Dublin Worldcon schedule
Dublin 2019: An Irish Worldcon is the 77th World Science Fiction Convention and is the first time in its history that its been hosted in Ireland. There is going to be a huge array of programming, with something to cater to all tastes.
Here is what I’m doing:
Friday
The tradition of Irish theatre and plays
11:00 – 11:50 on Friday, 16 Aug 2019
Wicklow Room-2 (CCD)
From Lady Gregory to George Bernard Shaw, and Samuel Beckett to Enda Walsh – and nurtured by the Irish Literary Theatre – Ireland has a notably strong theatre tradition. Has speculative fiction influenced the Irish theatre or have those elements always been there? What are the must-see Irish plays? What changes might we look for in the future?
Maura McHugh (M) Méabh de Brún, Jeanne Beckwith, Dr Harvey O’Brien
Getting your speculative plays into theatres
15:00 – 15:50 on Friday, 16 Aug 2019
Wicklow Room-1 (CCD)
From Broadway and The Abbey Theatre to small local community groups, theatres are always looking for new material. How do you get your play performed – and is it harder to get a speculative stage play produced, given the extra tangles caused by science fiction and fantasy themes? Join us for a theatrical discussion on how to get your speculative play published, performed, and seen.
James Patrick Kelly (M), Maura McHugh, Lex Beckett, Bruno Puelles
Saturday
NewCon Press book launch
17:30 – 18:30 on Saturday, 17 Aug 2019
Point Square Dublin WH2 – Performance space
A book launch unveiling three new titles from NewCon Press plus one ‘guest’ from Luna Press.
My collection The Boughs Withered (When I Told Them My Dreams) will be among the titles launched at this event.
Screening of Forbidden Planet at the IFI – with George R. R. Martin
20:00 – 22:30 on Saturday, 17 Aug 2019
IFI, Temple Bar, Dublin 2
George R.R. Martin will attend a screening of the classic SF film Forbidden Planet (1965) at the Irish Film Institute (IFI) in Temple Bar, Dublin.’A starship crew investigates the silence of a planet’s colony, only to discover two survivors – and a deadly secret.’ After the screening I will be in conversation with George R.R. Martin about his love for the film and its impact on him and his writing.
This event is sold out.
Sunday
Where is Ireland in the comics universe?
17:00 – 17:50 on Sunday, 18 Aug 2019
Wicklow Room-4 (CCD)
Apart from a few stereotypical characters here and there (Shamrock, Judge Joyce, Banshee etc.), Ireland doesn’t seem to have made much of an impact in the comics medium – or has it? Let’s talk about the growth of Irish comics and, we hope, the appearance of more Irish characters overall.
Maura McHugh (M), David Ferguson, Stephen Mooney, Kieron Gillen
Monday
Irish horror and the supernatural
11:00 – 11:50 on Monday, 19 Aug 2019
ECOCEM Room (CCD)
Critic Peter Tremayne observed that: ‘Practically every Irish writer has … explored the genre for the supernatural part of Irish culture.’ Ireland has always held its own in fantastical literature, from Jonathan Swift and Bram Stoker to Dorothy Macardle and Elizabeth Bowen. But is there a discernible tradition threaded through their fictions? And what, if anything, makes their writing Irish?
RB Kelly (M), Dr Jack Fennell, Maura McHugh, Dr Tracy Fahey
2000 AD: the Irish connection
12:00 – 12:50 on Monday, 19 Aug 2019
Wicklow Hall 2B (CCD)
For the past 35 years Irish writers and artists have been involved with 2000 AD. We discuss the impact that Irish creators have had on the comic and its stories, and consider recent additions to the line-up of Irish creators.
David Ferguson (M), Maura McHugh, Michael Carroll, William Simpson
