CapClave 2011 GOH and WSFA Small Press Award Winner: Carrie Vaughn

Author Guest of Honor: Carrie Vaughn
Author/Editor/Poet Guest of Honor: Catherynne Valente
ConChair: Cathy Green
We just got back from Capclave, the DC area’s sf/fantasy lit con, and are reflecting on how well run and interesting this smallish (~400 people) con is. Cathy Green the con chair, put in the usual superhuman effort, with the unusual results that everything went smoothly. The panels this year were a terrific assortment, thanks to Mike and Beth Zipser, and a surprise visit by Discworld author Terry Pratchett was worth the price of admission alone.

Terry Pratchett stopped by before getting on a "big silver bird" to head back to the UK.

Capclave fans turned out in force to hear Pratchett talk about his latest novel (Snuff), the BBC documentary he did on assisted dying, and for his assistant, Rob Wilkins, to read a number of brilliant passages from the novel. We were also admonished not to say “Awesome!” unless we were to actually witness a struggle between gods. “If a cup of coffee is awesome,” Pratchett asked, “what do you call the universe?” “Wicked awesome!” came a cry from the galley. Never underestimate fans.

The Zipsters had me on three panels this year, all of which I enjoyed immensely. Friday: Heinlein Juveniles (see the link below to my post on that), Saturday: Why Adults Read YA, and The Future of Books. The first two were, to a degree, parts I and II of the same panel, and the third, moderated by David Hartwell, was a lively discussion of eBooks v hardcopy, from reading, rights, and general economic views, as well as the elephant in the room question: will reading survive the boomers generation, regardless of form?

The panelists were in general agreement that the answer was yes…but not well. Reading won’t die off, but it’s going to face a continuing decline, and that’s just the way it is. Hartwell put forth the information that over some period (twenty years sticks in my mind) Tor has watched the number of readers remain steady while the population grew by nearly a half. Not good news for reading, he said.

Michael Swanwick signs a copy of his latest novel, "Dancing with Bears," for Diane Weinstein at Capclave 2011.

Maybe not, but reading, I pointed out, is a qualitatively different experience than any other form of media. One which asks the reader to create the world describe in words in their mind, and that this experience can’t be duplicated by movies, videos, games, or any other media. As such, it will always find some audience, though its days as a growing market are behind it.

I didn’t make the God in SF Panel, but I hear it was presented a broad array of views in a reasonable dialog, and even though they took a break to see Pratchett when he arrived during the panel, they reconvened afterwards.

Several car-fulls of friends from the Boston area came down to Capclave for the first time, and EJ and I were delighted to be able to hang out with the Devney’s, Barbara Chepaitis , and John Perrault…unfortunately, we got waylayed at a piano bar nearby (The Flaming Steer) where Barbara and I got hold of the mike and repelled the audience’s efforts to take it away from us. That’s only half true…since Barb can actually sing.

But we missed both the mass author signing and the WSFA Small Press Short Fiction Award ceremony. I did get a picture of the Carrie Vaughn, ironically both GOH and winner of the Award for her story “Amaryllis”, published in “Lightspeed” last June. The special irony is that the author’s name is stripped from their story before the judges read them. I’m a member of WSFA and have been a past judge, btw.

We did make it back in time for the Secret Scotch Tasting, perused some interesting parties and then crashed so we could get up for breakfast with friends. All in all, it was a great weekend.

Breakfast with friends at Capclave 2011 (L-R) John Perrault, Bob Devney, Paul Haggerty, Gayle Surrette, Michael Devney, Esther McClure

Links / References

• CapClave 2011: http://www.capclave.org/capclave/capclave11/
• Ern’s CapClave Photo Set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/elilley/sets/72157627783029391/
• “Amaryllis”, by Carrie Vaughn, Lightspeed: http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/amaryllis/

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