Picocon 23

Picocon 23 took place on Saturday 18th February 2006 at Imperial College Students Union on Prince Consort Road in South Kensington, London.
 

 Guests of Honour

Born in England in 1943, Ian Watson became a full time writer in 1976 after working in academia, which included lectureships in Literature and Future Studies. His first novel was The Embedding (1973), which won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award and is an acknowledged classic of Science Fiction. He has since written numerous SF, Fantasy and Horror novels including Miracle Visitors and Deathhunter; several of which have been finalists for the Hugo and Nebula awards. He was also a guest of honour at Picocon 17 so we are pleased to have him back!

Natasha Mostert is South African, although she currently lives in London. Her debut novel, The Midnight Side, a story of obsessive love and a ghost manipulating the London Stock exchange, was first published in 2002. Since then she has published two further novels - The Other Side of Silence and Windwalker. She has also written political opinion pieces in The New York Times and Newsweek. Natasha states one of her future goals to be "coming face to face with a ghost" - and although we can't promise that (at least, we hope not!), we do wish her a warm welcome to Picocon 23.

Mark Roberts is an accomplished writer and illustrator, and his work has appeared in titles such as The New York Review of SF and many others. He is best known for his co-editorship with Jeff VanderMeer of the The Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric & Discredited Diseases, first published in 2003. The book was a finalist for the Hugo Award and the World Fantasy Award and contains contributions from over 60 authors on various concocted diseases - some slightly improbable, others wildly imagined. We look forward to an interesting discussion during his talk at Picocon.

 Prices

Membership for the whole day is:

£4 for ICSF members
£6 concessions (with valid ID) - students/DHSS/OAP/children
£8 full price

ICSF membership is not required for attending Picocon.

 Directions to Picocon

Here's a general map of the area, pointing at the entrance to Beit Quad (which houses the Union) off Prince Consort Road.

The easiest way to get to Picocon is by tube; both Gloucester Road Station and South Kensington Station are within easy reach. The following TfL maps are accurate enough, as long as you ignore the place names: from Gloucester Road Station and from South Kensington Station.

The buses C1, 9, 10, 49, 52, 70, 74, 345, 360 and 414 all stop nearby. Please look here for further information from TfL - in particular the South Kensington spider map may be helpful.

Our mail address is the following:

ICSF
Imperial College Student Union
Beit Quad
Prince Consort Road
SW7 2BB London
UK

 Timetable

 

  • 10:00 am: Doors open
  • 11:00 am: Natasha Mostert: Talk - "Science and Mysticism: Disparate worlds? The Pythagorean Comma, Rock gongs, the Art of Memory and techgnosis."
  • 12:00 pm: Destruction of Dodgy Merchandise
  • 1:30 pm: Ian Watson: Talk - "So what does an Artificial Intelligence want from life?"
  • 2:30 pm: Mark Roberts: Talk - "The Thackery T Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric & Discredited Diseases."
  • 3:30 pm: Panel - Questions and Answers with the Guests of Honour
  • 4:30 pm: Silly Games - Just a Minute, Mornington Crescent and Charades
  • 5:30 pm: Not a fish duel. Honest.
  • 6:00 pm: Quiz in the bar
  • 7:00 pm: Close

 After the Event

Apart from South Kensington station being on fire (only a small fire), which cause a little early morning panic, nothing went drastically wrong. If a fish duel had happened, Imperial would have beaten the champion from Cambridge, and Oxford would not have sent a representative.

The Destruction of Dodgy Merchandise was a particular success - raising a phenomenal £262.92 for RAG, the 8th largest sum in the whole college. Both Jar Jar Binks and William Shatner's narration of Mysteries of the Gods went for £70 each, a society record. The money went to the National Library for the Blind.

 Post-Picocon 23 Stuff

  • Photos
  • <Picocon Wyrm>
  • <Cristina's 'Felix' article>

For more information, please contact Ben Bleach, the Picocon Sofa (as opposed to chair), at picocon@icsf.org.uk.
 

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