This Year San Jose has the Whole World Con In Their Hands

Well, it has been a rocky few weeks for WorldCon 76 in San Jose. (See my original article, WorldCon Starts Over: Will It Be Enough for the overview.) Now, though the convention where the Hugo Science Fiction/Fantasy Awards are handed out, is settling down and shaping up. After a bit of “reimagining” — with the respected author/con planner Mary Robinette Kowal joining the staff and bringing on some additional voices to support the work — the programming schedule has been re-released to general satisfaction. You can check out that programming schedule on the WorldCon 76 website. Programming To Look Forward To While I was as concerned and critical of the original panels as anyone, I also argued that the staff needed time to go back and make some changes. Which they have done, tightening up repetitive panels and making sure to include as many Hugo nominees as possible. I will be in attendance next week. While I’m looking forward to my own panels, I’m also putting several items on my must-attend list. Here are a few of the panels and events I’m looking forward to the most. The Mexicanx Initiative

This year there has been a concerted effort, spearheaded by John Picacio (the Artist Guest of Honor) to bring more Mexicanx and Mexican-American sf/f authors to Worldcon. Enter the Mexicanx Initiative, which funded many writers, editors, and culture makers from “the other side of the border” to come up to San Jose. There will also be an anthology of the writers in attendance. Members …