WORLDCON 2025: Seattle

by | Aug 5, 2025 | General | 1 comment

Here’s my schedule for Worldcon 2025 in Seattle.

Mostly, I’m doing my thing on Friday.

Saturday at 1:30 I’ll be signing autographs, but I’ll be sticking around for the afternoon and crashing the pro parties later.

Fri 3:00pm-4:00pm  
Trekking with the Stars
Navigating between the stars is all well and good, but how about navigating on a planet USING the stars? As it happens, we have a planet where that has been done, and it turns out to be more complicated than “second star frome the right, and straight on until morning.” Join our panelists as they plot the course of how the stars were used to, well, plot a course.

(This one is going to be fun. I have a class I’ve taught at several fantasy cons on orienteering by celestial navigation if you ever find yourself stranded on an alien planet. I will tell you that it’s drawn from Special Operations manuals. I will not tell you when and where I’ve used it.)

Fri 4:30pm-5:30pm
Conlangs 101: How to get started making your own language
Building language goes beyond just putting funny sounds together or making a word that looks cool. Learn what’s needed to make a basic constructed language, and how to find the resources and tools to get started in language creation.

(If you know my work, you know I’m a conlanger. Come and learn how I put together not only my Elvish language, but how I used phonetics and syllabic weighting to build regional dialects without having to resort to italicization and intentional misspelling.)

Fri 7:30pm-8:30pm
Why does the alt-right love science fiction?
Over the past few decades, there have been attempts to co-opt science fiction in support of racist, sexist, and classist political movements. Even works such as Star Trek, Neuromancer, and the Disposessed have been claimed by alt-right leaders as foundational texts for their awful worldviews. Why does the alt-right love science fiction, and what problematic assumptions are coded into the genre that cause it to be open to these interpretations?

(I’m gonna LOVE this. Because fuck those guys. And if you’re alt-right and you’re reading this, come on out; I’ll gleefully discuss your politics in the parking lot afterwards.)

Sat 1:30pm-2:30pm
Autographs

(My books, including Stonelands, will be available for purchase at my signing table, or beforehand at Jason and Leah Bond’s table in the vendor room.)

1 Comment

  1. GregRobin Ashley V Smith
    GregRobin Ashley V Smith on August 20, 2025 at 13:31

    Oh, wow. Joe. We were both at WorldCon. I had my Wash Shake Fest table on the 2nd floor. So sorry to have missed you. I bet your panels rocked. See you soon, my friend!

    Reply

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