I will be at Readercon! Observe my schedule.

Reading: Sonya Taaffe
Friday 12 pm
Sonya Taaffe

Current forecast: new and uncollected poetry.

100 Years of Lud-in-the-Mist
Friday 2 pm
Casella Brookins, Graham Sleight, Greer Gilman, Lila Garrott (m), Sonya Taaffe, The joey Zone

Lud-in-the-Mist was published 100 years ago, the last of three novels Hope Mirrlees would write. Reprinted without authorization in 1970 in the Ballantine fantasy series, Lud-in-the-Mist influenced many contemporary writers, such as Michael Swanwick and Elizabeth Hand. What power does this novel still hold today, and how did a once-forgotten work come to be so well-remembered?

Classical Reception in Contemporary SFF
Friday 4 pm
Alexander Jablokov, Lila Garrott, Sonja Ryst (m), Sonya Taaffe, Tom Doyle

Greco-Roman and especially classical Roman culture are alive and well in recent and current SFF, from the seemingly ubiquitous Imperium to the pastiche of Pliny the Younger that opens Kai Ashante Wilson's The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps. Why do we keep reaching not only for the classics but for the classical? And why does it all feel so current?

Why "Morally Gray" Characters Get All the Love
Friday 7 pm
Elizabeth Bear, Melissa Caruso (m), P. Djèlí Clark, Sonya Taaffe, Sunny Moraine

Why is everyone so in love with "morally gray" characters now? Are we seeking to understand the complexity of the human soul, escape hero/villain stereotyping, or is it something else? Are morally gray characters really more interesting to write and read, or has moral clarity simply gone out of vogue? Is a morally gray character just a villain with a redemption arc?

The Bog Body Motif in Trans SFF
Saturday 1 pm
Ann LeBlanc, dave ring (m), Sonya Taaffe

Izzy Wasserstein's poem, "Come Back Wrong" (Strange Horizons, May 5, 2025), examines medical transition, drawing parallels with the transformation of sacrificial bodies tossed into acidic bog soils and left there for centuries to tan to leather. The bog body motif seems to pop up again and again in queer and especially trans SFF stories, songs, and games. Why? What is so appealing about the bog body as a metaphor, and what does the repeated use of this imagery indicate about the times we live in?

SFF and Queer Cultural Memory
Saturday 6 pm
David Gerrold, Ian Muneshwar (m), Sonya Taaffe, Susan Stinson, Victor Manibo

Much has been written about the losses to queer cultural memory wrought by both repression and AIDS. From Nazi burnings of research to yesteryear's censorship and today's book and social media bans, repressive movements have long tried to prevent queer narratives from emerging. What role has SFF played in preserving queer cultural knowledge? How have queer writers and readers changed SFF, and how has SFF changed us in return?

The Odyssey in 2026
Sunday 11 am
Charles Allison (m), Kate Nepveu, Kenneth Schneyer, Sonya Taaffe

Homer's Odyssey is having a moment: a new major translation by Daniel Mendelsohn (following other major ones by Emily Wilson and Peter Green), a recent movie starring Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche (The Return), a musical adaptation that is a social media sensation (Epic), and a forthcoming blockbuster movie written and directed by Christopher Nolan. What aspects are these translations and adaptations highlighting compared to past versions, and what elements are ripe for more attention?

Reckoning at 10
Sunday 12 pm
Corey Farrenkopf, Marissa Lingen, Michael J. DeLuca (m), Sonya Taaffe

Reckoning launched its first issue at Readercon 27, back in 2016. Join Reckoning contributors and staff in celebrating ten years of creative writing on environmental justice with readings of work from the new issue and highlights from the past.

After an unbroken run from 2004–19, I have been out of the Readercon loop since its virtual edition in 2021 thanks to a combination of pandemic and personal medical disaster. Am I returning in good health? Hell, no, but I am returning. Who may I expect to see there?