So as I mentioned last week, the 77th World Science Fiction Convention, Worldcon, was held in Dublin, and a grand time was had. As usual after conventions, I now have an excess number of new books to read, a big recommendation list of things to catch up on (the Hugo Awards alone will do that), and a tonne of ideas for new panels I'd like to try running or contributing to at future events. In fact, I've already started researching a few of the panel ideas, and am beginning to realise just how deep a rabbit hole some of these ideas are. The good thing is that I do have a while before I need them, as Worldcon isn't going to back in Europe for a while. Now next year's Worldcon is in New Zealand, which is a teeny bit out of reach for me, barring a sudden windfall. 2021 was formally confirmed as being Washington D.C., which I am toying with going for, if certain changes are made to who is residing in that large pale home there by the time of the con. Currently there is only one bid for 2022, Chicago, and that's unlikely to change by the time of next year's vote. Which makes 2023 the interesting one, as it's the first one in a while to now be a four horse race.
The two latest entries are a pair of American hopefuls announced this year, Spokane in Washington State, and Memphis Tennessee. I visited Memphis' bid party, and they seem like a solid bunch, who I have to give extra points to for their con mascot, Xelvis. Spokane is interesting as they had Worldcon in 2015, and I think they may want to do it again without the interesting complication from last time of everything being on fire. It was definitely interesting following what was happening with that one on Twitter at the time; "hmm, Hugo Awards news, the Sad Puppy campaign failing, the Inferno is right outside, more about the Hug- wait, what?". I think both of these though may be miscalculations as the other two Worldcon bids are far better established, with both going since at least 2017 when both had tables at Helsinki Worldcon. I think though at least one of them, preferably Memphis, will end up being a NASFiC site instead.
So for the other two, we have Chengdu in China, and Nice in France. Both of these countries would be first timers for holding Worldcons, which for France took me by surprise when I realised that as I was doing research for a pub quiz I was writing. Now from what I saw, China really want the bid, they were the biggest and most impressive of the bid teams present at Dublin, with the shiniest ribbons and everything. Whilst I am curious about visiting China, it probably hasn't escaped your attention that the Chinese government is not being seen in a very good light at the moment in the midst of the Hong Kong situation. Indeed, John W. Campbell award winner Jeanette Ng, in addition to stating a few truths that lead to the award being renamed, used her position to call out China and support the Hong Kong protestors, a position that went down a storm in the whole room, apart from one possible contingent. Also, it should be noted that China operates a pretty heavy, in fact I'd say Draconian, censorship policy, which could severely limit matters that could even be discussed in a Worldcon. So unless things change radically in a while, I doubt I'd be the only one with major concerns about Chengdu as a venue. Mind, tbh I have similar issues with visiting the U.S. at the moment!
Which finally brings me to the point of this blog. In my official capacity as an idiotic nobody on the Internet, I formally announce my support for the Nice in 2023 Worldcon bid! Let's bring the con back to Europe as soon as possible, and it seems right that the land that gave us Jules Verne, Fantomas, and one of the world's biggest comics scenes should finally have it. Plus hey, the Riviera in Summer sounds the ideal place for a holiday. I took part in the 2021 site selection vote, so I can take part in the 2023 vote with the Washington Discon, thus I can vote directly for them. I am on here now to start spreading the word, and see if I get a few of you interested. If I can honestly say that this little site for my rambling on had made a difference to one of the most important institutions of the genre, I'd die a happy person. So if the idea of getting to hang out with great authors in a region famed for its wines appeals to you, join in! Get a supporting membership to Discon, take part in their vote, and make it happen, and support the Nice bid directly too. I'll be bringing this up every so often, I'm hoping this will be the start of something big.
Oh, and one more thing. Even if Nice doesn't get it, we won't have long to wait until a European Worldcon again, as Glasgow is the only runner for 2024, and they have a rock solid bid already. I've already got super supporting membership there, so if not France, at least Scotland can deliver a con to be proud of. Now let's hope that Glasgow still counts as a part of Europe by then. Gods, what a mess this week is...
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