My absolutely official Readercon schedule

The final Readercon (July 11-14 in Burlington, MA) schedules are out, and I’m really pleased — I’m going to be on two exciting panels, will be participating in a group reading for the new anthology Clockwork Phoenix 4, and will be doing a reading on my own.

Here’s my official schedule. If you plan to be at Readercon and have any of these times free, drop on by…

Friday July 12

3:00 PM    G    What the Other Sees as Other. Barbara Krasnoff (moderator), Maureen F. McHugh, Julia Rios, Vandana Singh, Sabrina Vourvoulias.Maureen F. McHugh gets us so deeply into a character’s head that while the character may be “other” to the reader, what really registers as “other” are the people who are “other” to the character. For example, in McHugh’s short story “Special Economics,” otherness is not about being Chinese, because all the characters are Chinese and in China; it’s about being old, having ideas that are no longer current or relevant. We’ll discuss this and other (ahem) examples of the depiction of otherness.

4:00 PM    NH    Clockwork Phoenix 4 Group Reading. Mike Allen, Alison Campbell-Wise, C.S.E. Cooney, Gemma Files, Nicole Kornher-Stace, Barbara Krasnoff, Shira Lipkin, Yves Meynard, Ken Schneyer. All of the critically acclaimed Clockwork Phoenix anthologies have officially debuted at Readercon since the series began in 2008. That bond deepened when editor and publisher Mike Allen launched the Kickstarter campaign for Clockwork Phoenix 4 at Readercon 23. The campaign was a smashing success, and the latest lineup of boundary-pushing, unclassifiable stories has been bought and paid for. At this official reading, the new anthology’s authors will share samples from their stories with everyone who helped make this book reality.

8:00 PM    VT    Reading. Barbara Krasnoff. Barbara Krasnoff reads the short story “The History of Soul 2065,” which was published in Clockwork Phoenix 4.

Saturday July 13

11:00 AM    F    A Visit from the “Suck Fairy”: Enjoying Problematic Works. John Benson, Cathy Butler, Barbara Krasnoff (leader), Yoon Ha Lee, Adrienne Martini, Kate Nepveu. Encountering problematic elements within fictional works isn’t uncommon. As readers develop awareness of racism, sexism, homophobia, and ableism—development that occurs on both a personal and a cultural level—they may be appalled to stumble across bigotry in childhood favorites or long-lauded classics, or struggle to appreciate a book that everyone around them is enjoying. Can you still love a work after you’ve seen something horrible within it, or does continuing to enjoy it mean tacitly approving of not only that specific work but problematic works in general? How can we make room for complex reactions in conversations among critics and readers?