CAN•CON, or more completely "CAN•CON: The Conference on Canadian Content in Speculative Arts and Literature", is a periodic science fiction and fantasy convention in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

put on by ''The Society for Canadian Content in Speculative Arts and Literature''. Founded in 1991 by James Botte and Farrell McGovern in response to a perception that there were no dedicated public venues that featured primarily Canadian speculative fiction writers, editors, and artists. In addition to the focus on

Canadian content Canadian content (abbreviated CanCon, cancon or can-con; ) refers to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) requirements, derived from the Broadcasting Act of Canada, that radio and television broadcasters (inclu ...

, it was also an attempt to bring a focus on the book back to

science fiction and fantasy events. It ran from 1992 through 1997, and again in 2001 before taking a hiatus of several years due to the two founders moving out of Canada for employment reasons; it was then relaunched in 2010 after they had both returned to Canada. Over the years, CAN•CON has had as guests or attendees the cream of Canadian English and French

speculative fiction Speculative fiction is a term that has been used with a variety of (sometimes contradictory) meanings. The broadest interpretation is as a category of fiction encompassing genres with elements that do not exist in reality, recorded history, na ...

writers and artists (with the notable exceptions of Spider Robinson, Margaret Atwood, and William Gibson). As such, it became a meeting place for Canadian writers and artists and their fans, and provided a natural venue for the national meetings of various related Canadian organizations. This caught the notice of TOR Books' senior editor

David Hartwell David Geddes Hartwell (July 10, 1941 – January 20, 2016) was an American critic, publisher, and editor of thousands of science fiction and fantasy novels. He was best known for work with Signet, Pocket, and Tor Books publishers. He was also no ...

, who came to CAN•CON and signed deals with many Canadian

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

and

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

writers. Of this he said, "I did more business at CAN•CON than I did at Worldcon". This informal access to large numbers of Canadian writers enabled him to spearhead TOR's Canadian publishing initiative.

Programming

CAN-CON has had some of the most diverse programming SF conventions have ever had, while retaining a focus on Canada, its writing environment, and uniqueness. It has also hosted events such as book launches,

Canvention Canvention is the Canada, Canadian national science fiction convention, where the Prix Aurora Awards are presented. Normally it is held as part of an existing convention. Conventions The list of past Canventions may be referenced in the programme ...

with its

Prix Aurora Awards The Aurora Awards (french: Prix Aurora-Boréal) are a set of primarily literary awards given annually for the best Canadian science fiction or fantasy professional and fan works and achievements from the previous year."Literary glow of Auroras lure ...

, the Boréal Congress, a private label CAN-CON Wine, Virtual Reality gaming, and Co-Hosting the launch with the

National Library of Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; french: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada) is the federal institution, tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is t ...

of their exhibition "Visions of Other Worlds", Hosting

Canada Post Canada Post Corporation (french: Société canadienne des postes), trading as Canada Post (french: Postes Canada), is a Crown corporation that functions as the primary postal operator in Canada. Originally known as Royal Mail Canada (the opera ...

's Canadian Superhero Stamp Series Unveiling, to name a few of the notable events. The tenth Conference, which took place on September 21–23 of 2012, focused on introducing emerging and aspiring writers and artists to agents, editors, publishers and fans. The eleventh Conference, which took place at Minto Suites Hotel on October 4–6, 2013, had the theme of "The Cutting Edge"; it also hosted

and the 33rd

Aurora Awards The Aurora Awards (french: Prix Aurora-Boréal) are a set of primarily literary awards given annually for the best Canadian science fiction or fantasy professional and fan works and achievements from the previous year."Literary glow of Auroras lur ...

. The seventeenth and most recent Conference occurred at the Ottawa Sheraton Hotel on October 18-20, 2019.

History

Event history

*1992 ** - **Venue: Market Square Holiday Inn ** Location: ** Guests: Writers:

Guy Gavriel Kay Guy Gavriel Kay (born November 7, 1954) is a Canadian writer of fantasy fiction. The majority of his novels take place in fictional settings that resemble real places during real historical periods, such as Constantinople during the reign of Jus ...

Donald Kingsbury Donald MacDonald Kingsbury (born 12 February 1929, in San Francisco) is an American–Canadian science fiction author. Kingsbury taught mathematics at McGill University, Montreal, from 1956 until his retirement in 1986. Bibliography Books ...

; Multimedia Artist: Jeff Green; Artists:

Meghan Dunn Megan is a Welsh feminine given name, originally a diminutive form of Margaret. Margaret is from the Greek μαργαρίτης (''margarítēs''), Latin ''margarīta'', "pearl". Megan is one of the most popular Welsh-language names for women in W ...

