WisCon
Encyclopedia
Wiscon or WisCon, the Wisconsin
Science Fiction
Convention, is often called the world's leading feminist
-oriented science fiction convention
and conference. It was first held in Madison
, Wisconsin in February 1977, and is held annually throughout the four day weekend of Memorial Day
. Sponsored by the Society for the Furtherance and Study of Fantasy and Science Fiction or (SF)³, WisCon gathers together women and men: fans
, writers, editors, publishers, scholars and artists from around the world to discuss science fiction and fantasy, with emphasis on issues of feminism
, gender
, race and class
.
WisCon Guests of Honor have included Eleanor Arnason
, Iain M. Banks, Lois McMaster Bujold
, Emma Bull
, Pat Cadigan, Avedon Carol
, Terry Carr
, Suzy McKee Charnas
, Buck & Juanita Coulson
, Samuel R. Delany
, Charles de Lint
, Beverly DeWeese, Gardner Dozois
, L. Timmel Duchamp
, Suzette Haden Elgin
, Carol Emshwiller
, Karen Joy Fowler
, Jeanne Gomoll, Nicola Griffith
, Barbara Hambly
, David Hartwell, Nina Kiriki Hoffman
, Nalo Hopkinson
, Ellen Klages
, Nancy Kress
, Ursula K. Le Guin
, Elizabeth A. Lynn
, R. A. MacAvoy
, Katherine MacLean
, George R. R. Martin
, Maureen McHugh, Vonda N. McIntyre, Patricia A. McKillip
, Judith Merril
, China Miéville
, Pat Murphy, Trina Robbins
, Mary Doria Russell
, Geoff Ryman
, Jessica Amanda Salmonson
, Pamela Sargent
, Melissa Scott, Stu Shiffman, Sheri S. Tepper
, John Varley
, Joan D. Vinge
, Elisabeth Vonarburg
, Howard Waldrop
, Connie Willis
, Terri Windling
, Don
& Elsie Wollheim, Susan Wood
, and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
.
The James Tiptree, Jr. Award
, an annual literary prize for science fiction or fantasy that expands or explores our understanding of gender, originated in a discussion at a prior WisCon, and the Tiptree Ceremony is often held at WisCon. Broad Universe
, an organization with the primary goal of promoting science fiction, fantasy, and horror written by women, also originated in a discussion at a prior WisCon; as did the Carl Brandon Society
, which is dedicated to addressing the representation of people of color
in science fiction, fantasy and horror.
WisCon 30 (May 26–29, 2006) was an anniversary Wiscon, and many previous Guests of Honor attended.
began issuing a series of books titled "WisCon Chronicles", with The WisCon Chronicles: Vol. 1 ISBN 978-1-933500-14-0, edited by L. Timmel Duchamp
.. Volume 2 was The WisCon Chronicles: Volume 2: Provocative essays on feminism, race, revolution, and the future ISBN 978-1-933500-20-1, edited by Duchamp and Eileen Gunn
; followed by The WisCon Chronicles: Vol. 3: The Carnival of Feminist SF ISBN 978-1-933500-30-0, edited by Liz Henry; The WisCon Chronicles: Vol. 4: Voices of WisCon ISBN 978-1-933500-40-9 edited by Sylvia Kelso
; and The WisCon Chronicles: Volume 5: Writing and Racial Identity ISBN 978-1-933500-73-7, edited by Nisi Shawl
and released at WisCon 35 (May 27-30, 2011), where Shawl was Guest of Honor. Volume 5, like Volume 4 before it, was supported by a grant from the Society for the Furtherance & Study of Fantasy & Science Fiction [(SF)3].
Helen Merrick's 2009 The Secret Feminist Cabal ISBN 978-1-933500-33-1, a 2010 Hugo nominee
, while a broader history of the topic, contains a number of mentions and descriptions of WisCon itself and of various WisCon-spawned projects such as the Tiptree Awards, Broad Universe and the Carl Brandon Society, beginning with the author's preface
and continuing throughout the book.
but rather a gastrointestinal illness caused by norovirus, a highly infectious virus that can be transmitted by close contact, or via contaminated food, water, or objects. Victims typically recover from norovirus without needing medical intervention. The particular strain of norovirus that occurred at WisCon has been designated "AY502008 (Wiscon)".
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
Science Fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
Convention, is often called the world's leading feminist
Feminist science fiction
Feminist science fiction is a sub-genre of science fiction which tends to deal with women's roles in society. Feminist science fiction poses questions about social issues such as how society constructs gender roles, the role reproduction plays in defining gender and the unequal political and...
