OryCon 44: Full Schedule

Welcome to the not-quite-ready-for-prime-time schedule for OryCon 44! Seriously - we’re still hard at work on the schedule, but we want to give you an idea of what wonders await you in just a few more weeks. Please check back frequently for changes and additions, and see you in October!

3:00pm PDT

Robots and Spaceships and Computers Oh My!

Friday October 18, 2024 3:00pm - 3:50pm PDT

Madison

Most early science fiction was action-oriented and centered around robots, spaceships and computers in futuristic societies. Nowadays there's far more to the genre than that. How has SF changed since the heyday of Asimov et al, for better and for worse?

Moderators

Erik Grove

Panelists

Mark Chapman

Bob Brown

Manny Frishberg

Friday October 18, 2024 3:00pm - 3:50pm PDT
Madison

SCIENCE FICTION

4:00pm PDT

Genre Hybrids

Friday October 18, 2024 4:00pm - 4:50pm PDT

Madison

Stories that incorporate core concepts and elements of more than one traditional genre offer something particularly satisfying for those drawn to them. A discussion on these with writers who create them.

Moderators

Maquel A. Jacob

Panelists

Brenda Clough

Rhiannon Louve

Tara Campbell

Fiction Editor, Barrelhouse

Tara Campbell is a writer, teacher, Kimbilio Fellow, and fiction co-editor at Barrelhouse. She received her MFA from American University. Previous publication credits include SmokeLong Quarterly, Masters Review, Wigleaf, Booth, Jellyfish Review, Strange Horizons, and CRAFT Literary... Read More →

Friday October 18, 2024 4:00pm - 4:50pm PDT
Madison

SCIENCE FICTION

5:00pm PDT

Good Games for Non-gamers

Friday October 18, 2024 5:00pm - 5:50pm PDT

Madison

You've got friends and/or family that you like to hang out with. Even better would be if they'd be up for playing games with you now and then! But what are some good games that won't scare them off? We'll tell you!

Panelists

Aaron Curtis

Eamon Dixon

Starwolfe

Friday October 18, 2024 5:00pm - 5:50pm PDT
Madison

GAMING

6:00pm PDT

Borrowing from Cultures: Appreciation vs. Appropriation

Friday October 18, 2024 6:00pm - 6:50pm PDT

Madison

Own Voices deserve to be heard, and people, especially underrepresented people should get to tell their own stories. But, does that mean we can only write about characters that look like us and have the same background? Taken to a logical extreme, can men ever write authentic female characters? Where are the lines when it comes to "writing the other?" When does the folk process become cultural theft or exploitation? What is the role of "sensitivity readers" in all this, and can they help offer a way through?

Moderators

Alma Alexander

Panelists

Thomas Gondolfi

Shoshana Glick

Friday October 18, 2024 6:00pm - 6:50pm PDT
Madison

SOCIETY POLITICS AND HISTORY

7:00pm PDT

Is there a Solution to Toxic Masculinity?

Friday October 18, 2024 7:00pm - 7:50pm PDT

Madison

A discussion of what toxic masculinity is, how deep it pervades American society, how to combat it, and how to deal with the damage it causes. In the world of hashtags like Yes, all men, we need to know why it is important for every man to accept responsibility for themselves and others.

Moderators

Shoshana Glick

Panelists

Remy Nakamura

Admiral Wordsmith

Manny Frishberg

Friday October 18, 2024 7:00pm - 7:50pm PDT
Madison

SOCIETY POLITICS AND HISTORY

8:00pm PDT

Gender and Sexuality: The Divide

Friday October 18, 2024 8:00pm - 8:50pm PDT

Madison

A discussion about the difference between gender and sexuality and why both need to be present on page. What does it take to be mindful of Queer readers when writing SFF with Queer characters?

Moderators

J.S. Fields

Panelists

Manny Frishberg

Jennifer Rosenberg

Theresa Reed

Maquel A. Jacob

Friday October 18, 2024 8:00pm - 8:50pm PDT
Madison

SOCIETY POLITICS AND HISTORY

10:00am PDT

But that’s not what I meant!

