Picocon

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Picocon is the name given to a series of British science fiction conventions run by the Imperial College Science Fiction and Fantasy Society (ICSF). [1] Taking place on a Saturday (occasionally extended to Sunday), in February or early March in Imperial College's Blackett Building since 1984.

Contents

T-shirts and other merchandise related to the convention are typically emblazoned with the Greek letters ΨΦ (psi, phi), which can be read as Sci-Fi. Roles in organising the convention include the Sofa ("like a chair, only comfier") and the Beanbag.

The reason for the event numbering (Picocon, Picocon Pi, Picocon 4, ⋯) of the first conventions is unclear. One suggestion is that there was a predecessor Picocon event watching videos and playing board games, and that the first formal event with a guest speaker is therefore Picocon 2.

List of Picocons

YearDate(s)NameLocationGuest(s) of Honour
19842 FebruaryPicoconImperial College David Langford
19859 MarchPicocon PiImperial College Dave Langford, Gerry Webb
198615 FebruaryPicocon 4Imperial College Dave Langford, Brian Stableford
198721 FebruaryPicocon 5Imperial College John Brunner, David Hardy
19886 FebruaryPicocon 6Imperial College Terry Pratchett, Michael Scott Rohan, Dave Langford
19894 FebruaryPicocon 7Imperial College Dave Langford, Terry Pratchett, Gerry Webb, Dave Lally
19903 MarchPicocon 8Imperial College Bob Shaw
19912 MarchPicocon 9Imperial College Dan Abnett, Alex Stewart
19927 MarchPicocon 10Imperial College Dave Langford, Brian Stableford
19936 MarchPicocon 11Imperial College Colin Greenland
1994No Picocon was held in 1994.
199512 MarchPicocon 12Imperial College Iain M. Banks, Dr. Arley Anderson [GoH note 1]
19964 FebruaryPicocon 13Imperial College Robert Holdstock, Stephen Baxter, Christopher Priest
19972 MarchPicocon 14Imperial College Simon Ings, Nicholas Royle
199828 FebruaryPicocon 15Imperial College
19996 FebruaryPicocon 16Imperial College Stephen Lawhead, Jane Johnson, M John Harrison (who jointly write under the pseudonym Gabriel King)
200019 FebruaryPicocon 17Imperial College Juliet McKenna, Brian Stableford, Garry Kilworth, Ian Watson
200110 FebruaryPicocon 18Imperial College Christopher Priest, Geoff Ryman, Juliet E. McKenna, Jane Killick [GoH note 2]
20029 FebruaryPicocon 19Imperial CollegeAnne Gay, [GoH note 3] China Miéville, Stan Nicholls, Geoff Ryman
200322 FebruaryPicocon 20Imperial College Jack Cohen, Gwyneth Jones
20047 FebruaryPicocon 21Imperial College Peter F. Hamilton, Paul McAuley, Adam Roberts
200519 FebruaryPicocon 22Imperial College Gwyneth Jones, Jon Courtenay Grimwood, Brian Stableford
200618 FebruaryPicocon 23 [2] Imperial College Ian Watson, Natasha Mostert, Mark Roberts
200717 FebruaryPicocon 24Imperial College Charlie Stross, Ken MacLeod, Farah Mendlesohn
200823 FebruaryPicocon 25Imperial College Paul Cornell, Cory Doctorow, Liz Williams
200928 FebruaryPicocon 26Imperial College Pat Cadigan, Robert Rankin, Michael Marshall Smith
201027 FebruaryPicocon 27 3^3Imperial College Alastair Reynolds, Amanda Hemingway, Jaine Fenn
201119 FebruaryPicocon 28Imperial College Juliet McKenna, Kari Sperring, Paul McAuley
201218 FebruaryPicocon 29Imperial College Adrian Czajkowski, Justina Robson, Tricia Sullivan
201316-17 FebruaryPicocon 30 [3] Imperial College Peter F. Hamilton, Kate Griffin, Steph Swainston, Richard K. Morgan
201422 FebruaryPicocon 31 SurvivalImperial College Sarah Pinborough, Charles Stross, David Southwood
201514-15 FebruaryPicocon 32 DualityImperial College Cory Doctorow, Frances Hardinge, Ian McDonald, Kari Sperring, Stuart Ashen
201620 FebruaryPicocon 33 [4] [5] Imperial College Paul Cornell, Michelle Paver, Carrie Hope Fletcher
201718 FebruaryPicocon 34 Futurism: Oh, the humanityImperial College Jaine Fenn, Paul McAuley, Al Robertson, Justina Robson, Stuart Ashen
201817 FebruaryPicocon 35 HarmonyImperial College Paul Stewart, Chris Riddell, Ben Aaronovitch, Emma Newman
201916 FebruaryPicocon 36Imperial College Alexis Kennedy, Lottie Bevan, Simon Morden, Andrew Bannister, Gavin Smith
202022 FebruaryPicocon 37 Pride [6] Imperial CollegeJuliet Kemp, Roz Kaveney, Tamsyn Muir
202120 FebruaryPicocon 38 <automata> [7] (online) Jeff Somers, Dan Moren, S.J. Kincaid, Brian David Johnson
20225 MarchPicocon 39 Apocalypse [8] [9] Imperial College, onlineBryony Pearce, Louise Mumford, A.J. Flowers, Brendan DuBois, Gareth L. Powell, Matthew Wraith
202311 MarchPicocon 40 TwistedImperial College, online Alma Alexander, Gav Thorpe, Mark Lawrence, Jonathan Sims, [GoH note 4] Tim Klotz, [GoH note 5] Allan Henry [GoH note 6]
202423 MarchPicocon 41 Menagerie [10] Imperial College, online Christopher Paolini, Jonathan Sims, [GoH note 4] Gita Ralleigh [GoH note 7]
20251 MarchPicocon 42 Sentience [11] Imperial College qntm, Kevin Jon Davies, James Flanagan [GoH note 8]

