Picocon
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Picocon is the name given to a series of British science fiction conventions run by the Imperial College Science Fiction and Fantasy Society (ICSF).[1] Taking place on a Saturday (occasionally extended to Sunday), in February or early March in Imperial College's Blackett Building since 1984.
T-shirts and other merchandise related to the convention are typically emblazoned with the Greek letters ΨΦ (psi, phi), which can be read as Sci-Fi. Roles in organising the convention include the Sofa ("like a chair, only comfier") and the Beanbag.
The reason for the event numbering (Picocon, Picocon Pi, Picocon 4, ⋯) of the first conventions is unclear. One suggestion is that there was a predecessor Picocon event watching videos and playing board games, and that the first formal event with a guest speaker is therefore Picocon 2.
List of Picocons
[edit]| Year | Date(s) | Name | Location | Guest(s) of Honour |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | 2 February | Picocon | Imperial College | David Langford |
| 1985 | 9 March | Picocon Pi | Imperial College | Dave Langford, Gerry Webb |
| 1986 | 15 February | Picocon 4 | Imperial College | Dave Langford, Brian Stableford |
| 1987 | 21 February | Picocon 5 | Imperial College | John Brunner, David Hardy |
| 1988 | 6 February | Picocon 6 | Imperial College | Terry Pratchett, Michael Scott Rohan, Dave Langford |
| 1989 | 4 February | Picocon 7 | Imperial College | Dave Langford, Terry Pratchett, Gerry Webb, Dave Lally |
| 1990 | 3 March | Picocon 8 | Imperial College | Bob Shaw |
| 1991 | 2 March | Picocon 9 | Imperial College | Dan Abnett, Alex Stewart |
| 1992 | 7 March | Picocon 10 | Imperial College | Dave Langford, Brian Stableford |
| 1993 | 6 March | Picocon 11 | Imperial College | Colin Greenland |
| 1994 | no Picocon in 1994 | |||
| 1995 | 12 March | Picocon 12 | Imperial College | Iain M. Banks, Dr. Arley Anderson[GoH note 1] |
| 1996 | 4 February | Picocon 13 | Imperial College | Robert Holdstock, Stephen Baxter, Christopher Priest |
| 1997 | 2 March | Picocon 14 | Imperial College | Simon Ings, Nicholas Royle |
| 1998 | 28 February | Picocon 15 | Imperial College | |
| 1999 | 6 February | Picocon 16 | Imperial College | Stephen Lawhead, Jane Johnson, M John Harrison (who jointly write under the pseudonym Gabriel King) |
| 2000 | 19 February | Picocon 17 | Imperial College | Juliet McKenna, Brian Stableford, Garry Kilworth, Ian Watson |
| 2001 | 10 February | Picocon 18 | Imperial College | Christopher Priest, Geoff Ryman, Juliet E. McKenna, Jane Killick[GoH note 2] |
| 2002 | 9 February | Picocon 19 | Imperial College | Anne Gay,[GoH note 3] China Miéville, Stan Nicholls, Geoff Ryman |
| 2003 | 22 February | Picocon 20 | Imperial College | Jack Cohen, Gwyneth Jones |
| 2004 | 7 February | Picocon 21 | Imperial College | Peter F. Hamilton, Paul McAuley, Adam Roberts |
| 2005 | 19 February | Picocon 22 | Imperial College | Gwyneth Jones, Jon Courtenay Grimwood, Brian Stableford |
| 2006 | 18 February | Picocon 23 [2] | Imperial College | Ian Watson, Natasha Mostert, Mark Roberts |
| 2007 | 17 February | Picocon 24 | Imperial College | Charlie Stross, Ken MacLeod, Farah Mendlesohn |
| 2008 | 23 February | Picocon 25 | Imperial College | Paul Cornell, Cory Doctorow, Liz Williams |
| 2009 | 28 February | Picocon 26 | Imperial College | Pat Cadigan, Robert Rankin, Michael Marshall Smith |
| 2010 | 27 February | Picocon 27 3^3 | Imperial College | Alastair Reynolds, Amanda Hemingway, Jaine Fenn |
| 2011 | 19 February | Picocon 28 | Imperial College | Juliet McKenna, Kari Sperring, Paul McAuley |
| 2012 | 18 February | Picocon 29 | Imperial College | Adrian Czajkowski, Justina Robson, Tricia Sullivan |
