is to be Juliet E McKenna, with other guests in the persons of locally-based author Ian McDonald, and young Cork-based film-maker John Vaughan.

Membership for the convention currently stands at about 15, although this should have grown considerably by the time of the convention. Deirdre and myself will be there, so come up and say hello.

What: Mecon 8, Northern Ireland’s annual SF convention
Where: Park Avenue Hotel, Belfast
When: 4th-6th March 2005
Who: GoH: Juliet E McKenna
How Much: STG£20 - Until 28/02/05, then STG£22 on door
Website: www.mecon.org.uk
Contact: Shane Kerlin, Chairman: meconbelfast at yahoo dot co dot uk

Worldcon News

David Stewart, the Irish representative for Interaction, sent me the following:

As David is also the Irish agent, you can also contact him through his own Worldcon address, david dot stewart at interaction dot worldcon dot org dot uk

There are several good reasons to go to Worldcon. Firstly, it’s the biggest event of its kind in the world, with thousands of people in attendance, as well as everyone who’s anyone in the SF business, not just writers, but publishers, artists, and anyone else even remotely connected with the genres. It only gets to be on this side of the world once in a great while, so you really should take advantage of it. It could be quite some time before one comes around again, and you certainly shouldn’t hold your breath waiting for it to come to Ireland. Also, you get to vote in the Hugo Awards, if you joined before January 31st.

On the subject of guests, David says this: “Interaction continues to expand the list of programme participants. The Guests of Honour have been known since Interaction won the bid in 2002. They are Christopher Priest, Robert Sheckley, Jane Yolen, Greg Pickersgill and Lars Olov Strandberg. However, they are not the only ones taking part in the programme. A full list, which is updated on a regular basis, can be found here.

Names already there include, Kevin J. Anderson Brian Aldis, David Gerrold, Colin Greenland, Susanna Clarke, Juliet McKenna, Robert Rankin and Charles Stross.”

There is another good reason to go to Worldcon, though: This is where the decision will be taken on where the 2007 Eurocon will take place. And, as it happens, besides being the Irish agent for Worldcon, David is also spearheading the bid committee to hold Eurocon in Ireland in 2007. The last one was held here in 1997, and was great, if chaotic. The time is certainly right to hold it here again. More on this a little further down…

What: Interaction, 2005 World Science Fiction Convention
Where: Glasgow, Scotland
When: 4-8 August 2005
Who: GoHs: Christopher Priest, Robert Sheckley, and several more
How Much: STG£110 / US$195 / EUR165 (until 30.06/05)
Website: www.interaction.worldcon.org.uk
Contact: david dot stewart at interaction dot worldcon dot org dot uk

Octocon News

There has been no announcement about Octocon 2005, but there has been a certain amount of rumour, gossip and speculation. Michael Carroll has retired as chairman, and apparently is also stepping down from the committee. A few more of the committee are said to be leaving, too. One particular name, not currently on the committee, has been bruited about as the potential next chair, but at his request I’m not saying who it is, as his position as chair is by no means finalised. In the meantime, the con are waiting for confirmation from a potential Guest of Honour before announcing things like dates and a location. There has also been a certain amount of speculation about where the con is to be held this year, with a certain leaning towards the previous venue, the Glenroyal Hotel in Maynooth, especially if rumours that a booking deposit was paid are true. In the end, though, the only thing we can be more or less completely sure of is that the con is to take place, somewhere in Ireland, on one of the five weekends in October of this year. Or so it would seem. No doubt all will become clear as time rolls on. What: Octocon 2005
Where: TBA
When: October 2005
Who: TBA
How Much: TBA
Website: www.octocon.com/2005/
Contact: committee at octocon dot com

P-Con News

Right, at least I know what I’m talking about this one! P-CON III is the third is a roughly annual series of conventions. The previous two were in September 2003 and November 2004, but the con is now moving to a permanent home in the spring, to wit the weekend before the St Patrick’s Festival every year. The next con is in just over a year’s time, on the 11 & 12th of March 2006 (and not on the 10th and 11th, as I managed to put on the temporary flyers we had at last year’s con), but plans are already ongoing. Although there isn’t a Guest of Honour to announce yet, there are a few guests signed up to come along already. Ariel, Paul Cornell, Juliet E McKenna, and Steve Westcott are all coming back, as well as Eugene Byrne, who was at the first P-CON. The con also has husband and wife comic writing partners Leah Moore and John Reppion coming to the con for the first time. More guests will be announced as time goes by, and we hope to have news of a GoH soon. The con has a news letter, which you can join through the website.

What: P-CON III, the 3rd Phoenix Convention
Where: Ashling Hotel, Dublin 8
When: 11 & 12th of March 2006
Who: GoH TBA
How Much: €25
Website: www.slovobooks.com/phoenix/
Contact: phoenixconvention at yahoo co uk

Eurocon News

As stated in the piece on Worldcon, David Stewart is spearheading the campaign to run Eurocon in Ireland in 2007. This would be a big undertaking, and so far he has put together a three-person bid committee. These are, besides himself, Randy Shepherd, an ex-pat American now living here, who was the deputy chair of LoseStarCon 2, the 1997 Worldcon in Texas; and James Brophy, ex-chair of Octocon, as the bid’s graphic designer. The final decision on whether or not Eurocon is held here will be taken at Worldcon in Glasgow in August. If we win the bid, there’ll be a lot of work involved, and more likely than not Eurocon for that year will be combined with Octocon, meaning it is likely to be held in October 2007. David and his committee are currently looking for a suitable venue somewhere in Ireland, although, I suppose, Dublin is probably still the favourite.