GoH Notes

One line introductions for a Guests of Honour who don't (yet) have a Wikipedia biography page, e.g. linking a creator to a bibliography, filmography or an example book (series), podcast, piece/series of art, etc. …

  1. ↑ Dr Arley Anderson is a physics researcher who gave a talk about space travel through wormholes https://www.union.ic.ac.uk/scc/icsf/history/picocon/picocon12.html
  2. ↑ Jane Killick is a radio broadcaster, SF novelist and author of behind the scenes books for popular SF tv series such as Babylon 5 and Red Dwarf
  3. ↑ Anne Gay is an author of SF novels, see the SF Encyclopedia for a bibliography https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/gay_anne
  4. 1 2 Jonathan Sims is the writer and narrator of the horror fiction podcast The Magnus Archives
  5. ↑ Tim Klotz is an actor & fight director for film, theatre, games etc. IMDb has a filmography https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1238088/
  6. ↑ Allan Henry is an actor, fight director, stunt performer and the motion capture artist for the title character in the 2023 movie Cocaine Bear
  7. ↑ Gita Ralleigh is a poet, writer, and doctor who teaches creative writing to science undergraduates at Imperial
  8. ↑ James Flanagan is an author of speculative fiction and a Professor of Cancer Informatics at the Imperial College Department of Surgery & Cancer

References

  1. ↑ "Picocon: London's lovely little sf convention". 3 February 2011.
  2. ↑ Picocon 2006 The Internet Book Database of fiction http://www.ibdof.com/viewtopic.php?t=112494
  3. ↑ "Picocon-30-an-imperial-sf-and-fantasy-convention-245" https://thetab.com/uk/imperial/2013/01/26/picocon-30-an-imperial-sf-and-fantasy-convention-245
  4. ↑ Appearances picocon-33 https://www.paulcornell.com/appearances/picocon-33/
  5. ↑ SFrevu "Picocon" http://www.sfrevu.com/php/Column.php?Search=201602&ColumnType=CONVENTION
  6. ↑ Picocon 37 https://www.union.ic.ac.uk/scc/icsf/history/picocon/picocon37.html
  7. ↑ Picocon 38 https://www.union.ic.ac.uk/scc/icsf/history/picocon/picocon38.html
  8. ↑ Picocon 39 -Apocalypse – announced for March 2022 https://www.starburstmagazine.com/picocon-39-announced-march-2022
  9. ↑ Picocon 39 timetable of streamed talks https://twitter.com/picocon/status/1500021113421811714
  10. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/C40av_iolI2
  11. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/imperial_scifi/p/DGLWMjCs6qG


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