-oriented science fiction convention
Science fiction convention
Science fiction conventions are gatherings of fans of various forms of speculative fiction including science fiction and fantasy. Historically, science fiction conventions had focused primarily on literature, but the purview of many extends to such other avenues of expression as movies and...
and conference. It was first held in Madison
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
, Wisconsin in February 1977, and is held annually throughout the four day weekend of Memorial Day
Memorial Day
Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War...
. Sponsored by the Society for the Furtherance and Study of Fantasy and Science Fiction or (SF)³, WisCon gathers together women and men: fans
Science fiction fandom
Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community or "fandom" of people actively interested in science fiction and fantasy and in contact with one another based upon that interest...
, writers, editors, publishers, scholars and artists from around the world to discuss science fiction and fantasy, with emphasis on issues of feminism
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
, gender
Gender identity
A gender identity is the way in which an individual self-identifies with a gender category, for example, as being either a man or a woman, or in some cases being neither, which can be distinct from biological sex. Basic gender identity is usually formed by age three and is extremely difficult to...
, race and class
Social class
Social classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'...
.
WisCon Guests of Honor have included Eleanor Arnason
Eleanor Arnason
Eleanor Atwood Arnason is an American author of science fiction novels and short stories.Arnason is the daughter of H. Harvard Arnason, who became the director of the Walker Art Center in 1951, and Elizabeth Yard Arnason, a social worker by profession who has spent her childhood in China...
, Iain M. Banks, Lois McMaster Bujold
Lois McMaster Bujold
Lois McMaster Bujold is an American author of science fiction and fantasy works. Bujold is one of the most acclaimed writers in her field, having won the prestigious Hugo Award for best novel four times, matching Robert A. Heinlein's record. Her novella The Mountains of Mourning won both the Hugo...
, Emma Bull
Emma Bull
Emma Bull is a science fiction and fantasy author whose best-known novel is War for the Oaks, one of the pioneering works of urban fantasy. She has participated in Terri Windling's Borderland shared universe, which is the setting of her 1994 novel Finder...
, Pat Cadigan, Avedon Carol
Avedon Carol
Avedon Carol is an American-born feminist, anti-censorship, and civil liberties campaigner and a researcher in the field of sex crime, residing in England...
, Terry Carr
Terry Carr
Terry Gene Carr was a U.S. science fiction author, editor, and teacher.Terry Carr was born in Grants Pass, Oregon...
, Suzy McKee Charnas
Suzy McKee Charnas
Suzy McKee Charnas is an American novelist and short story writer, writing primarily in the genres of science fiction and fantasy. She has won several awards for her fiction, including the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award and the James Tiptree, Jr. Award. A selection of her short fiction was collected...
, Buck & Juanita Coulson
Juanita Coulson
Juanita Coulson is an American science fiction and fantasy writer, active fan and fanzine editor. She is also widely known in filk music circles since the 1950s for her singing and songwriting; she has been nominated for several Pegasus Awards for her filking...
, Samuel R. Delany
Samuel R. Delany
Samuel Ray Delany, Jr., also known as "Chip" is an American author, professor and literary critic. His work includes a number of novels, many in the science fiction genre, as well as memoir, criticism, and essays on sexuality and society.His science fiction novels include Babel-17, The Einstein...
, Charles de Lint
Charles de Lint
Charles de Lint is a Canadian fantasy author and folk musician. He is also the chief book critic for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction....
, Beverly DeWeese, Gardner Dozois
Gardner Dozois
Gardner Raymond Dozois is an American science fiction author and editor. He was editor of Asimov's Science Fiction magazine from 1984 to 2004...
, L. Timmel Duchamp
L. Timmel Duchamp
L. Timmel Duchamp is an American author of science fiction. She is also an editor for Aqueduct Press.Duchamp is often grouped together with Kelly Link and other contemporary women authors who use genres like fantasy, horror, and science fiction to explore themes of feminism and gender politics...
, Suzette Haden Elgin
Suzette Haden Elgin
Suzette Haden Elgin is an American science fiction author. She founded the Science Fiction Poetry Association, and is considered an important figure in the field of science fiction constructed languages...
, Carol Emshwiller
Carol Emshwiller
Carol Emshwiller is an American writer of avant garde short stories and science fiction who has won prizes ranging from the Nebula Award to the Philip K. Dick Award. Ursula K...
, Karen Joy Fowler
Karen Joy Fowler
Karen Joy Fowler is an American author of science fiction, fantasy, and literary fiction. Her work often centers on the nineteenth century, the lives of women, and alienation....