Saturday October 19, 2024 10:00am - 10:50am PDT

Madison

Business communication tips for those of us on the geek spectrum.

Moderators

John Hedtke

Panelists

Mark Niemann-Ross

Erik Grove

Starwolfe

Saturday October 19, 2024 10:00am - 10:50am PDT
Madison

GENERAL INTEREST

11:00am PDT

SARS-CoV-2 Did Everything Wrong

Saturday October 19, 2024 11:00am - 11:50am PDT

Madison

Fast movement. High mortality. Clear and obvious symptoms. Transmission only after illness starts. Vaccines that grant full and permanent immunity. These are common tropes in fictional plagues, but we saw almost none of this things with the COVID-19 pandemic. How did our narratives of plague wind up this way, and what kind of stories do we need to prepare for the next one?

Moderators

Karen L. Black

Panelists

Tom Whitmore

Kristi Charish

Jim Kling

Saturday October 19, 2024 11:00am - 11:50am PDT
Madison

SCIENCE FICTION

1:00pm PDT

Laws Tax Codes and Society Oh My!

Saturday October 19, 2024 1:00pm - 1:50pm PDT

Madison

What is the future of our laws, rules, and societal systems? Will laws and tax codes become increasingly complex simply because we have more tools to adapt to them, or will there be an effective push to simplify? What about corporate and governmental bureaucracy? How much is our society, positively and negatively, affected by complexity and how might it change, for better or worse?

Moderators

Clayton Mann

Panelists

Rory Miller

Maquel A. Jacob

Daniel Reitman

Saturday October 19, 2024 1:00pm - 1:50pm PDT
Madison

SOCIETY POLITICS AND HISTORY

2:00pm PDT

The Population Bomb Has Fizzled

Saturday October 19, 2024 2:00pm - 2:50pm PDT

Madison

The birth rate in all nations has declined, in many places below replacement levels in some (Italy, Japan, ...) dramatically so. What does a world look like when there are more people over 80 then under 18?

Moderators

Wolf Read

Panelists

Lawrence Watt-Evans

Andrew Nisbet

Erica L. Satifka

D.L. Solum

Debut Author of the Dark-Thriller-Urban-Fantasy series: Persephone-A Tale of Darker Seattle. Long time medieval re-enactor and arms and armor specialist.

Saturday October 19, 2024 2:00pm - 2:50pm PDT
Madison

SOCIETY POLITICS AND HISTORY

3:00pm PDT

Climate Change: the Good the Bad and the Ugly

Saturday October 19, 2024 3:00pm - 3:50pm PDT

Madison

The terrible news about the risks of climate change are almost impossible to dodge, as are the attempts to "greenwash" the organizations and institutions that are responsible for the current situation and essential to resolving it. But there is also a lot of cause for hope, from technological advances in renewable energy and new battery chemistries, to the newly adopted UN treaty on protecting the world's open oceans after 20 years of negotiations by more than 190 seafaring nations.

Moderators

Howard Davidson

Panelists

Wolf Read

Anne Davenport

Arwen Spicer

Saturday October 19, 2024 3:00pm - 3:50pm PDT
Madison

SOCIETY POLITICS AND HISTORY

4:00pm PDT

Alternative History Examined

Saturday October 19, 2024 4:00pm - 4:50pm PDT

Madison

We've all heard the term, Alternative History. What does it really mean? Do you have to be a history freak to understand it or merely like reading a "what might have been" adventure story? How would you change history to make an engaging story?

Moderators

Sara A Mueller

Panelists

Lawrence Watt-Evans

Alma Alexander

Maquel A. Jacob

A.M. Brosius

Saturday October 19, 2024 4:00pm - 4:50pm PDT
Madison

SOCIETY POLITICS AND HISTORY

5:00pm PDT

Fantasy before Tolkien

Saturday October 19, 2024 5:00pm - 5:50pm PDT

Madison

What are the essential works of fantasy that preceded The Hobbit? Among the pre-Tolkien greats, which could still be essential reading today?

