Every year, VCON invites a wide range of individuals with some professional or personal connection to science fiction and fantasy to attend the convention and sit on panels, run workshops and put on events during the course of the convention. These guests come from many different backgrounds and include authors, artists, actors, costumers, game desingers, and even the occational über fan.
The following sections contain information about the many guests who will be attending VCON this year. The lists will be updated as more guests confirm their participation.
Sections:
Guests of Honour |
Guests of Honour Emeritus |
Programming Guests
Guests of Honour
Our Guests of honour; the people we have choosen to favour above all others for the duration of this year's convention. We are very pleased they have chosen to attend our humble convention and hope you'll each find an opportunity to meet and interact with them, either at a panel, in the Hospitality Suite or just wandering the halls.
| Name | Info |
|---|---|
| Connie Willis Author GoH |
CONNIE is a science fiction writer who has won eleven Hugo Awards and seven Nebula Awards. See this page for more information about Connie |
| James Ng Artist GoH |
JAMES is a a freelance concept artist and illustrator who was born in Hong Kong and regularly moves between there, Vancouver, Chicago and New York. See this page for more information about James |
| Gregory Benford Science GoH |
GREGORY is an astrophysicist on the faculty of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Irvine and also a science fiction author. See this page for more information about Gregory |
Guests of Honour Emeriti
Over the years since 1971 there have been many, many Guests of Honour who have attend VCON and we love them! We call them our Guests of Honour Emeritus and we love them so much, in fact, that we regularly invite them to come back and hang out at VCON again and again. Every year many of these wonderful people do come out to attend the con (and sometimes even participate in programming) which makes us so happy that we just have to tell everyone who is going to be at the convention whether or not they will be participating in actual programming.
| Name | Info |
|---|---|
| As GoHE's confirm for VCON 37 their information will be displayed here. | |
| Dave Duncan VCON 18 Canadian Author GoH VCON 29 Author GoH www.daveduncan.com |
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| Don DeBrandt VCON 19.5 GoH |
DON is an author and also writes under the pen-names Donn Cortez and DD Barant. |
| Lynne Fahnestalk VCON 31 Artist GoH www.smilingdragonflystudio.com |
LYNNE is an Aurora winner who's art work will always make you smile. She is also the partner of our lovely and talented Steve Fahnestalk, the VCON 36 Toastmaster and perenial VCON art show auctioneer. This year Lynne will be exhibiting in the Art Show, selling art prints and fun knick-knacks as Smiling Dragon Fly Studio in the Vendor Hall, and participating in Programming. |
| Steve Fahnestalk VCON 19/Westercon 44 Toastmaster VCON 36 Toastmaster |
Not only is STEVE the Toastmaster at VCON 36 this year, he was the Toastmaster at VCON 19/Westercon 44 in 1997. See this page for more information about Steve |
| Stan Hyde VCON 22 Artist GoH |
STAN is a member of Monster Attack Team Canada a club dedicated to the craft of movie monster model building. |
| Eileen Kernaghan VCON 18.5 GoH VCON 14 / Canvention 6 Special Guest |
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| Don Marshall VCON 34 Special Guest |
DON is a video game designer and writer. He is also one of the co-hosts of the "GeeksOn" podcast (geekson.squarespace.com) |
| Dr. Jaymie Matthews VCON 29 Science GoH VCON 33 Science GoH |
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| George Metzger VCON 8 Fan GoH |
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| Larry Niven VCON 5 GoH VCON 36 Author GoH |
Not only is LARRY the Author GoH at VCON 36 this year, he was one of the GoH's at VCON 5 in 1976. See this page for more information about Larry |
| Lisa Smedman VCON 32 Gaming GoH |
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| Michael Walsh VCON 10 Toastmaster VCON 13 Toastmaster VCON 15 Toastmaster VCON 31 Toastmaster VCON 32/Canvention 27 Toastmaster VCON 33 Toastmaster |
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Programming Guests
There are many others from within industry and fandom who will be attending VCON as formal participants in panels and other programmed convention events.