, Jeanne Gomoll, Nicola Griffith
Nicola Griffith
Nicola Griffith is a British science fiction author, editor and essayist. Griffith is a 1988 alumnus of the Michigan State University Clarion science fiction writing workshop and has won a Nebula Award, the James Tiptree, Jr Award, the World Fantasy Award and six Lambda Literary Awards. She also...
, Barbara Hambly
Barbara Hambly
Barbara Hambly is an award-winning and prolific American novelist and screenwriter within the genres of fantasy, science fiction, mystery, and historical fiction...
, David Hartwell, Nina Kiriki Hoffman
Nina Kiriki Hoffman
Nina Kiriki Hoffman is an American fantasy, science fiction and horror writer.-Profile:Hoffman started publishing short stories in 1975. Her first nationally published short story appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction magazine in 1983...
, Nalo Hopkinson
Nalo Hopkinson
Nalo Hopkinson is a Jamaican science fiction and fantasy writer and editor who lives in Canada. Her novels and short stories such as those in her collection Skin Folk often draw on Caribbean history and language, and its traditions of oral and written storytelling.Hopkinson has...
, Ellen Klages
Ellen Klages
Ellen Klages is a science fiction writer who lives in San Francisco. Her novelette "Basement Magic" won the 2005 Nebula Award for Best Novelette. She had previously been nominated for Hugo, Nebula, and Campbell awards. Her first novel, The Green Glass Sea, was published by Viking Children's Books...
, Nancy Kress
Nancy Kress
Nancy Kress is an American science fiction writer. She began writing in 1976 but has achieved her greatest notice since the publication of her Hugo and Nebula-winning 1991 novella "Beggars in Spain" which was later expanded into a novel with the same title...
, Ursula K. Le Guin
Ursula K. Le Guin
Ursula Kroeber Le Guin is an American author. She has written novels, poetry, children's books, essays, and short stories, notably in fantasy and science fiction...
, Elizabeth A. Lynn
Elizabeth A. Lynn
Elizabeth A. Lynn is a US writer most known for fantasy and to a lesser extent science fiction. She is particularly known for being one of the first writers in science fiction or fantasy to introduce gay and lesbian characters; in honor of Lynn, the GLBT bookstore "A Different Light" took its...
, R. A. MacAvoy
R. A. MacAvoy
Roberta Ann MacAvoy is a fantasy and science fiction author in the United States. Several of her books draw on Celtic or Zen themes. She won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 1984.-Biography:...
, Katherine MacLean
Katherine MacLean
Katherine Anne MacLean is an American science fiction author best known for her short fiction of the 1950s which examined the impact of technological advances on individuals and society.-Profile:...
, George R. R. Martin
George R. R. Martin
George Raymond Richard Martin , sometimes referred to as GRRM, is an American author and screenwriter of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. He is best known for A Song of Ice and Fire, his bestselling series of epic fantasy novels that HBO adapted for their dramatic pay-cable series Game of...
, Maureen McHugh, Vonda N. McIntyre, Patricia A. McKillip
Patricia A. McKillip
Patricia Anne McKillip is an American author of fantasy and science fiction novels. Her novels have been winners of the World Fantasy Award, Locus Award and Mythopoeic Award. In 2008, she was a recipient of the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement...
, Judith Merril
Judith Merril
Judith Josephine Grossman , who took the pen-name Judith Merril about 1945, was an American and then Canadian science fiction writer, editor and political activist....
, China Miéville
China Miéville
China Tom Miéville is an award-winning English fantasy fiction writer. He is fond of describing his work as "weird fiction" , and belongs to a loose group of writers sometimes called New Weird. He is also active in left-wing politics as a member of the Socialist Workers Party...
, Pat Murphy, Trina Robbins
Trina Robbins
Trina Robbins is an American comics artist and writer. She was an early and influential participant in the underground comix movement, and one of the few female artists in underground comix when she started. Both as a cartoonist and historian, Robbins has long been involved in creating outlets for...
, Mary Doria Russell
Mary Doria Russell
Mary Doria Russell is an American novelist. -Biography:Russell was born in the suburbs of Chicago. Her parents were both in the military: her father was a Marine Corps drill instructor, and her mother was a Navy nurse. She graduated from Glenbard East High School and later she earned a Ph.D in...
, Geoff Ryman
Geoff Ryman
Geoffrey Charles Ryman is a writer of science fiction, fantasy and surrealistic or "slipstream" fiction.Ryman currently lectures in Creative Writing for University of Manchester's English Department. His most recent full-length novel, The King's Last Song, is set in Cambodia, both at the time of...
