Leo Con 2012 — April 14, 2012

I will be speaking at another science-fiction/fantasy event in Texas next month, and this time I can give you a little bit more notice! The event is the inaugural Leo Con, the “first annual sci-fi, fantasy, anime/manga, and gaming convention” at Texas A&M-Commerce. It’s a single-day event, though I hope it will grow in future years. They’re getting off to a good start too, with a pair of excellent Guests of Honor: John D. Rateliff, author of The History of The Hobbit; and Douglas A. Anderson, author of The Annotated Hobbit. Bringing two experts on The Hobbit to North Texas is no accident: part of the aim of Leo Con 2012 is to celebrate the 75th anniversary of that classic, genre-making work of fantasy.

In addition to introducing John and Doug and moderating the Q&A portions of their presentations, I will also be giving a talk of my own. It will be along the same lines as the workshop I gave earlier this month in Corpus Christi, an introduction to source criticism as applied to the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien.

The con is open to registration by the public, and if any of you can make it out, I would love to see you. If you want to give a presentation, they are open to that as well, though you’ll have to get in touch with them soon — no later than April 1! I’ll be posting more details (e.g., a schedule of events) as I learn them, but for now, here is the informational letter Robin Reid, Professor of Literature and Languages at Texas A&M-Commerce is sending out.

LEOCON will take place on Saturday, April 14, 2012 in the Hall of Languages (mostly) at A&M-Commerce.

LEOCON is the first science fiction and fantasy con at A&M-Commerce, organized by Sigma Phi Phi (Syphers). Our organization aims to cover all the genres, areas, media, and types of science fiction and fantasy, and we have special interest groups in anime/manga, costuming and cosplay, steampunk, tabletop gaming, card games, online gaming, live action role playing, superheroes, and more!

You can find more information on LEOCON here:

• The SYPHERS Blog
• LEOCON 2012
• Registration
• Guests of Honor

We have opportunities for presenting in all the areas of interest that our group covers: you can participate in a number of ways.

1. If you have a paper on an sf/f topic in any media, you can give an academic presentation.
2. If you have a group of friends who like to talk about any sf/f topic in any media (urban fantasy, Dr. Who, Mass Effect 3, anything!), you can organize a roundtable (5–7 people having a ‘conversation’ and involving the audience). No writing necessary here!
3. If you have a skill you’d like to teach, you can give a workshop (we have ones already scheduled on fanfiction and livestreaming) on “How to Do X”!
4. If you write in any fantastic genre, you can read your creative work (poetry, fiction, it’s all good)!
5. If you create and sell anything related to the fantastic (and we have a pretty flexible definition of the fantastic), you can get a table as a vendor (if you are planning only to promote/sell your work, you don’t have to pay the very low registration fee!
6. If you want to use this event to promote your student organization, we can bring you in as a “vendor” and provide a table.

So, if you’re interested, check out the blog and send your proposal to: Robin_Reid@tamu-commerce.edu

(As long as you register by April 1, you can pay the early bird rate at the door!)

Live Long and Prosper!

Yours,
Robin