Dublin 2019 world science fiction convention releases programme.

Dublin 2019 has released its full programme for the 77th World Science Fiction Convention. The programme has 700 events across the five days from 15th to 19th August 2019 at the Convention Centre Dublin.

Online sales for the con closed on 2nd August for full memberships and day passes.

All remaining memberships and day passes will be sold at Dublin Comic Con on 10th and 11th August 2019.

There will be no ticket sales at the door.

Among the con’s events:

• The Opening Ceremonies will be held together with the Retro Hugo Awards, recognizing works published in 1944, on Thursday at 6 pm. Hosts are authors Ellen Klages and Dave Rudden.
• The Worldcon Philharmonic Orchestra will perform a SF and fantasy related music on Friday at 8 pm.
• The spectacular Masquerade costume display will be held on Saturday evening at 8 pm, emceed by Toastmaster Ric Bretschneider.
• The Hugo Awards Ceremony, the world’s leading awards for excellence in contemporary science fiction and fantasy, will take place on Sunday at 8 pm, hosted by Afua Richardson and Michael Scott.
• The Closing Ceremonies will take place at 4:30 pm on Monday, hosted by author Eoin Colfer, and will be followed by the traditional after-gathering known as the Dead Dog Party.
• Guest of Honour Diane Duane will take part in more than a dozen panels, workshops, and personal chats on topics from magic to working as a writer in Ireland.
• Guest of Honour Ian McDonald will participate in ten panel discussions on topics from invasions to lunar depictions, as well as close-up interviews and social events.
• Guest of Honour Ginjer Buchanan, a longtime top editor at Ace Books, will speak in more than a dozen programme items, including panels on writing, editing and pop culture.
• Guest of Honour Steve Jackson, author of the Melee and Chaos Machine games, will appear in panels on gaming and worldbuilding as well as hosting daily gaming sessions.
• Science Guest of Honour Professor Jocelyn Bell Burnell, who first detected pulsars, will take part in exchanges on both scientific and humanistic subjects, including a discussion of the role of empiricism and faith in conducting science with Brother Guy Consolmagno, director of the Vatican Observatory.
• Fan Guests of Honour Bill and Mary Burns will speak in panels on fandom history and culture as well as hosting informal get-togethers and celebrating the Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund.
• NASA Astronaut Dr Jeanette Epps will discuss space exploration in half a dozen programme sessions Thursday through Sunday, and hold autograph sessions on Saturday and Sunday.
• Irish Scientist-Astronaut Candidate Dr Norah Patten will feature in space-related programme items on Saturday and Monday.
• Featured Artist Maeve Clancy will give talks on her installations (on Thursday and Sunday) as well as participating in weekend panels.
• Featured Artist Jim Fitzpatrick will discuss artistic ideologies and processes in panels, and offer a retrospective, including how he came to create his politics and music themed works, in his artist talk on Monday.
• Featured Artist Afua Richardson will talk about comics, creativity and Afrofuturism in her panel and solo appearances on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Her main artist talk is on Saturday.
• Featured Artist Sana Takeda will give her artist talk on Friday and participate in other comics themed events.
• George R.R. Martin will have two autograph sessions, one on Thursday and one on Saturday, as well as participating in panels with Wild Card authors and a panel on his Irish connections.

The 800 programme participants include Charlie Jane Anders, Peter Beagle, Elizabeth Bear, Marie Brennan, Pat Cadigan, Zen Cho, Aliette de Bodard, Amal El-Mohtar, Max Gladstone, Joe Haldeman, Robin Hobb, Roz Kaveney, Mary Robinette Kowal, Naomi Kritzer, Ellen Kushner, Yoon Ha Lee, Likhain, Ruth Frances Long, Mur Lafferty, Darcie Little Badger, Seanan McGuire, Mary Anne Mohanraj, Jeannette Ng, Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Teresa Nielsen Hayden, Naomi Novik, Brandon O’Brien, Peadar Ó Guilín, Ada Palmer, Sarah Pinsker, Julia Rios, Rebecca Roanhorse, Geoff Ryman, V.E. Schwab, Alasdair Stuart, Catherynne Valente, John Scalzi, Michael Scott, Elsa Sjunneson-Henry, Rivers Solomon, Charles Stross, Michael Swanwick, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Martha Wells, Jo Walton, and Nicholas Whyte.

“This is an all-you-can eat banquet of the fantastic, enabling people to celebrate their best loved creators and worlds, and discover new favourites,” convention chair James Bacon told SFcrowsnest.