Tag: panel schedule

Tempest’s WisCon 36 Panel and Party Schedule

By:  TempestEvents
Tempest's WisCon 36 Panel and Party Schedule

WisCon 36 is almost upon us. Here’s where I’ll be!

Parties

Riots of Bloom | Sat, 9:00 pm Room 607

I’m the DJ.

Join us for spicy samosas and wine as we dance the night away to world beats! Riots of Bloom is a party to celebrate the speculative fiction of authors of color who have books and stories releasing this year. (N. K. Jemisin, Neesha Meminger, Kiini Salaam, Ibi Zoboi, Alaya Dawn Johnson) We are especially honored to celebrate WisCon 36 Guest of Honor and Tiptree winner, Andrea Hairston! So put on your most riotous colors and come prepared to boogie on down to the rhythmic beats of reggae, calypso, salsa, bhangra, and other world music!

Unnamed, not on the schedule shenanigans | Friday 11:00 pm room TBD

So there has been talk for a while about doing a party wherein we watch and heavily criticize Jem! and My Little Pony and some other beloved cartoons of our child and adulthood while eating gummi bears soaked in rum, vodka flavored with Skittles, and a number of other ridiculous, not safe for kids foods. Given the nature of the foods in question, it was suggested to me that we NOT make this an official party. So we’re going to find a suitable space and have it semi-privately.

Panels

From Sherlock to Sheldon: Asexuality and Asexual Characters in SF/F
Fri, 4:00–5:15 pm | Senate B

K. Tempest Bradford (mod), Liz Argall, Dawn Ash, L J Geoffrion, Jed Hartman

We’re all familiar by now with the sexual orientations homosexual, heterosexual and bisexual. Much less discussed are asexuals, persons who do not experience sexual attraction. This panel discusses what asexuality is and is not, and proposes ways for authors to explore this overlooked orientation in their characters. Is it enough that a character has no on-page sex life, or should asexuality be more positively portrayed? Asexuality in real-time fandom and asexual characters in fiction and media may also be discussed as time allows.

Feminist Blogging: What Is It and What Role Can It Play in Creating Social Change?
Sat, 10:00–11:15 am | Caucus

K. Tempest Bradford (mod), Brit Mandelo, Andrea Chandler, Michelle Kendall, Rachel Virginia Swirsky

The internet has seen an upsurge in feminist blogs, with those words returning millions of results in search engines. What are feminist blogs? How can feminist blogs help create positive change? In what ways can these spaces model an inclusive, non-hierarchical environment? What are the downsides to feminist blogging? Join us as we discuss new ways the internet can help further the discourse around issues of social and economic justice, feminism, and anti-oppression.

Sipping From the Firehose: Managing Writing and Social Media
Sat, 1:00–2:15 pm | Senate A

K. Tempest Bradford (mod), Barth Anderson, Kimberly Gonzalez, Michael J. “Orange Mike” Lowrey, David J. Schwartz

FaceBook, Google+, LiveJournal, Tumblr, Twitter, blog, traditional website: Does a writer need them all? How do they help with self-promotion? How do they help with the isolation of writing? If you participate in social media, how do you keep it all up-to-date and still find time to write?

Creating Your Own Religion
Sun, 10:00–11:15 pm | Conference 4

K. Tempest Bradford (mod), Ann Leckie, Alex Dally MacFarlane, Deirdre M. Murphy, Larissa N. Niec

Which SF authors create interesting, believable religions, and which get religion wrong? (What does it mean to “get religion wrong” anyway?) Do made-up religions with intervening gods work better than those without? How can we as writers avoid making mistakes when creating and writing about fictional religions?

Not Everyone Lives in the Future
Mon, 10:00–11:15 am | Room 623

Carrie L. Ferguson (mod), K. Tempest Bradford, Ruthanna Emrys, Jesse the K, Na’amen Gobert Tilahun

Technology has an undeniably transformative effect on our lives and it is worth examining who has access to those effects. Geeks are generally very engaged with technology and it is easy to assume that the Internet, cell phones, computers, etc. are a given in everyone’s lives. However, there are large communities where technological access is not at the level that geeks take for granted. How does lack of access to technology impede communities’ ability to prosper? How can geeks help to make technology more available to communities that may benefit from them? Are these transformative effects even desirable? What are good examples of SF that highlight or problematize this issue?