While I’m talking about Eurocon, I should mention a mail I got from Jonathan Cowie, who says: “You may wish to alert your readers that www.concatenation.org (the Science Fact and Fiction Concatenation) has just had its seasonal update and contains much SF news including on Worldcons and Eurocons.”

Scifi Club News

The Dublin SciFiClub has moved venue. Briefly, just before the November meeting, they received news that their regular venue, Bowe’s Pub, had changed hands, and that the new management didn’t necessarily want to use the room for meetings. The November meeting was therefore held in The Lord Edward on Christchurch Place, and subsequently to Broker’s Bar on Dame Street, a location I’m familiar with myself, having held several table quizzes there over the past year or so. To the best of my knowledge, this is still where the meetings are being held, on the first Tuesday of the month. If you know any better, let me know, and I’ll update everyone.

Navan Film Festival

Paul Ricardo Cotrulia writes to tell me this: “The Navan Film Festival is official! It will take place at the Diamond Cinema Navan, Kennedy Road, Navan, Co Meath. I really want people to submit their homemade SF and F films. It costs 10 euro to enter your movie and that 10 Euro goes towards a prize for the winner. You need to submit a DVD or video and a DV tape with your 10 euro and post them to the address above.”

I don’t have an actual date for this, but no doubt this will develop as time goes by. You can get in touch with Paul via the address for the cinema in Navan, or by email at cotrulia at hotmail dot com

Updates

The dates I had for the Sub City comics event are not inaccurate, as this has been moved from to 19th of February to the 26th of March. More on this as I get it.

I previously mentioned an event being run by The 3rd Place in June. This is now possibly going to be at the end of May, with a large group of guests. Again, more as I get it.

Liam Webster tells me that his shop on the corner of Crow Street, after months of speculation, at least on my part, finally has a name. It’s simply called STORY.

Crow Street Press

While looking up some books on the ‘net, I found a site called Crow Street Press, which featured a computer manipulated image of what was undoubtedly Crow Street here in Dublin, where I once had a shop called the Flying Pig Bookshop. Intrigued, I wrote to them, and this is some of what I got back from Bridget McKenna, the publisher:

You never know where you’re having an influence on people’s lives, all the same. You can visit Crow Street Press at www.crowstreetpress.com

Artists Wanted

Bob Neilson of Aeon Press is looking for artists for graphic novels and comics. You can get in touch with him at bobn at yellowbrickroad dot ie

Crazy Dog Audio Theatre

Due to being largely absent last year, I never got to report on the doing of Roger Gregg, Ireland’s own SciFi Radio superstar. His Diabolical Playhouse series came and went on RTÉ Radio without my really getting to say anything about it, which is a shame, as Roger really does fantastic work. Still, at least I get a chance to tell you about his new venture. As you may know, Roger is one of the voice actors on the Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy radio series, about which he says this: “The Quandary and Quintessential Phases of the Hitchhiker's Guide To the Galaxy are coming to BBC Radio 4 in May.

The cast features Simon Jones as Arthur Dent, Geoff McGivern as Ford Prefect, Mark Wing Davey as Zaphod Beeblebrox, Susan Sheridan and Sandra Dickinson are playing Trillion and Tricia McMillan. Other stars in the cast include Christian Slater, Jonathan Pryce, and Griff Reese Jones. Roger Gregg of Ireland's Crazy Dog Audio Theatre is again in the cast revisiting his role as Eddie the shipboard computer and a host of other small parts.”

He also adds this, though: “Also coming this May to RTE Radio 1 Tuesday nights at 7, is the new Crazy Dog Audio Theatre science fiction adventure series. Crazy Dog will be back on the air with a brand new series featuring Morgan Jones, David Murray, Deirdre Molloy, Georgina Miller, Karen Ardiff, Simon O'Gorman and with special guest appearances from Melinda Peterson and Phil Proctor of RUGRATS.”

More information, as always, from the CDAT website at www.crazydogaudiotheatre.com

In Brief

• The Trinity College book sale takes place again this year, from the 7th to the 9th of April. Well worth a visit!
• Sub City are having a sale, although it is almost over at this stage. However, up to the end of February, they’re selling three graphic novels for the price of two, ditto for RPGs, a two for one on figures, half price on models (no, I don’t know the difference between figures and models…), and all back issues E1, except for Gold and Silver Age comics, which are reduced by 50%.
• Steve Westcott tells me he has had a short story, Hell's Bells, published on the Eternal Night webzine. It’s here
• The lovely Danielle Ackley McPhail tells me this: “Here's a bit of news for you, I'm editing an anthology for Lite Circle Books in Baltimore. It is called ‘No Longer Dreams’ and will be launched at the World Horror Convention in New York, in April. Some of the big names involved in the project are John C. Wright, CJ Henderson, Darrell Schweitzer, Will McDermott, Theo Black (as artist), as well as myself and Ruth Lampi, the artist from Children of Morpheus, which came out last May, also by Lite Circle Books.”
• David Murphy tells me: “I sold a novel "Longevity City" to Five Star Publishing, a division of Thomson Gale one of the biggest publishers in the US. It'll be a hardcover due in 2005. I've finished the line-edit and it's now at the copy edit stage. It's a hard SF novel set mainly in the 22nd century.” Again, more news as I get it.
• If you’re anywhere near Belfast, you might want to check out the B Special Movie Club. It’s at the Pavilion on the Ormeau Road in Belfast on the last Friday night of every month, and you can find out more about it at their website
• And finally: I’m extremely pleased to see there’s a link to my LiveJournal on John Reppion and Leah Moore’s Blog, which is here I had to go have a little lie down, really…

So, that was a lot longer than I though it would be. So, don’t forget. Table Quiz. Wednesday. Broker’s. See you there!

Best wishes,
Pádraig Ó Méalóid
Irish SciFi News