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Kapow! – with added women
The Kapow! Comic Book convention is going on this weekend, and it’s good to see that in the face of criticism over its initial all-male line-up the event has adjusted its guest list. I was not the only one who pointed out the lack of women, and I’m not claiming this result is due to my input alone. Honestly, this is a positive response, and I hope it means more women featured at the event (if they hold it again) when they have time to include women in the planning from the very beginning. Millar is even talking up the female angle now, mentioned a 30% female readership in this…
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FanSciCon 2011
University College Dublin is hosting a new sf/f convention called FanSciCon, which will be taking place all-day on Friday, April 15th. The convention is free to enter, and the poster gives you an idea of the kinds of events that will be taking place. Guests listed are: Robert Curley, Stephen Doweny, Alan Nolan, Barry Keegan, Paddy Lynch, CE Murphy, Micheal Carroll, Deirdre de Barra, Hilary Lawler, Gar Shanley, and me. The event is in aid of Dublin Wicklow Mountain Rescue Team, which is a great cause, and members of the Team will be attending (as long as nobody gets lost up a mountain!). It looks like it will be a…
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women in comics in UK/Ireland – redux
The promised follow-up to the British women in comics blog post in January. I’ve written an overview of this entry also. A list of female writers and artists (colourists, inkers, pencilers, etc.) who work in sequential storytelling in the UK and Ireland. I’ve created a permanent page for this list on my web site – it’s linked on the sidebar. This post will no longer be updated. All further updates will be on the page. Update: for a comprehensive overview of the history of women who have worked in the comic book industry in the UK read The Inking Woman, edited by Nicola Streeten and Cath Tate, published by Myriad.…
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WexWorlds 2010
From the 26th – 28th November I’ll be a guest at WexWorlds, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Fiction Festival in Wexford, Ireland. A .pdf of the programme is available for download, and it looks like it’s going to be a weekend packed with lots of fun events – WexWorlds is primarily focused on young people, but there will be plenty for older people to enjoy as well. It’s ideal for households of adults and children who love science fiction and fantasy literature, television and cinema. I’ll be involved in the following events: Whites Hotel: Saturday 13.00-13.50 Recommendations of the best Sci-Fi and Fantasy books of 2010 I’ll be moderating the…
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Goodnight Dublin
I’ve had a lovely Octocon weekend in Dublin. Tomorrow I’ll be heading back to the West of Ireland, sad to leave friends, but inspired to continue working in the genre I love so much. I’m already looking forward to the next event.
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women in horror: a summary of recent posts
It’s time for a summary of the reaction across the Internet to my recent posts about the lack of representation of women in the SFX horror edition. As I mentioned last week David Barnett at the The Guardian blog brought up the issue immediately, and by the end of the week UK Feminist web site The F Word was running with the story. Once I posted editor Ian Berriman’s reply to my query, the response in the comments, on Internet articles and to me personally has been anger and frustration at the lack of knowledge displayed about women’s participation in the horror industry. As Cheryl Morgan put it, it was…
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SFX responds: a long post
After a prompt from a friend I wrote to SFX on Sunday regarding my concerns about its Horror edition. Here is my email: To whom it may concern, I purchased the horror edition of SFX magazine at the weekend since I’m a fan of horror literature and media, and also write in the genre. I was surprised at the lack of representation of women in the articles in the magazine. In particular I was stunned by the “Horror’s Hidden Treasures” piece. You found the time to query 34 men for their opinions, but neglected to ask even one woman to recommend an under-rated gem in the horror field. Can you…
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SFX forgets women in horror
It’s ironic that during Women in Horror Recognition Month I have to draw attention yet again to another major publication that has a blind spot when it comes to women in horror. Five months ago I was irked when the British Fantasy Society published a collection of interviews of horror writers that omitted women. A minor Internet outrage ensued, which died down with the society’s quick and honest apology. Naïvely, I thought maybe a lesson had been learned. This month the British magazine SFX published a special edition devoted to Horror that overlooks women almost entirely. In his opening words editor Ian Berriman says: “You see, some people think horror…
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Horror wants women to scream, but not talk
This weekend the British Fantasy Society (BFS) is hosting its annual convention, Fantasy Con. Last night while on Facebook I noticed a news item, which constitutes an electronic “flyer”, about the convention. I immediately noticed the cover of a new book the BFS is launching at the convention: a collection of interviews with writers (the first in a trilogy) in which they discuss their genre. It’s called In Conversation: A Writer’s Perspective. Volume One: Horror. It’s edited by James Cooper, and is composed of 16 interviews with horror authors Ramsey Campbell, Tom Piccirilli, Greg F. Gifune, Conrad Williams, Joe R. Lansdale, Gary McMahon, Brian Keene, Stephen Gallagher, Jeffrey Thomas, Peter…
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children's book conference
The children and young adult fiction markets are awash in speculative fiction writers, which is wonderful. Adults often read this fiction, sometimes because they come to it via their children, and often because young adult fiction is damn good. Irish fans should therefore be interested in the Children’s Books Ireland conference, which takes place from 16-17 May in the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin. The theme this year is Challenge and Change in Children’s Books, and there is a big range of Irish and international writers at this year’s event. On the home front, Ireland is well represented by the talents of Celine Kiernan (The Poison Throne), Andrew Whitson and…