| 2013 | 16-17 February | Picocon 30 [3] | Imperial College | Peter F. Hamilton, Kate Griffin, Steph Swainston, Richard K. Morgan |
| 2014 | 22 February | Picocon 31 Survival | Imperial College | Sarah Pinborough, Charles Stross, David Southwood |
| 2015 | 14-15 February | Picocon 32 Duality | Imperial College | Cory Doctorow, Frances Hardinge, Ian McDonald, Kari Sperring, Stuart Ashen |
| 2016 | 20 February | Picocon 33 [4][5] | Imperial College | Paul Cornell, Michelle Paver, Carrie Hope Fletcher |
| 2017 | 18 February | Picocon 34 Futurism: Oh, the humanity | Imperial College | Jaine Fenn, Paul McAuley, Al Robertson, Justina Robson, Stuart Ashen |
| 2018 | 17 February | Picocon 35 Harmony | Imperial College | Paul Stewart, Chris Riddell, Ben Aaronovitch, Emma Newman |
| 2019 | 16 February | Picocon 36 | Imperial College | Alexis Kennedy, Lottie Bevan, Simon Morden, Andrew Bannister, Gavin Smith |
| 2020 | 22 February | Picocon 37 Pride[6] | Imperial College | Juliet Kemp, Roz Kaveney, Tamsyn Muir |
| 2021 | 20 February | Picocon 38 <automata>[7] | (online) | Jeff Somers, Dan Moren, S.J. Kincaid, Brian David Johnson |
| 2022 | 5 March | Picocon 39 Apocalypse[8][9] | Imperial College, online | Bryony Pearce, Louise Mumford, A.J. Flowers, Brendan DuBois, Gareth L. Powell, Matthew Wraith |
| 2023 | 11 March | Picocon 40 Twisted | Imperial College, online | Alma Alexander, Gav Thorpe, Mark Lawrence, Jonathan Sims,[GoH note 4] Tim Klotz,[GoH note 5] Allan Henry[GoH note 6] |
GoH Notes
[edit]One line introductions for a Guests of Honour who don't (yet) have a Wikipedia biography page, e.g. linking a creator to a bibliography, filmography or an example book (series), podcast, piece/series of art, etc. …
- ^ Dr Arley Anderson is a physics researcher who gave a talk about space travel through wormholes https://www.union.ic.ac.uk/scc/icsf/history/picocon/picocon12.html
- ^ Jane Killick is a radio broadcaster, SF novelist and author of behind the scenes books for popular SF tv series such as Babylon 5 and Red Dwarf
- ^ Anne Gay is an author of SF novels, see the SF Encyclopedia for a bibliography https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/gay_anne
- ^ Jonathan Sims is the writer and narrator of the horror fiction podcast The Magnus Archives
- ^ Tim Klotz is an actor & fight director for film, theatre, games etc. IMDb has a filmography https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1238088/
- ^ Allan Henry is an actor, fight director, stunt performer and the motion capture artist for the title character in the 2023 movie Cocaine Bear
References
[edit]- ^ "Picocon: London's lovely little sf convention". 3 February 2011.
- ^ Picocon 2006 The Internet Book Database of fiction http://www.ibdof.com/viewtopic.php?t=112494
- ^ "Picocon-30-an-imperial-sf-and-fantasy-convention-245" https://thetab.com/uk/imperial/2013/01/26/picocon-30-an-imperial-sf-and-fantasy-convention-245
- ^ Appearances picocon-33 https://www.paulcornell.com/appearances/picocon-33/
- ^ SFrevu "Picocon" http://www.sfrevu.com/php/Column.php?Search=201602&ColumnType=CONVENTION
- ^ Picocon 37 https://www.union.ic.ac.uk/scc/icsf/history/picocon/picocon37.html
- ^ Picocon 38 https://www.union.ic.ac.uk/scc/icsf/history/picocon/picocon38.html
- ^ Picocon 39 -Apocalypse – announced for March 2022 https://www.starburstmagazine.com/picocon-39-announced-march-2022
- ^ Picocon 39 timetable of streamed talks https://twitter.com/picocon/status/1500021113421811714
External links
[edit]- Convention home page
- Review of Picocon from 2000 [1]
- text of a talk given at Picocon in 1996 by author Stephen Baxter [2]
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