In 2019, prior to the global pandemic, Karen went out to Los Angeles to attend World Fantasy Convention (WFC). Having run the British Fantasy Society’s Fantasycon in 2017 and 2018, she and I were considering the viability of a World Fantasy Convention in United Kingdom. The trip in 2019 was to investigate the possibility further and ensure that Karen had an opportunity to get to know people involved in running the convention in the United States.
Our journey to that moment was one of substantial change in our lives. In 2017, both of us left our jobs. I stopped working for Bucks New University when they told me they were going to close the creative writing course I had worked to establish. Karen left her job owing to her declining health with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.
That year, running Fantasycon in Peterborough, we were in quite a difficult situation. I was finishing my PhD and, only weeks before the event, had received a job offer from Coventry University. I was still writing, and had some income from this, but we were very concerned about how we would manage to pay the bills.
Fast forward two years, we had pretty much adjusted to our new circumstances. So much so, that we were able to send Karen on this fact-finding mission. The trip proved very successful and Karen returned with plans for a 2025 World Fantasy Convention in the UK.
Then, COVID happened. The World Fantasy Conventions of 2020, 2021 and, to a lesser extent, 2022 were significantly affected. For three years, every convention organiser has had to grapple with the balance between online and in-person events. In some ways, this has encouraged positive change. We all have a greater awareness of infection and take precautions to ensure others are not made unwell by a virus we may have brought to any gathering of people. Additionally, with greater online provision, events have the potential to reach larger audiences. People who may never have considered the expense of attending a convention in another country are keen and enthusiastic participants online.
During this period, Karen volunteered and assisted with each convention. Her participation remained online until the 2022 convention and in 2023 we decided we would attend together.
Making an international trip in the winter is not easy for a UK academic. The winter semester is usually the busiest period of any academic year. A long trip from the UK to the United States takes about a day in terms of travel and therefore will take about a day in terms of travel by return. Additionally, there is the convention time, which again is more time away from the day-to-day responsibilities of university life. However, I was very fortunate in that our trip times could be organised so that I would not miss any teaching sessions or any crucial meetings. Additionally, I made time for student tutorials whilst I was in America.
Arrival in Kansas City, Missouri, occurred after a significant plane journey with one change in New York City. Long-haul flights generally involve watching lots of films and intermittent sleep. This was no different. I took the opportunity to catch up with a variety of different cinema releases that I had been vaguely interested in before.
My introduction to the convention involved participation in “bookbagging”. This is where volunteers get together and pack the convention book bags full of donated releases from a variety of different publishers. In this case, we had a set of 12 stations from which to select individual titles, bundle these into the rather fetching red 2023 bag, and stack these bags in a room ready for members to collect once they arrived the next morning.
Any repetitive work that involves a lot of walking, a lot of lifting, and a lot of general movement is eventually tiring. After completing a good proportion of bags and transporting these into the holding room, Karen and I retired to find a late night meal. This enabled a few nice introductions and gradually I began to feel like I knew more than one person at convention.
The next few days were a blur of different activities. As part of our lead up to World Fantasy Convention 2025, it is important that we maintained a presence at the event. To ensure this, we had a table on the first floor and this gave us a base from which to participate in the rest of the convention. Attendees would travel to a variety of different panels, passing right by our tables, which were next to WFC 2024: Niagara Falls and Glasgow Worldcon 2024.
The structure of World Fantasy Convention is similar to Fantasycon in the UK, but with a few differences.
To begin with, there is the mass author signing event. This is a traditional part of the convention and all authors, editors and artists are invited to participate in it. From my perspective, as a science-fiction author who is relatively unheard of amongst this particular crowd, the idea of sitting at a table with a pile of books and being ignored by most of the people in the room was quite worrying. However, it was clear that the participation list for the convention, which had been published beforehand, providing a means for attendees to recognise who might be in the room. Additionally, it is worth bearing in mind that individuals looking to get your signature in a book are often collecting signatures for anthologies. I was quite surprised to be presented with two anthologies that I had contributed to by one convention goer. I guess that is something that happens. After all, my signature is more difficult to obtain in the United States. Attending this was an eye-opening experience.
This will be something we do in 2025 as part of the WFC structure. However, I did look at it and think about a few things we might do slightly differently. It was particularly useful to attend as an author who wasn’t well known. There is a strong culture of collecting amongst the attendees of WFC. This is less prevalent in the UK, although we do have many great independent publishers whose works will be of significant interest to this particular group. So, when thinking about the mass signing, it’s likely we will be letting people know about when it is very early on in the lead up to the convention and encouraging authors to participate. We will also find ways to spotlight and highlight authors who are participating both before and during the convention.
(Editors note: Members can already sign up for this via the Member Centre section on the website.)
I was also interested in the variety of panels on specific subjects. I attended several and also some author readings. Again, it was interesting to see how other people produce programming events. I have been managing Fantasycon’s programming for the events that I chaired (2017, 2018, 2021 and 2023). There is a slightly different emphasis for World Fantasy Convention, which is guided by the World Fantasy Board, but not substantially different to what we already do. The adjustment will be an interesting challenge and should provide an opportunity to revisit some of our practice, examining how we manage programming in general.
WFC has an Art Show. This is something we have wanted to do in the UK events. Unfortunately, cost is always been prohibitive and the attendance of artists has suffered as a result. Browsing the art was an opportunity to see how different practitioners are promoted and how they engage with the convention. Seeing some artwork produced live was also a fascinating experience.
The Art Show Reception was another opportunity to engage with the displayed work, and allowed time to speak to some of the artists who were present. This could be used to discuss different artistic ideas and a potential networking event for industry commissions.
The Dealer’s Room at WFC also provided interest. I was very fortunate to have some of my own books on sale, with David Stokes of Guardbridge Books. This meant copies of Fearless (2020) and Resilient (2022) could be displayed and sold at the convention. It also meant that I had another friend at the event, with David joining us for drinks on the Saturday night.
Again, it was interesting to note the emphasis on rare and much sought-after editions of different works.
On the final day of the convention, the World Fantasy Awards were presented. A variety of these were awarded to British based people. This meant we were well placed to assist in ensuring these awards were returned to Europe and sent out to the well deserving winners. This was also the moment that we were able to highlight our hosting of World Fantasy Convention 2025 in Brighton, our website went live and we we able to open for membership sales. In preparation, Karen and I had prepared business card flyers and could assist people in booking their tickets immediately after the award ceremony finished.
After the convention, Karen and I returned home from the event full of ideas and enthusiasm. World Fantasy Convention 2023 was a unique experience for me and one I will always remember. As Vice-Chair of the 2025 convention and Head of Programming, I’m really looking forward to welcoming international attendees to Brighton and to our convention. We have some time to prepare, and hopefully we can deliver an excellent event that lives up to the work and expectations of everyone who participated in World Fantasy Convention 2023.
By Allen Stroud
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