If I had all the time, energy, and money, I’d put on an ongoing SFT con the likes of which you’ve never seen. People would come from all over the world (and the universe, if the aliens were interested), just to talk SFT. So until someone else steps up to do this or when my kids go to college (whichever comes first), here’s what my SFT con might look like.
*note: I’ve never EVER organized a conference before, so this may sound completely unrealizable, and that’s fine, because, remember, it’s imaginary.
SFT Panel at WisCon 43 (2019). From left: Arrate Hidalgo, Kristy Eagar, yours truly, and Adrian Demopulous.
Photo: Keren Omry
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NO FRILLS
First of all, this would not be a fancy con, since I’m not a fancy person. I wear sensible shoes and no makeup and I’m pretty boring, so this con would be in an unassuming, affordable hotel or a university building near an unassuming, affordable hotel. It would last for two days, because longer than that would be too long. It would just be a group of people coming together to talk about how much they love SFT. Also, I spent too long in grad school so any fancy academic language will be politely shown the door. We’re just going to talk about the stories and why we love or don’t love them and then go out for coffee and tea and talk some more.
Ok, there’ll be one fancy thing: translation headsets. Everyone will get one and will be able to speak in their own language, with anyone listening able to understand what they’re saying in their own language. Don’t ask me how we’ll pay for this, because I have no idea.
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THE PANELS
Panels must be awesome. Here are a few examples:
“Best SFT Anthologies of the Past 10 Years”
“A Day in the Life of a Korean-to-English SFT Translator”
“What’s Going on in Bulgarian Speculative Fiction and What’s Being Translated into English?”
“Middle Eastern SFT since 2003: Dystopia and Fantasy”
“Why is There So Little Horror in Chinese, Hebrew, and Polish SFT?”
“Paying and Recognizing Translators”
“Working with Publishers and Editors”
“Dragging SF Awards into the 21st Century”
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AWARDS
We’d have juried awards for Best Novel, Best Collection, Best Anthology, Best Short Story, Best Writer, and Best Translator. The award itself would be a very large chocolate bar or other treat of choice. And the adulation of SFT fans.
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FREE STUFF
Available at tables throughout the con would be piles of SFT catalogs, free SFT books, and printouts of reviews. Any and all art would also be welcome- artists could sell their stuff on both days (I’ll crochet).
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Doesn’t this sound like so much fun?! I know, I know, it would be great. Add your ideas for more fun stuff in the comments.
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