World Fantasy Con Programming Mess
World Fantasy Con 2016 Programming has been announced.
On the bright side, after some internet backlash, it looks like they’ve renamed the “Spicy Oriental Zeppelin Stories” panel. So, um, yay for that? But that particular panel name was a symptom of a bigger problem.
I first found out about this from Sarah Pinsker’s series of Tweets. Some of the problems she points out include:
- A panel about “perversely alluring” freaks. (Panel description has since been slightly tweaked.)
- “More mentions of Lovecraft in the program than all women or works by women COMBINED.”
- Heavy programming emphasis on white men, particularly old/dead white men, to the exclusion of others.
Foz Meadows writes more about this mess. File770 also has a roundup of reactions.
I don’t know what was going on in the mind of Darrell Schweitzer and anyone else involved in putting this program together. But I can’t help thinking about the announcement late last year that the World Fantasy Award trophy would no longer feature the bust of H. P. Lovecraft.
And now we have five different panels that focus either directly or indirectly on Lovecraft.
It’s possible this is a coincidence. I believe Schweitzer is a strong Lovecraft fan, so his focus might just be indicative of his own narrow interests. But whether it was deliberate or not, it feels like backlash. A slap in the face of those who talked about how hurtful the Lovecraft trophy was, and all the reasons they wanted to see the award become more inclusive and welcoming to a broader range of fantasy and creators.
Wouldn’t it be great to see the World Fantasy Convention become equally welcoming instead of what feels like petulant doubling down?
It’s not something that just happens all by itself. If WFC wants to become more relevant, there needs to be conscious and deliberate effort to change direction. To look not just at fantasy from decades ago, but the brilliant, creative, exciting work being produced today.
I love the idea of a World Fantasy Convention. I’m utterly bored by another Whitedude Fantasy Convention.
Schweitzer allegedly said “there was no quota system or affirmative action in place” when asked about his programming choices. I get what he’s trying to say, but he’s wrong. Schweitzer’s own quota system is pretty obvious. It might not have been a conscious or deliberate quota, but the programming certainly meets its 90% works by men quota, and its 96% works by white people quota, and so on.
Gods, I’m so tired of the defensive “quota” bullshit. Nobody’s asking for quotas. But it would be nice if people would at least try to recognize their own biases. Sometimes that means yes, you need to actually step back and count. Count the number of women you’ve included in your programming, the number of people of color, and so on. Not because you’re supposed to include an arbitrary number of people from any given category, but to recognize whether your own unconscious choices are narrower than you realized.
While you’re at it, maybe reach out to ask others to look over your proposed program, and maybe help you catch whether what you think is a “harmless in-joke” is going to piss off and hurt a lot of people, making it very clear you don’t really want them as part of your convention.
It just seems better and easier to do that kind of work beforehand, you know?
--E
August 2, 2016 @ 5:23 pm
While you’re at it, maybe reach out to ask others to look over your proposed program, and maybe help you catch whether what you think is a “harmless in-joke” is going to piss off and hurt a lot of people, making it very clear you don’t really want them as part of your convention.
–>Problem is, lots of people reached out to him to explain the problems, and he completely ignored them.
This stinks like a month-old litterbox of deliberate obtuseness.
J. Bird
August 2, 2016 @ 6:33 pm
DS also is the guy who said he doesn’t use quotas, etc. when he edits story collections, and then asked (seriously) if women wrote Lovecraftiana. When they were pointed out to exist and that it was an editor’s job to at least be aware of the state of their field, he doubled down with bullheaded nonsense. So… his awareness of his own grossly-obvious-to-everyone-else bias is nil.
Jim C. Hines
August 2, 2016 @ 8:11 pm
That’s another problem, yeah. It’s one thing to recognize that messes like this can be prevented. It’s another to convince people to care…
Barbara Roden
August 3, 2016 @ 1:01 am
My husband Christopher and I programmed WFC Toronto in 2012. Maybe because there were two of us bouncing ideas off each other (for a verrrrry long time; I started jotting down program ideas at WFC 2011 in San Diego, where I was appalled with two ‘p’s by how few panels actually tied in with the con’s theme), and maybe because we reached out to others who were knowledgeable in the field for suggestions, but we put together a program that was praised, at the WFC board meeting on the Sunday of the Toronto con, as one of the best they’d ever seen (something we heard a lot during the course of the event).
We had 50/50 female/male balance on the panels overall; covered a wide range of themes and topics, old and new; made sure everyone who wanted to be on a panel was on one (maybe not their first choice, but they got on a panel); and made sure we had a number of panels that tied in with both the con’s themes (‘Northern Gothic’ and ‘Urban Fantasy’).
