In about a week I’ll be arriving in Dublin to attend Worldcon! I’ll be doing five panels and a talk and would love to see you there.

Unfortunately, I’m going to have some mobility issues when I’m there, so I don’t know how many events that aren’t the stuff I’m committed to I’ll be able to attend :/ But hopefully I’ll still get to see everyone who wants to say hi!

So, without further ado, my full schedule (which you can also see at my speaker page on Grenadine):

Is Hari Seldon’s project becoming achievable?

Format: Panel
16 Aug 2019, Friday 16:30 – 17:20, Alhambra (Point Square Dublin)

People have long tried to predict future outcomes of nations or personal behaviour. Prediction is now enhanced by big data and machine learning. Panellists consider which events we already can predict with high probability. With stochasticity, which events will we never ‘get’? What mechanisms would prevent misuse (e.g. for advertising or influencing voting)? What would trigger a ‘Seldon Crisis’?

Hugo finalists discussion: Best Dramatic Presentation

Format: Panel
16 Aug 2019, Friday 19:00 – 19:50, Wicklow Hall-1 (CCD)

Our panel will discuss this year’s finalists in the Hugo Award category for Best Dramatic Presentation. What will win? What should win? And what else should have been shortlisted?

The portrayal of disability in art

Format: Panel
17 Aug 2019, Saturday 14:30 – 15:20, Odeon 4 (Point Square Dublin)

People with disabilities are woefully under-represented in art of all kinds. What are the right and wrong ways to portray disability? How can we encourage artists to increase this representation and to do it in a fair and realistic manner?

Winter came

Format: Panel
17 Aug 2019, Saturday 17:00 – 17:50, Wicklow Room-4 (CCD)

It’s over. Let’s talk about how it ended: what worked, what didn’t, and what the legacy and influence of Game of Thrones is likely to be.

Women write about war

Format: Talk
19 Aug 2019, Monday 10:00 – 10:50, Wicklow Hall-1 (CCD)

Science fiction and fantasy often deal with war, violence and military life. What clichés have developed in this genre, and why? And can things be done differently? Three books by women in the 21st century that deal directly with war – Naomi Novik’s His Majesty’s Dragon, Karin Lowachee’s Warchild, and Kameron Hurley’s God’s War – present alternative visions of violent conflict and point to new ways of subverting familiar narratives.

Rossetti to Rhee: the speculative and the poetic

Format: Panel
19 Aug 2019, Monday 14:00 – 14:50, Wicklow Room-1 (CCD)

A panel where SFF poets will talk about SFF poetry and its unique challenges and freedoms, the traditions of the genre, where they see speculative poetry going in the future, and the connections between speculative poetry and speculative prose.