I’d only been to Perth once before (for a Supanova) and I hadn’t seen any of the city during that trip except for the view out the window of the convention bus. This time I was in Perth for nearly a week, as Guest of Honour of Swancon, Western Australia’s science fiction convention.
I’d never been a guest of honour before, and I wanted to do justice to the compliment that WA had given me – meaning that I was panicking for ages before I left Brisbane, working hard on my Guest of Honour speech and reading up on the other attendees, the panels I’d been listed for, and everything in between.
I had a Skype conversation with Sarah, the Swancon guest liaison, and she quickly put me at ease. She kept mentioning ‘Perky’ who sounded like a magical guest genie who would make all my convention dreams come true. I haven’t attended many science fiction conventions and I only had a rough idea what to expect – but Sarah reassured me that I’d be fine.
I overcame my guilt at the scorn and betrayal from the cats when they saw me packing, took my case and headed off. Perky (it’s spelled prk) was waiting for me at the airport and made me immediately at ease – he really was the magical con guest-genie. He drove me to the hotel where the con was being held, helped me to check in, made sure I was okay and then headed out to do his magical con-genie business. The room at the hotel had a magnificent view over the Swan River, and I immediately decided that I had to go out and see everything. The Guest of Honour dinner was that evening, and I met the other (international) GOH John Scalzi, was introduced to some of the convention attendees, and started to relax as I experienced the warmth and acceptance of the Perth crowd.
The con didn’t start until Thursday, so I had most of the first day to myself. I put my walking shoes on and headed out to see Perth. I walked to the beautiful city centre and watched children play in the fountain; wandered through the shops, then down to the banks of the Swan River and watched the walkers go past. A cormorant was drying its wings on the river bank, and everybody who walked past stopped to take a photo of it – and I started a photo essay – ‘Photos of People Taking Photos of a Cormorant.’
The opening ceremony was that evening and many of the faces in the crowd were already familiar from the Guest of Honour dinner. The theme for Swancon was a bright red ruby – it was the convention’s fortieth anniversary. I felt truly honoured to be part of something that had been going strongly for so many years. My first panel was after the ceremony: Depiction of Religion in Science Fiction and Fantasy. The audience talked as much as we – the panellists – did and this was not a bad thing. It became a round-table discussion that set the tone for nearly every other panel I attended at the convention – respectful, aware and intelligent discussion, and any disagreement never dissolved into disrespectful conflict. I felt right at home.
I explored the convention, which was held on the conference floor of the hotel where I was staying (the Perth Pan-Pacific, which is magnificent). A large room was set aside for board gaming, holding eleven tables. There were tutors for the games, and everybody had the opportunity to try a variety of fascinating games. The trading floor had books and toys, art and games, and it was difficult for me to control the impulse to take a whole bagload of loot back with me! (I did buy some stuff but won’t say what because it’s gifts for my kids. I’m the Best Mum Ever.) There was screenings of a variety of programs and the panel topics were thought-provoking. The little phone app that had the schedule worked well, and I quickly filled my day with things I wanted to see.
Friday was the Moment of Truth for me, I had to give my Guest of Honour speech. I’ve been public speaking for as long as I can remember – I used to give multiple-day training courses when I worked in the IT field – but this was different. These people had opened their hearts and their city and their anniversary convention to me, and I wanted to show my gratitude. I spoke about Diversity, Awareness and Opportunity – and how popular media is being taken over by science fiction and fantasy. The popularity of speculative fiction, and its willingness to embrace diversity, has meant that readers and viewers of spec fic – the attendees at Swancon – have a unique opportunity to influence the producers of popular media that everybody is consuming. We are at the forefront of the new wave of speculative fiction in media, and we need to make our voices heard, that we want more diversity in our stories.
.@kyliecchan‘s guest of honour speech at #Swancon pic.twitter.com/zBJyNZxgQL
— Helen Stubbs (@superleni) April 3, 2015
![SwanCon_Kylie_Chan_speech_tweet]()
Someone came up to me afterwards asking for the transcript of the speech. When I explained that there wasn’t one – I just worked off a list of notes and the powerpoint – she wasn’t disappointed. I think the speech was a success.
I had a signing after that – I’m always delighted and honoured to have people come up to me when they’ve loved my books – and then a Q&A, hosted by Helen Stubbs (who later won a well-deserved Best New Talent Ditmar Award). By the end of the day I felt welcome, accepted and treasured, and I relaxed and really started to enjoy myself. I was on a panel with a group of very knowledgeable publishers and writers discussing the digital book revolution, and how it has impacted the printed book (the consensus being that print books will always exist).
I hadn’t seen much of John Scalzi during the con – we were put on different panels for obvious reasons – but I made sure to attend his Guest of Honour speech. He was warm, intelligent and charming, and had some important things to say about the life of a writer – how important it is to have the support of those around you. I attended John’s panel where he had to create a fantasy world, and the result was the Winged Octogoat, which I think became the mascot for the convention.
As I started each day in the hotel restaurant for breakfast, I kept seeing many familiar faces from the con, and was invited to share breakfast with friendly and knowledgeable members of the speculative fiction community. I made friends that I am sad to think of being so far away, on the other side of the country.
I shared a panel with Cat Sparks, Stephen Dedman and Andrew Harvey that critiqued the first page of creative works that were provided anonymously. The first work featured war elephants and that became the theme of the talk. Some of the work we were presented with was of exceptional quality and there is obviously some great potential in the WA community. I attended a book launch (I’m always out to help emerging talent) and panels on social media and fanfiction that were both interesting. I was panellist on the highlight of the of the convention for me – the Evil Overlord panel. Western Australia obviously has some serious talent in the Evil Overlord direction. Be afraid, Eastern states.
I held two kaffeeklatches and both were spirited discussions of my work, my history in IT, the speculative fiction community – and my two favourite subjects, Diversity and Opportunity. Again I was made to feel warmly welcome and respected by the local people, and saddened by the fact that I was returning home so far away.
I presented one of the Ditmar awards, the national awards for science fiction and fantasy. Some extremely well-deserved recognition – Donna Maree Hanson received the Chandler Award for Outstanding Achievement in Australian Science Fiction – and I presented the award for best novella to Sean Williams. Scalzi presented the award for Best Fantasy Novel, and announced it for Trudi Canavan, who wasn’t there. After the award had been collected, he said ‘But what, there’s more!’ and announced that the award was a tie – Glenda Larke, who was present in the audience, had won the award as well. The look on her face was wonderful to see, and it was absolutely well-deserved for both of these exceptional authors. Marianne de Pierres won Best Science Fiction for her brilliant Peacemaker. It was a very special evening to see so many of my treasured friends being recognised for their talent.
It’s a long flight home from Perth, and the cats claimed to have been scarred for life by my disappearance for nearly a whole week. I didn’t tell them about the next weekend, where I was heading back to Perth (after doing a mountain of laundry) for Oz ComicCon. Sarah arranged to meet me while I was in Perth for ComicCon to have the best duck dinner I’ve had in a long time.
Swancon has a special feeling about it, a sense of community where everybody knows each other. I hope I can make it back next year as an ordinary attendee, and spend more time playing games and fooling around with the awesome Western Australians. I started out feeling nervous and intimidated, and by the end I felt like one of the family. Thank you Swancon, it was the best week ever!
#Swancon 40 Committee and Guest photo: pic.twitter.com/EnmutD6Ve5
— Swancon (@Swancon) April 6, 2015