Reading

Title TBA
Sun, 4:00–5:15 pm | Michelangelos

Group reading: K. Tempest Bradford, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Jackie Mierzwa, Larissa N. Niec

WisCon 33

By:  TempestEvents
WisCon 33

Later with this than anyone else, but there were some changes to my panel lineups and I was waiting to make sure everything else was settled. As I emailed everyone on the panel I’m moderating on Sunday, I figure I can be public about it all now.

NOT ANOTHER F*CKING RACE PANEL — Fri 9:00 – 10:15PM — Senate A
Nora Jemisin (M), K. Tempest Bradford, Moondancer Drake, Nnedi Nkemdili Okorafor, Naamen Gobert Tilahun

Writers of color working in F/SF face unique challenges, it’s true. But, at the end of the day, being a ‘person of color’ is only one aspect of what makes up our identities as writers and, while it’s very flattering to asked to be on panels, most of these panels never crack the ceiling of Race 101. With that in mind, wouldn’t it be nice for multiple writers of color to sit on a panel that isn’t about race at all? Here’s our chance to do just that. So, what are we gonna talk about, instead? Practically anything! Presented in game show format, NOT ANOTHER F*CKING RACE PANEL brings together writers of color to get their geek on about any number of pop culture topics (perhaps chosen from a spinning wheel of fortune)—none of them race related.

Was It Good for You? — Sat 10:30 – 11:45PM — Conference 4
Nora Jemisin (M) , K. Tempest Bradford, Sumana Harihareswara, Rachel Kronick, Betsy Lundsten

A common response to requests for increased representation of women/PoC in science fiction seems to be—we are just looking for good stories. Writers are concerned that, even absent overt discrimination, the themes they want to write about and the stories they want to tell will be dismissed as irrelevant to the white male audience. This doesn’t really have anything to do with quality. What stories do readers wish they could see more of and what stories do they wish they never had to read again? How many technically proficient stories about nothing, and stories that are metaphorical for male orgasm, do we have to read, anyway? Why is it so hard to find stories about my experience?

Judging the Tiptree — Sun 8:30 – 9:45AM — Senate B
K. Tempest Bradford, Gavin J. Grant, Catherynne M. Valente

I think maybe Gavin might not be there after all, so it coudl end up being the Tempest and Cat show. At 8:30am on Sunday we may have to promise people major shenanigans to get a crowd.

Authorial Intent vs. Reader Response — Sun 4:00 – 5:15PM — Capitol A
Vito Excalibur (M), K. Tempest Bradford, Ellen Kushner, Debbie Notkin, Delia Sherman

Umberto Eco said once that a novel was “a machine for generating interpretations….” Once a book has been released into the cruel world, does it matter what the author intended for people to get out of the book? If it does, does it matter more than what the readers see in the book?

Netbook Show and Tell — Sun 10:00 – 11:15PM — Conference 5
K. Tempest Bradford (M), Shaun Kelly, Rowan, Genevieve Valentine

Asus EEE, Acer Aspire One, HP Mininote … do those names sound familiar? What are those wee laptops around the size of a hardback book? Bring your netbook and show it off! Discuss the pros and cons. Q&A for those looking to purchase their very own netbook.

Additionally I will be participating in the following POC-only events:

POC Meet & Greet — Fri 5:30 – 7:30PM — Madison Concourse Lobby

We’ll head somewhere to eat or chat at 6:00PM.

Meet the Angry Black Women — Sun Lunch — Noodles & Company
K. Tempest Bradford, Nojojojo, Karnythia

Have lunch with the three contributors to the Angry Black Woman blog.

I think I am most excited about the netbook panel! Not just because I am mod, but because after 3 days of RACE GENDER LITERARY THEORY and TIPTREE I feel I will enjoy being able to just geek out about computers for an hour. The Not A Race Panel panel should be a good time, too. Also, I am on a panel with Ellen and Delia and Debbie and Vito?  *swoon*

There will be other additions to this schedule once the final, full-length one comes out.