, Jan Scott; Fan: Paul Valcour. First year of convention. *1993 ** - **Venue: Delta Hotel ** Location: ** Guests: Writers:

Robert J. Sawyer Robert James Sawyer (born April 29, 1960) is a Canadian science fiction writer. He has had 24 novels published and his short fiction has appeared in ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'', ''Amazing Stories'', '' On Spec'', ''Nature'', and numerou ...

Karen Wehrstein Karen may refer to: * Karen (name), a given name and surname * Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding woman displaying certain behaviors People * Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand ** Karen languages or Karenic l ...

, Shirley Meier; Editor:

Greg Ioannou Greg is a masculine given name, and often a shortened form of the given name Gregory. Greg (more commonly spelled " Gregg") is also a surname. People with the name *Greg Abbott (disambiguation), multiple people *Greg Abel (born 1961/1962), Canadi ...

; Fan:

Bink Bink may refer to: * Bink Video, a video format popular in many video games * Bink (The Magicians of Xanth), a character of the Xanth series by Piers Anthony * Bink (producer) Roosevelt Harrell III (born February 20, 1972) professionally know ...

. Saw the launch of the bi-annual publication ''The Journal of Canadian Content in Speculative Literature'' by CAN•CON's organizing group The Society for Canadian Content in Speculative Arts and Literature. *1994 ** - **Venue: The Talisman Hotel ** Location: ** Guests: Writers: S.M. Stirling,

Tom Henighan Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

Bertrand Desbiens Bertrand may refer to: Places * Bertrand, Missouri, US * Bertrand, Nebraska, US * Bertrand, New Brunswick, Canada * Bertrand Township, Michigan, US * Bertrand, Michigan * Bertrand, Virginia, US * Bertrand Creek, state of Washington * Saint-Ber ...

Ron Holla Ron is a shortening of the name Ronald. Ron or RON may also refer to: Arts and media * Big Ron (''EastEnders''), a TV character * Ron (''King of Fighters''), a video game character *Ron Douglas, the protagonist in '' Lucky Stiff'' played by Joe ...

; Editor:

Cath Jackel The CATH Protein Structure Classification database is a free, publicly available online resource that provides information on the evolutionary relationships of protein domains. It was created in the mid-1990s by Professor Christine Orengo and coll ...

; Fan: Paul Valcour. Included a ''Computer Expo'' that featured the just released

Doom Doom is another name for damnation. Doom may also refer to: People * Doom (professional wrestling), the tag team of Ron Simmons and Butch Reed * Daniel Doom (born 1934), Belgian cyclist * Debbie Doom (born 1963), American softball pitcher * ...

game — networked on multiple machines with VR head-tracking helmets, interactive multimedia from Jeff Green, hands-on access to the newly released

Mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

web browser, and discussions by technical experts (Paul Wilson, San Mehet) and a sociologist (Síân Reid) on how to connect to and the future of the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

. *1995 ** - **Venue: The Talisman Hotel ** Location: ** Guests: Writers: Dave Duncan,

Élisabeth Vonarburg Élisabeth Vonarburg (born 5 August 1947) is a science fiction writer. She was born in Paris (France) and has lived in Chicoutimi (now Saguenay), Quebec, Canada since 1973. From 1979 to 1990 she was the literary director of the French-Canadian ...

Candas Jane Dorsey Candas Jane Dorsey (born November 16, 1952) is a Canadian poet and science fiction novelist who resides in her hometown of Edmonton, Alberta. Dorsey became a writer from an early age and works across genre boundaries, writing poetry, fiction, mai ...

Tanya Huff Tanya Sue Huff (born 1957) is a Canadian fantasy author. Her stories have been published since the late 1980s, including five fantasy series and one science fiction series. One of these, her '' Blood Books'' series, featuring detective Vicki Ne ...

Judith Merril Judith Josephine Grossman (January 21, 1923 – September 12, 1997), who took the pen-name Judith Merril around 1945, was an American and then Canadian science fiction writer, editor and political activist, and one of the first women to be wid ...

Phyllis Gotlieb Phyllis Fay Gotlieb (née Bloom; May 25, 1926 July 14, 2009) was a Canadian science fiction novelist and poet. Biography Born of Jewish heritage in Toronto, Gotlieb graduated from the University of Toronto with degrees in literature in 1948 ...

