Chicon 8 will be hosting five rooms of exclusive virtual content at peak hours of the convention, in addition to streaming three rooms of live-from-the-convention programming for a total of eight rooms of programming for Virtual Chicon 8 attendees to enjoy. In addition to these program items, Chicon 8 will be holding Virtual Table Talks (formerly known as Kaffeeklatsches).
Most virtual and streamed programming will be recorded and available to re-watch or watch on a time-shifted schedule until the end of September.
Chicon 8 will be using Airmeet, which has successfully been used for many other conferences over the past two years, to bring Virtual Chicon 8 to your computer, tablet, or phone.
Although you’ll have to wait for mid-August for the full schedule, here is a teaser of a few panels that will take place as part of Virtual Chicon 8.
The Fantastic, Speculative, Science-Fictional City. Cities are essential parts of speculative fiction, from James Blish’s Cities in Flight to N.K. Jemisin’s The City We Became, where the city itself is the main character. How has the city been used within the genre, and how has our approach to it changed? What’s different about authors writing from within urban settings, as opposed to describing them from outside?
The Future of Science Fiction is International. International SFF is flourishing, with new and classic non-English works being translated in unprecedented numbers, and writers and readers from diverse cultural backgrounds interacting in real time. Why is a more global approach to SFF important to the future of the genre as a whole? Who are the authors, translators, and venues to watch, and what are some of the most fascinating trends and works right now?
Beyond Sharks: Lots of Other Things to Kill You. From Japanese kappa to the Caribbean’s Lusca, Inuit folklore’s Qalupalik to Peruvian’s Yacumama, the waters of the world contain many different creatures and spirits that would relish the chance to kill you. Let’s look beyond sharks to other sources of aquatic terror.
Queer Eye for Sci-Fi. There is a long and complex history of queerness in fiction, from queer-coded villains in pulp novels to the more diverse spectrum of characterization in the last decade or so. Join panelists as they discuss the recent state of genre queerness, like Marvel’s long-overdue queer superheroes, the Nebula-Award winning This is How You Lose the Time War, and P. Djèlí Clark’s marvelously queer protagonist in 2021’s Master of Djinn.