, Jessica Amanda Salmonson
Jessica Amanda Salmonson
Jessica Amanda Salmonson, born January 6, 1950, is an author, editor and writer of fantasy and horror fiction.-Author:Salmonson is the author of the Tomoe Gozen trilogy, a fantasy version of the tale of the historical female samurai Tomoe Gozen...
, Pamela Sargent
Pamela Sargent
Pamela Sargent is an American, feminist, science fiction author, and editor. She has an MA in classical philosophy and has won a Nebula Award. She wrote a series concerning the terraforming of Venus that is sometimes compared to Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy, but predates it...
, Melissa Scott, Stu Shiffman, Sheri S. Tepper
Sheri S. Tepper
Sheri Stewart Tepper is an American author of science fiction, horror and mystery novels; she is particularly known as a feminist science fiction writer, often with an ecofeminist slant....
, John Varley
John Varley (author)
John Herbert Varley is an American science fiction author.-Biography:Varley grew up in Fort Worth, Texas, moved to Port Arthur in 1957, and graduated from Nederland High School. He went to Michigan State University on a National Merit Scholarship because, of the schools that he could afford, it...
, Joan D. Vinge
Joan D. Vinge
Joan D. Vinge is an American science fiction author. She is known for such works as her Hugo Award-winning novel The Snow Queen and its sequels, her series about the telepath named Cat, and her Heaven's Chronicles books.-Biography:...
, Elisabeth Vonarburg
Élisabeth Vonarburg
Élisabeth Vonarburg is a science fiction writer. She was born in Paris and has lived in Chicoutimi , Quebec, Canada since 1973....
, Howard Waldrop
Howard Waldrop
Howard Waldrop is a science fiction author who works primarily in short fiction.Waldrop's stories combine elements such as alternate history, American popular culture, the American South, old movies , classical mythology, and rock 'n' roll music. His style is sometimes obscure or elliptical...
, Connie Willis
Connie Willis
Constance Elaine Trimmer Willis is an American science fiction writer. She has won eleven Hugo Awards and seven Nebula Awards. Willis most recently won a Hugo Award for Blackout/All Clear...
, Terri Windling
Terri Windling
Terri Windling is an American editor, artist, essayist, and the author of books for both children and adults. Windling has won nine World Fantasy Awards, the Mythopoeic Award, the Bram Stoker Award, and her collection The Armless Maiden appeared on the short-list for the James Tiptree, Jr. Award...
, Don
Donald A. Wollheim
Donald Allen Wollheim was an American science fiction ' editor, publisher, writer, and fan. As an author, he published under his own name as well as under pseudonyms, including David Grinnell....
& Elsie Wollheim, Susan Wood
Susan Wood (science fiction)
Susan Joan Wood Susan Joan Wood Susan Joan Wood (August 22, 1948-November 12, 1980 was a Canadian author, critic, and science fiction fan, born in Ottawa, Ontario.Wood discovered science fiction fandom while she was studying at Carleton University in the 1960s. Wood met fellow fan Mike Glicksohn of...
, and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
-Biography:She was born in Berkeley, California. She attended Berkeley schools through high school followed by three years at San Francisco State College .In November 1969 she married Donald Simpson and divorced in February 1982...
.
The James Tiptree, Jr. Award
James Tiptree, Jr. Award
The James Tiptree, Jr. Award is an annual literary prize for works of science fiction or fantasy that expand or explore one's understanding of gender. It was initiated in February of 1991 by science fiction authors Pat Murphy and Karen Joy Fowler, subsequent to a discussion at WisCon.- Background...
, an annual literary prize for science fiction or fantasy that expands or explores our understanding of gender, originated in a discussion at a prior WisCon, and the Tiptree Ceremony is often held at WisCon. Broad Universe
Broad Universe
Broad Universe is a United States-based, all volunteer organization with the primary goal of promoting science fiction, fantasy, and horror written by women. Writers, editors, publishers, reviewers, artists, and fans are invited to join them. "Broad-minded" men are welcome to participate...
, an organization with the primary goal of promoting science fiction, fantasy, and horror written by women, also originated in a discussion at a prior WisCon; as did the Carl Brandon Society
Carl Brandon Society
The Carl Brandon Society is a group originating within the science fiction community "dedicated to addressing the representation of people of color in the fantastical genres such as science fiction, fantasy and horror.....
, which is dedicated to addressing the representation of people of color
Person of color
Person of color is a term used, primarily in the United States, to describe all people who are not white. The term is meant to be inclusive among non-white groups, emphasizing common experiences of racism...
in science fiction, fantasy and horror.
WisCon 30 (May 26–29, 2006) was an anniversary Wiscon, and many previous Guests of Honor attended.
