WisCon40 Schedule

I will be attending WisCon40! Here is my schedule for the weekend:

YES, Our Stories Matter: Encouragement and Support For Creators With Marginalized Identities

Friday, 4pm - 5.15pm, University C

Jaymee Goh (M), Riley, Alex Jennings, Mark Oshiro, Susan Simensky Bietila 

Marginalization affects our success as creators, oppression impacts our ability to create and can grind us down. At the same time, encouragement can come in many ways, from reader comments to supporting each other as marginalized creators. Let's discuss issues like: Why do you keep creating? When do you know you've touched someone with your art? How do you recharge after a setback? How can we support each other within and between different marginalized groups? When it feels like the whole world is telling you that your story doesn't matter, where do you find the strength to pick up the pen?

The Downsides to Maker Culture

Sat, 9:00–10:15 pm, Conference 1

Georgie L. Schnobrich (M), Candra K. Gill, Jaymee Goh, Effie Seiberg

Maker culture as promoted by BoingBoing and others has a great deal of appeal to fans (robots, DIY, what's not to love?) but what are its underlying assumptions? Deb Chachra* declared that she is not a "Maker;" critiquing Maker culture as valuing certain forms of making over others (i.e. traditionally male forms of creativity like electronics vs. traditionally female forms like knitting) and which also values creation over other forms of contribution to society (like caregiving). Does it reinforce divisions based on class and entitlement as the ability to make also suggests that the maker has both the time and money to create? Does it indeed reinforce the idea that traditionally male roles are better? *See http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/01/why-i-am-not-a-maker/384767

Science Fiction in Translation

Sun, 10:00–11:15 am, Caucus

Jaymee Goh (M), Arrate Hidalgo, S. Qiouyi Lu 

As Anglo SFF as a whole becomes more aware of the Rest Of The World, translation projects seem ready to see a boom. Let’s hear it from translators: how difficult is it to translate SFF concepts from one language to another? What trends are we noticing in what types of stories get translated, from which regions? What SF-nal influences are visible across borders? What can readers and editors do to increase the amount of translated fiction in the genre's magazines?

Asian Ancestresses

Sun, 1:00–2:15 pm, Conference 1

Jaymee Goh (M), Emily Jiang, Mary Anne Mohanraj 

From Mulan, to Begum Nur Jahan, to Princess Shirin, to the Lady of Mount Ledang, the mythologies and histories of Asia are filled with women who tower large, rivaling the men of their times despite the unequal footing. How were their stories told to us when we were children? How did we find out more about them? What lessons can we take from their stories? And how do we re-tell them and partake in their legacies today?

Women Writing SFF, All Around The World!

Sun, 2:30–3:45 pm, Wisconsin

Jaymee Goh (M), Jackie Hatton, Arrate Hidalgo, Emily Jiang, Justine Larbalestier

A reading recommendation panel! What books would be of interest to WisCon members? Whether Anglophone, in translation, or in different languages, from Indigenous to diaspora works, let's share SFF we've read recently that encourages USian WisCon members to step out of our cultural bubbles.