Guests of Honor : Joanne Harris, Joe Hill, Richard Christian Matheson, Brian Aldiss, Tessa Farmer
Special Guests : Susan Cooper, Tanith Lee
Special Appearance : Terry Pratchett
„The World Fantasy Convention is an annual gathering (almost a reunion) of professionals, collectors, and others interested in the field of Light and Dark Fantasy art and literature.
The number of Attending memberships are limited (to 850), and usually sell out in advance of the start of the convention.
The main features of the convention are the World Fantasy Awards, presented at a banquet on Sunday afternoon of each convention and the large Friday-evening autograph reception.
Cost of the banquet is separate from the cost of membership.
An area of the convention that helps define its character is the Dealers Room.Usually there are about 50 tables of merchandise (limited to art and literature), almost all of which are collectible and new publications.
There is also a very high quality Art Show, which includes some works for sale as well as displays of art from the top published artists in the field. Entry into both the Dealers Room and Art Show is juried, and should be requested well in advance of the convention.
World Fantasy Convention is also defined by what it does not include. Few members wear costumes, there is no gaming or masquerade, and if any films or videos are shown they are tied directly into the literature. The convention program features many of the attending professionals.
It’s not unusual for members to include over 200 published authors, 80 artists, 35 editors, and many of the rare book dealers in the field. Members come from all over the world, and the convention site also travels around the world. ”
This year the participants are coming from Great Britain, Ireland, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Latvia, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, Slovenia, Israel, Japan, Thailand, Brazil, Ecuador, Barbados.
The World Fantasy Awards Ballot for works published in 2012 has been announced.
The awards will be presented in Brighton, UK during the World Fantasy Convention, October 31-November 3, 2013.
The World Fantasy Awards finalists are:
Life Achievement:
Susan Cooper
Tanith Lee
Novel:
The Killing Moon, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
Some Kind of Fairy Tale, Graham Joyce (Gollancz; Doubleday)
The Drowning Girl, Caitlín R. Kiernan (Roc)
Crandolin, Anna Tambour (Chômu)
Alif the Unseen, G. Willow Wilson (Grove; Corvus)
Novella:
Hand of Glory, Laird Barron (The Book of Cthulhu II)
Let Maps to Others, K.J. Parker (Subterranean Summer ’12)
The Emperor’s Soul, Brandon Sanderson (Tachyon)
The Skull, Lucius Shepard (The Dragon Griaule)
Sky, Kaaron Warren (Through Splintered Walls)
Short Story:
The Telling, Gregory Norman Bossert (Beneath Ceaseless Skies 11/29/12)
A Natural History of Autumn, Jeffrey Ford (F&SF 7-8/12)
The Castle That Jack Built, Emily Gilman (Beneath Ceaseless Skies 1/26/12)
Breaking the Frame”, Kat Howard (Lightspeed 8/12)
Swift, Brutal Retaliation”, Meghan McCarron (Tor.com 1/4/12)
Anthology:
Epic: Legends of Fantasy, John Joseph Adams, ed. (Tachyon)
Three Messages and a Warning: Contemporary Mexican Short Stories of the Fantastic, Eduardo Jiménez Mayo & Chris N. Brown, eds. (Small Beer)
Magic: An Anthology of the Esoteric and Arcane, Jonathan Oliver, ed. (Solaris)
Postscripts #28/#29: Exotic Gothic 4, Danel Olson, ed. (PS Publishing)
Under My Hat: Tales from the Cauldron, Jonathan Strahan, ed. (Random House)
Collection:
At the Mouth of the River of Bees, Kij Johnson (Small Beer)
Where Furnaces Burn, Joel Lane (PS Publishing)
The Unreal and the Real: Selected Stories Volume One: Where on Earth and Volume Two: Outer Space, Inner Lands, Ursula K. Le Guin (Small Beer)
Remember Why You Fear Me, Robert Shearman (ChiZine)
Jagannath, Karin Tidbeck (Cheeky Frawg)
Artist:
Vincent Chong
Didier Graffet & Dave Senior
Kathleen Jennings
J.K. Potter
Chris Roberts
Special Award Professional:
Peter Crowther & Nicky Crowther for PS Publishing
Lucia Graves for the translation of The Prisoner of Heaven (Weidenfeld & Nicholson; Harper) by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Adam Mills, Ann VanderMeer, & Jeff VanderMeer for Weird Fiction Review
Brett Alexander Savory & Sandra Kasturi for ChiZine Publications
William K. Schafer for Subterranean Press
Special Award Non-Professional:
Scott H. Andrews for Beneath Ceaseless Skies
L. Timmel Duchamp for Aqueduct Press
S.T. Joshi for Unutterable Horror: A History of Supernatural Fiction, Volumes 1 & 2 (PS Publishing)
Charles A. Tan for Bibliophile Stalker blog
Jerad Walters for Centipede Press
Joseph Wrzos for Hannes Bok: A Life in Illustration (Centipede Press)
Quotations & pics © WFC