Moderators

Lawrence Watt-Evans

Panelists

Ken Lizzi

G.R. Theron

Tom Whitmore

Saturday October 19, 2024 5:00pm - 5:50pm PDT
Madison

FANTASY AND HORROR

6:00pm PDT

Beyond Anthropocentrism

Saturday October 19, 2024 6:00pm - 6:50pm PDT

Madison

What are examples of anthropocentrism? Would society and the environment benefit if people moved beyond a anthropocentric (human-centered) view, and is this possible? If so, what strategies could we use for this?

Moderators

Arwen Spicer

Panelists

Erica L. Satifka

Manny Frishberg

Tara Campbell

Fiction Editor, Barrelhouse

Saturday October 19, 2024 6:00pm - 6:50pm PDT
Madison

SOCIETY POLITICS AND HISTORY

7:00pm PDT

Humor in Science Fiction

Saturday October 19, 2024 7:00pm - 7:50pm PDT

Madison

Humor can be challenging enough to present in "our" time and place in light of what different human cultures of the here-and-now may consider humorous -- or insulting. How much more difficult might it be when we also factor in the variables of future alien civilizations with nonhuman intelligent beings?

Moderators

Bob Brown

Panelists

Dave Bara

Alan Olsen

Maquel A. Jacob

Saturday October 19, 2024 7:00pm - 7:50pm PDT
Madison

SCIENCE FICTION

10:00am PDT

Mixing Genres

Sunday October 20, 2024 10:00am - 10:50am PDT

Madison

Science fiction mysteries? Yes please! Genre cocktails for the win! What works? What doesn't? Recommendations.

Moderators

Tara Campbell

Fiction Editor, Barrelhouse

Panelists

Kat Richardson

Maquel A. Jacob

Erik Grove

Sunday October 20, 2024 10:00am - 10:50am PDT
Madison

SCIENCE FICTION

11:00am PDT

Making Space to Make

Sunday October 20, 2024 11:00am - 11:50am PDT

Madison

Where do you set yourself up to create? What does your writing, drawing, or crafting space look like now? How would your ideal studio look and what's in it? Do you claim a table, bedroom, or rent a studio? Do you focus on setting an inspiring mood, or keep it clean and functional, or is it a chaotic hoard of tools and content?

Moderators

Mark Chapman

Panelists

EM Prazeman

Matthew 'Fish' Dockrey

L. Pierce Ludke

Sunday October 20, 2024 11:00am - 11:50am PDT
Madison

LIVING CREATIVELY

12:00pm PDT

Post-scarcity Automation and the Future of Work

Sunday October 20, 2024 12:00pm - 12:50pm PDT

Madison

With robots occupying more low and middle-skill level jobs, from warehousing to driving, and AI getting better than humans at reading MRIs and diagnosing disease, how will societies deal with the end of work-as-we-know-it? What can science fiction and fantasy worlds tell us about the real world of the future?

Moderators

Frank Hayes

Panelists

Bart Kemper

Rory Miller

Erica L. Satifka

Daimei Jaybird Marmaduke

Sunday October 20, 2024 12:00pm - 12:50pm PDT
Madison

SOCIETY POLITICS AND HISTORY

2:00pm PDT

The Concept of "Civility": Needful Myth or Trap?

Sunday October 20, 2024 2:00pm - 2:50pm PDT

Madison

Definitions of "being civil" span a range in communities with wide world views. How does the idea of "civility" influence writing, art, and media in the sci-fi/fantasy creation community? Does "being civil" limit free expression, or expand it?

Moderators

Shoshana Glick

Panelists

Rhiannon Louve

Erica L. Satifka

Andrew Nisbet

Admiral Wordsmith

Sunday October 20, 2024 2:00pm - 2:50pm PDT
Madison

SOCIETY POLITICS AND HISTORY

3:00pm PDT

Utopia: Literature Social Theory and Community

Sunday October 20, 2024 3:00pm - 3:50pm PDT

Madison

Created equal and "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights." Is the Declaration of Independence a utopian document? The right to vote, the abolition of slavery, the forty-hour work week: these were once the stuff of utopian dreams and yet they have come to be through real struggle, embodying the potential new world in words and actions. Is contemporary utopian literature possible? What is the society you want to live in and what are you doing to make it happen?

Moderators