Less than a week to go until Readercon 30. I’ll be there all weekend if you want to stop and say hi or attend one of my panels, my reading, or my kaffeeklatsch! Here’s where I’ll be and what I’ll be doing:
Friday 8:00 PM
Salon C – Reading: John P. Murphy
I’ll be reading from my upcoming debut novel! (What’s that, you say? Debut novel?? Better drop in…)
Saturday 12:00 PM
Salon 4 – Heist Stories as Meta-Genre – Josh Jasper, John P. Murphy (I’m moderating!), Tracy Townsend, John Wiswell, Navah Wolfe
On a panel at Readercon 29 about collaboration and community, John Wiswell observed that heist novels have “a synthesis of premise and plot,” while Scott Lynch added that heist stories reinforce that people need one another. This panel will dig more into heist stories, which (like humor and horror) can be layered on top of any genre or setting. What makes them satisfying? How can they make use of speculative elements while retaining their core of human ingenuity and interdependence?
Saturday 7:00 PM
Salon B – The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of Bicameral Models – Ruthanna Emrys, Benjamin C. Kinney, John P. Murphy (Moderating this one too!), John O’Neil
Computer science and neuroscience may each be getting closer to the mysteries of cognition, but they do so from very different directions. How do they inform each other, and how do they get in each other’s way? Are their differences reconcilable? For that matter, is it even meaningful to think of them as being about the same thing? What do their cutting edges imply for our own deep dreams of fantastika?
Sunday 11:00 AM
Concierge Lounge – Kaffeeklatsches: John P. Murphy, Sarah Pinsker
Sunday 1:00 PM
Salon A – A Hidden Knife: The Legacy of Fascism Embedded in Science Fiction – Keffy R.M. Kehrli, John P. Murphy, Nikhil Singh, Graham Sleight, Romie Stott (mod)
Early-20th-century pulp SF and futurism brought fascist ideas into the mainstream of speculative fiction. Since then, a great deal of storytelling, satire, and literary criticism have been invested in exorcising this demon from the genre. However, in the essay “Fascism & Science Fiction,” Aaron Santesso asks whether some of the core tropes of SF are themselves inherently fascist. Panelists will discuss this question, as well as possible remedies and counternarratives.
As you can imagine, I’m excited to be talking about these subjects, and getting the opportunity to pick the brains of some very bright people on fascinating topics. Come by, say hello. It’ll be a great weekend.
