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Discworld Convention | |
---|---|
Status | Active |
Genre | Fantasy |
Location(s) | United Kingdom |
Inaugurated | 1996 |
Website | http://www.dwcon.org/ |
The International Discworld Convention, also known as DWCon, is a biennial science fiction convention held in the United Kingdom on even-numbered years. DWCon was first held in 1996 by members of the Usenet newsgroup alt.fan.pratchett. [1] [2]
The DWCon is a fan-run convention focussing on the Discworld novels and other works by Terry Pratchett. The programme has several events that appear each time such as the Gala Dinner, Maskerade (spelled in this manner due to Pratchett's novel of the same name), Charity Auction, Guest of Honour Interview, and "Terry's Bedtime Stories". The conventions regularly feature large attendee-run groups that have been known variously as Guilds and Sects. There are also smaller events such as interviews, games and competitions, guest klatches, and other activities. [3]
The convention has been held in the UK since 1996. [2] The conventions have been held at various different hotels. A planned convention in 2000 (Titled 'MilleniCon Hand and Shrimp') had to be cancelled for financial reasons, but the conventions have been run every two years since.
While Sir Terry once made a point of attending every UK-based Discworld Convention (and many of the non-UK conventions) as guest of honour, the Convention announced on 1 July 2014 that he would be unable to attend in person for health reasons, but that he would appear in an on-camera Q&A session from his home instead. [4]
# | Year | Dates | City | Title | Guest of Honour | Other Guests | Size |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st | 1996 | 28–30 June | Manchester, UK | The Discworld Convention | Sir Terry Pratchett | Josh Kirby, Stephen Briggs | |
2nd | 1998 | 18-21 Sept | Liverpool, UK | The Second Discworld Convention | Sir Terry Pratchett | ||
3rd | 2002 | 16–19 August | Hinckley, UK | Discworld Convention | Sir Terry Pratchett | ||
4th | 2004 | 20–23 August | Hinckley, UK | Discworld Convention | Sir Terry Pratchett | Bernard Pearson | |
5th | 2006 | 18–21 August | Hinckley, UK | Sir Terry Pratchett | Bernard Pearson | ||
6th | 2008 | August | Birmingham, UK | Sir Terry Pratchett | |||
7th | 2010 | August | Birmingham, UK | Sir Terry Pratchett | |||
8th | 2012 | 24–27 August | Birmingham, UK | The Eighnnnnnnn Discworld Convention | Sir Terry Pratchett | Colin Smythe, Ian Stewart, Jack Cohen, Rob Wilkins, Lionel Fanthorpe, Stephen Baxter, Bernard Pearson, Jaqueline Simpson, Stephen Briggs, Ian Mitchell | 950 |
9th | 2014 | 8–11 August | Manchester, UK | The Ankh-Morpork Grand Exhibition | The Black Hat "to represent Terry in absentia" (Sir Terry Pratchett attending by video link) [4] | Rob Wilkins ("representing The Hat for the whole Convention"), Bernard Pearson, Colin Smythe, Stephen Briggs, Ian Mitchell, Reb Voyce, Jacqueline Simpson, Jack Cohen, Ian Stewart, Daniel Knight, Ben Aaronovitch [4] | |
10th | 2016 | 26–29 August | Warwick, UK | The Band with Rocks In | Rob Wilkins, Bernard Pearson, Colin Smythe, Daniel Knight, Ian Mitchell, Ian Stewart, Jack Cohen, Jacqueline Simpson, Ray Friesen, Reb Voyce, Stephen Briggs, David Brashaw, Diane Duane, Peter Morwood, Mark Oshiro [5] | ||
11th | 2018 | 3–6 August | Kenilworth, Warwick, UK | Guards! Guards! | Rob Wilkins, Bernard Pearson, Colin Smythe, Ian Mitchell, Reb Voyce, Stephen Briggs | ||
12th | 2022 | 19–22 August | Birmingham, UK | Lancre | Colin Smythe, Stephen Briggs, Ian Mitchell, Pat Harkin, Reb Voyce, Phil Masters, Ben Aaronovitch, Jodi Taylor, Marc Burrows [6] | ||
13th | 2024 | 2-6 August | Birmingham, UK | The Chalk | Brick-Morpork, Stephen Briggs, Marc Burrows, Diane Duane, Jan Harkin, Pat Harkin, Phil Masters, C.K. McDonnell, Joe McLaren, Peter Morwood, Colin Smythe, Ian Stewart, Jodi Taylor, The Truth Shall Make Ye Fret, Reel Rebels [7] |
Sir Terence David John Pratchett was an English author, humorist, and satirist, best known for the Discworld series of 41 comic fantasy novels published between 1983 and 2015, and for the apocalyptic comedy novel Good Omens (1990), which he co-wrote with Neil Gaiman.
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The Discworld Companion is an encyclopaedia of the Discworld fictional universe, created by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Briggs. Four editions have been published, under varying titles.
Clarecraft was a company which produced fantasy figurines. Its most popular series was an officially licensed series of figurines based on the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett. The company was founded in 1980 by Bernard and Isobel Pearson and acquired the rights to make Discworld figurines in 1990. In 1993, Clarecraft was purchased by Sally Couch and Trish Baker. It is one of the few large-scale vendors of Discworld merchandise, along with Stephen Briggs, Paul Kidby, and the Discworld Emporium.
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Terry Pratchett's The Colour of Magic is a fantasy-comedy two-part British television adaptation of the bestselling novels The Colour of Magic (1983) and The Light Fantastic (1986) by Terry Pratchett. The fantasy film was produced for Sky1 by The Mob, a small British studio, starring David Jason, Sean Astin, Tim Curry, and Christopher Lee as the voice of Death. Vadim Jean both adapted the screenplay from Pratchett's original novels, and served as director.
Soul Music is a seven-part animated television adaptation of the 1994 book of the same name by Terry Pratchett, produced by Channel 4 Television Corporation, Cosgrove Hall Films, ITEL, and Ventureworld Films. It was first broadcast from June 6 to July 18, 1997 and released on DVD in 2001, alongside Wyrd Sisters in a box set entitled "Soul Music", by Vision Video. The feature-length miniseries was developed by Acorn Media, and directed by Jean Flynn. It was the first film adaptation of an entire Discworld novel. The series soundtrack was also released on CD, but the disc is now out of production. The soundtrack is, however, now available through iTunes. Editz did the title sequences, Flix Facilities did the digital picture editing, and Hullabaloo Studios did the audio post-production.
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