Books about WisCon
In 2007, Aqueduct PressAqueduct Press
Aqueduct Press is a publisher based in Seattle, Washington, United States which publishes material which features a feminist viewpoint.-History:...
began issuing a series of books titled "WisCon Chronicles", with The WisCon Chronicles: Vol. 1 ISBN 978-1-933500-14-0, edited by L. Timmel Duchamp
L. Timmel Duchamp
L. Timmel Duchamp is an American author of science fiction. She is also an editor for Aqueduct Press.Duchamp is often grouped together with Kelly Link and other contemporary women authors who use genres like fantasy, horror, and science fiction to explore themes of feminism and gender politics...
.. Volume 2 was The WisCon Chronicles: Volume 2: Provocative essays on feminism, race, revolution, and the future ISBN 978-1-933500-20-1, edited by Duchamp and Eileen Gunn
Eileen Gunn
Eileen Gunn is a science fiction author and editor based in Seattle, Washington, who began publishing in 1978....
; followed by The WisCon Chronicles: Vol. 3: The Carnival of Feminist SF ISBN 978-1-933500-30-0, edited by Liz Henry; The WisCon Chronicles: Vol. 4: Voices of WisCon ISBN 978-1-933500-40-9 edited by Sylvia Kelso
Sylvia Kelso
Sylvia Kelso is an author of both fantasy and science fiction, usually set in analogue or outright Australian landscapes. She has a Creative Writing MA built around one science-fiction novel using alternate North Queenslands and she earned her Ph.D...
; and The WisCon Chronicles: Volume 5: Writing and Racial Identity ISBN 978-1-933500-73-7, edited by Nisi Shawl
Nisi Shawl
Nisi Shawl is an African-American writer and journalist. She is best known as a writer of science fiction and fantasy short stories.-Work:Shawl is the co-author of Writing the Other: Bridging Cultural Differences for Successful Fiction, a book derived from the authors' workshop of the same name,...
and released at WisCon 35 (May 27-30, 2011), where Shawl was Guest of Honor. Volume 5, like Volume 4 before it, was supported by a grant from the Society for the Furtherance & Study of Fantasy & Science Fiction [(SF)3].
Helen Merrick's 2009 The Secret Feminist Cabal ISBN 978-1-933500-33-1, a 2010 Hugo nominee
Hugo Award
The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...
, while a broader history of the topic, contains a number of mentions and descriptions of WisCon itself and of various WisCon-spawned projects such as the Tiptree Awards, Broad Universe and the Carl Brandon Society, beginning with the author's preface
Preface
A preface is an introduction to a book or other literary work written by the work's author. An introductory essay written by a different person is a foreword and precedes an author's preface...
and continuing throughout the book.
WisCholera
In 2008, many WisCon 33 members caught an illness that became known as "WisCholera". Subsequent analysis revealed that this was not actually choleraCholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
but rather a gastrointestinal illness caused by norovirus, a highly infectious virus that can be transmitted by close contact, or via contaminated food, water, or objects. Victims typically recover from norovirus without needing medical intervention. The particular strain of norovirus that occurred at WisCon has been designated "AY502008 (Wiscon)".
Sources
- Bankier, Amanda, "Guest of Honor Speech at Wiscon 1" http://www.wiscon.info/downloads/bankier.pdf
- Gomoll, Jeanne, "Guest of Honor Speech at Wiscon 24" http://www.wiscon.info/downloads/gomoll.pdf
- Gomoll, Jeanne, "An Open Letter to Joanna Russ", in Six Shooter (Jeanne Gomoll, Linda Pickersgill and Pam Wells, eds.) - reprinted in Fanthology '87
- Hanson, Amy Axt, "How Is Wiscon Different from Other Cons?", The Broadsheet May 2002 http://www.broaduniverse.org/broadsheet/archive/0205aah.html
- Marks, Laurie J., "Why, and How a Wallflower Throws a Party at Wiscon", The Broadsheet May 2002 http://www.broaduniverse.org/broadsheet/archive/0205ljm.html
- McClenahan, Catherine. "Wiscon, Then and Now." Wiscon 20 Souvenir Book, Madison: SF3, 1996; pp. 46–48.
- Morgan, Cheryl, "Down Among the Rad Fems, 1998", The Broadsheet May 2002 http://www.broaduniverse.org/broadsheet/archive/0205cm.html
- Merrick, Helen. "From Female Man to Feminist Fan: Uncovering 'Herstory' in the Annals of SF Fandom," in Women of Other Worlds: Excursions through Science Fiction and Feminism, edited by Helen Merrick and Tess Williams; Nedlands: University of Western Australia Press, 1999; pp. 115–139.