| Name | Info |
|---|---|
| As Programming Guests are confirmed for VCON 37 their information will be displayed here. | |
| Rick Arino (ConCom) Gamer |
Rick Arino has been involved with VCON since number 24. He loves to play and host games and is always looking for the next fun way to entertain VCON attendees. |
| Devon Boorman Swordsman www.academieduello.com |
Devon Boorman is the Director and Master Instructor for Academie Duello, the world's largest centre for the study of European Swordplay and Martial Arts based in downtown Vancouver. |
| R Graeme Cameron (ConCom) Fandom Historian |
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| Eric Choi Aerospace Engineer Writer Editor www.aerospacewriter.ca |
Eric Choi was the first recipient of the Asimov Award for his novelette "Dedication", which was recently reprinted in Japanese translation for The Astronaut from Wyoming and Other Stories. His other short fiction has appeared in Footprints, Northwest Passages, Space Inc., Tales from the Wonder Zone, Northern Suns, Tesseracts6, Arrowdreams, Science Fiction Age and Asimov's. With Derwin Mak, he co-edited The Dragon and the Stars, the first anthology of speculative fiction by authors of the Chinese diaspora. He holds a bachelors degree in engineering science and a masters degree in aerospace engineering, both from the University of Toronto, and an MBA from York University. Eric has worked on a number of space projects including the Phoenix Mars Lander, the Canadarm2 on the International Space Station, the RADARSAT-1 Earth-observation satellite and the MOPITT atmospheric science instrument on the Terra satellite. He is currently the business development manager for the Mission Development Group at the Canadian space company COM DEV. |
| Mary Choo Author Poet |
Mary Choo's speculative poetry and fiction has been published in a wide variety of magazines, anthologies, online and electronic publications. She is a two-time Aurora finalist, and has received a number of honourable mentions in The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror and The Best Horror of the Year (online lists). Current credits and acceptances include the anthologies Like Water for Quarks, and Candle in the Attic Window. |
| Russ Crossley Author www.rghart.com |
Russ Crossley writes science fiction under his own name, paranormal romantic comedies as R.G. Hart, and mystery as R.G. Crossley. Several of his short stories have appeared in anthologies from Pocket Books and St Martins Press. His novel, Bachelorette Zombie Edition, was published by Sapphire Blue Publishing in 2010. Two novels, Antique Virgin, as R.G. Hart, and Attack of The Lushites, as Russ Crossley appeared earlier this year. |
| Alyx Dellamonica Author |
Alyx Dellamonica's first novel, INDIGO SPRINGS, won the Sunburst Award for Canadian Literature of the Fantastic in 2010. The sequel, BLUE MAGIC, will be out in November of 2011. |
| Linda Demeulemeester Author |
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| Rick Drew Screen Writer |
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| Brian Hades Publisher: EDGE Publishing www.hadespublications.com |
Brian Hades is the publisher/owner of Canada's largest publishing house dedicated to Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror: EGDE. Hades' books have been nominated for Canadian, US and Australian literary awards such as the Sunburst, Aurora, Aurealis, ForeWord and Ben Franklin Awards. Hades is the first Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy genre publisher to have sold publishing rights to The Science Fiction Book Club of New York. Other co-publishing and licensing deals include the release of various USA hardback and paperback editions, the translation and publication of French, Italian and Australian editions, as well as the optioning of television/movie production rights and the co-production of an animated short movie based on the poems in i-ROBOT Poetry by Jason Christie. |
| Palle Hoffstein Game Designer |
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| Tarol Hunt Artist www.goblinscomic.com |
Tarol is the inventor of the spork, fuzzy dice and the laser pointer. He also claims to be the creator, writer and artist of the webcomic Goblins, but many believe that to be a flimsy lie. |
| Karl Johanson Editor: Neo-Opsis Magazine www.neo-opsis.ca |
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| Paula Johanson Author |
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| Stephanie Johanson Artist |
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| Phoebe Kitanidis Author |
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| Barbara Klinger 501st Legion Costumer Bellydancer |
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| Rob Knop Scientist |
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| Ian Alexander Martin Publisher: Atomic Fez Publishing www.atomicfez.com |
Ian Alexander Martin has been over the years a photographer, a photo-lab store-owner, stage actor, and performing arts journalist; thus demonstrating a fascination with embracing trends already well into their death throes. Currently he is the Proprietor of Atomic Fez Publishing, which is dedicated to providing eclectic, genre-busting fiction in a variety of formats: electronic, hardcover, and paperback editions. He's lived in Metro Vancouver all his life, and in Burnaby with his wife and two cats for rather less than that. |
| Donna McMahon Author |
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| Jenni Merrifield (ConCom) WCSFA President |
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| Tamara Munzner Scientist |
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| David Ng Scientist |
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| Virginia O'Dine Publisher |
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| Andrea Painter Corsetry Expert |
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| Anne Prather Musician |
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| Robert Luis Rabello Author |
Robert Luis Rabello is a native of Glendale, California. His interest in science fiction began as an outgrowth of a childhood fascination with rockets. He began writing as a boy and has completed four novels in the Deveran Conflict Series. Currently, he lives in Sardis, British Columbia with his beloved wife and two sons. |
| Wolf Read Author |
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| Rhea Rose Poet |
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| Alyx J. Shaw Author |
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| Tamara Sheehan Author |
Tamara Sheehan is an Aurora Award nominated author of a number of short stories published in magazines like Neo Opsis and on line at places like Bewildering Stories. Her first novel, Tenth Man was published in 2008, The Mediocre Assassin's Handbook hit Amazon's top queer historical seller list and my next book, Stormy Bamboo and Other Tales, a samurai-steampunk novel, is available from Drollerie press. |
| Danielle Stephens (ConCom) Workshops |
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| Marcie Tentchoff Author |
Marcie Lynn Tentchoff is writer/poet/editor from Gibsons BC. Her work has appeared in such publications as On Spec, Weird Tales, and Strange Horizons, and she has two poetry collections available, Sometimes While Dreaming (Sam's Dot Publishing), and Through the Window: A Journey to the Borderlands of Faerie (Double-Edged Publishing), which can be found through Amazon. She holds full memberships in the HWA, SF Canada, and the SFPA, is an Aurora Award winner, a multiple Rhysling nominee, and has been long-listed for both the Stoker and the British Fantasy Award. Marcie currently edits Spaceports & Spidersilk, a speculative ezine aimed at readers aged eight and upwards, as well as editing poetry for Mindflights. |
| Pauline Walsh (ConCom) Workshops |
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| Susan Walsh (ConCom) Interactive Games |
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| Sandra Wickham Author |
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| Lynda Williams Author www.okalrel.org |
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| Casey June Wolf Author |
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