Something to bear in mind, too, is that when the person (or people) putting together the programming for WFC come up with a first pass (list of panels, complete with title and thumbnail description), this has to be approved by someone on the WFC board; in our case it was by David Hartwell. If he didn’t like something we’d come up with, it was out or it was changed. We ran into very few (if any) hassles on this score; Christopher and I were friends with David, and he liked what we presented, and the few quibbles were quickly sorted out.
So, presuming the system still works the same way, if the WFC 2016 program has been announced already (I’m not going this year, so haven’t really been paying attention), then someone from the WFC board has been A-okay with everything presented by the programmer.
Stephen Geigen-Miller
August 3, 2016 @ 10:58 am
Barbara, Toronto 2012 was the only WFC I’ve ever attended but I thought the programming was excellent and that the efforts you made to be representative paid off.
And that’s the thing, isn’t it? It takes work to create inclusive, representative programming that reflects the breadth and diversity of the field. Of course it takes work! That’s why we all have such profound respect for the dedicated folks at cons who do all that heavy lifting! But with that work, it’s achievable.
Mr. T
August 3, 2016 @ 12:34 pm
I’m a newish fantasy fan, and I would be totally put off by a fantasy convention with so much emphasis on an author who had died over 70 years ago.It’d be like going to an international mystery convention and having every other session be about Sherlock Holmes. You are taking up air from current authors who have something important and relevant to say.
Mr. T
August 3, 2016 @ 12:38 pm
(sorry, the “you” is the worldcon programmer who put lovecraft and/or dudes in every panel, not Jim.)
Jim C. Hines
August 3, 2016 @ 1:00 pm
Understood 🙂
Joel Zakem
August 4, 2016 @ 11:11 am
Just to clarify, Mr. T, this discussion is about programming at the World Fantasy Convention. “Worldcon” is a registered trademark of the World Science Fiction Convention, and the two conventions are not connected.
Ann Morris
August 8, 2016 @ 1:22 pm
As the person in charge of programming (other than gaming) at Necronomicon in Tampa, FL, I am familiar with the work that it is to create a program. Part of that work is to deal with current author’s works and societal issues that affect the field of SF & F. While I might enjoy the panels that WFC has this year, I would also want to see panels dealing with women authors, gender issues, Ethnicity and even disability issues for writers and for fandom.
I have only attended one WFC and it was a long time ago. I had a good time but have to admit that I am too in love with costumes to make it a regular thing. I couldn’t attend this year in any case as Necronomicon is the same weekend.
There is still plenty of time to fix the WFC program. I hope that happens for the sake of the convention and for those who attend.
How Not to Respond to Accusations of Racism, WFC Edition
August 13, 2016 @ 2:40 pm
[…] pointed out a number of problems with WFC’s proposed programming track? I blogged about it here, and a number of other people weighed in as well. Some of the many complaints […]
Amy
August 21, 2016 @ 3:32 pm
If they actually used the word “Oriental,” then yes.
Free or Not Free, and other writing and copyright topics (#SFWApro) | Fraser Sherman's Blog
August 25, 2016 @ 3:47 am
[…] the World Fantasy Con has displeased some writers this year with its programming slate: very white male-focused. Foz Meadows puts in historical context as well: Robert Aiken and Arthur Machen got a lot more […]
Brad Handley
September 10, 2016 @ 3:10 pm
Jim wrote ” Count the number of women you’ve included in your programming, the number of people of color, and so on.”
They can send out the invitations and ask people what panels they want to be on but they can not “Force” “Women , People of Color and so on” to volunteer for panels.
As Ann Morris (Necronomicon Programing) can verify, a Con can propose a panel, but the best presenters for the panel are the people who VOLUNTEER for the panel.
Part of the problem may be that they did not offer panels that interested those viewpoints in volunteering for the panels. But Jim, I assume you are aware that the “Spicy Oriental Zepplins” refers to a gag that was pulled in the 70s and quite famous.
Mr T you need to stay away from a bunch of cons then. Because a lot of them have “Posthumous” Guests. Also many cons like 221BCon that are Sherlock Homes or focused on other themes. They are becoming very popular. And while Lovecraft my be deceased, he is still a best selling author who is honored in Film(Suicide Squad), TV(Batman) and many other formats. Can you name for me a Fantasy Author who has an equal presence?
Harley Quinn works at Arkham Asylum. Lovecraft invented the name for town of Arkham to host Miskatonic University in his writing. The writers of DC brought his dark urban vision to Gotham and honored him for his contribution to Fantasy by creating Arkham Asyum. I can see how some of the villains like the Joker got warped by seeing visions of Cthulu.
Mary Turzillo
September 25, 2016 @ 11:14 am
Mary Shelley.
Drew White
October 25, 2016 @ 7:51 am
touché