, Joël Champetier, Jean-Louis Trudel,

, Yves Meynard,

, Shirley Meier; Artist/Poet:

Heather Spears Heather Spears (September 29, 1934 - April 15, 2021) was a Canadians, Canadian-born poet, novelist, artist, sculptor, and educator. She resided in Denmark from 1962 until her death in Copenhagen in 2021. She returned to Canada annually to conduct ...

; Artist: Jean-Pierre Normand; Editors:

David G. Hartwell David Geddes Hartwell (July 10, 1941 – January 20, 2016) was an American critic, publisher, and editor of thousands of science fiction and fantasy novels. He was best known for work with Signet, Pocket, and Tor Books publishers. He was also no ...

; Fan: Robert Runté. Hosted

15 (the

convention), Le Congrès Boréal 12 (held as a convention for the first time in 6 years, and where the Prix Boréal were given out), the 1st Annual Academic Conference on Canadian Content in Speculative Literature (now the Academic Conference on Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy (ACCSFF) in ), and a Computer Expo (hands-on VR, workshops, and seminars). Partnered with the

to launch their Out Of This World! exhibit on

Canadian science fiction A strong element in contemporary Canadian culture is rich, diverse, thoughtful and witty science fiction. History of Canadian science fiction Possibly the first recorded Canadian work of science fiction is the 1896 '' Tisab Ting, or, The Electrical ...

and

with a wine and cheese gala (with a specially branded wine for the occasion), and

for the launch of their Canadian Superhero stamp series, where the design for the

Fleur de Lys The fleur-de-lis, also spelled fleur-de-lys (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a lily (in French, and mean 'flower' and 'lily' respectively) that is used as a decorative design or symbol. The fleur-de-lis has been used in the ...

45¢ stamp was unveiled with

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

artist, and creator of the Fleur de Lys character, Mark Shainblum in attendance. *1996 ** - **Venue: National Museum of Science And Technology ** Location: ** Guests: Writers:

Robert Charles Wilson Robert Charles Wilson (born December 15, 1953 ) is an American-Canadian science fiction author. Career Wilson was born in the United States in California, but grew up near Toronto, Ontario. Apart from another short period in the early 1970s ...

Charles de Lint Charles de Lint (born December 22, 1951) is a Canadian writer of Dutch, Spanish, and Japanese ancestry. He is married to, and plays music with, MaryAnn Harris. Primarily a writer of fantasy fiction, he has composed works of urban fantasy, cont ...

Hal Clement Harry Clement Stubbs (May 30, 1922 – October 29, 2003), better known by the pen name Hal Clement, was an American science fiction writer and a leader of the hard science fiction subgenre. He also painted astronomically oriented artworks under ...

, Elizabeth Batten-Carew, Patricia Wall,

; Editors:

Lorne Anderson Lawrence Robert Anderson (July 26, 1931 – March 20, 1984) was a Canadians, Canadian professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League. Born in Renfrew, Ontario, Renfrew, Ontario, he played with the New York Rangers. He gav ...

, Chris Krejlgaard; Scientist in Residence: David Stephenson; Multimedia Artist: Jeff Green. Host to the 2nd Annual Academic Conference on Canadian Content in Speculative Arts and Literature, and the annual general meeting of the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Foundation. Hosted another Computer Expo, featured talks by the resident astronomer at the museum about the search for extraterrestrial life, a tour of the museums restored 15" refracting telescope, and sponsored a sleepover at the museum. *1997 ** - **Venue: Chimo Hotel ** Location: ** Guests: Writers:

Fiona Patton Fiona Patton (born 1962) is a Canadian fantasy author. She has written more than 50 short stories including within the genres heroic fantasy, horror and science fiction and is well known for her The Warriors of Estavia series. Born in Calgary, A ...

, Derryl Murphy,

, Terence M. Green, Yves Meynard, Jean-Louis Trudel,

, Mark Leslie, Mark Shainblum, Valerie Kirkwood, Eric Choi, Dale L. Sproule,

Kathryn Cramer Kathryn Elizabeth Cramer (born April 16, 1962) is an American science fiction writer, editor, and literary critic. Early years Kathryn Cramer is the daughter of physicist John G. Cramer. She grew up in Seattle and graduated from Columbia Univ ...

, John Park, Carol Weekes; Poet: Carolyn Clink;Editors:

, John Dupuis, Paul Recchia, Sally McBride; Scientist in Residence: David Stephenson; Multimedia Artist: Jeff Green; Fan: Paul Valcour.

published "The First 300 Words of An Untitled Contemporary Fantasy", and

published "Frameshift: The Lost Opening Chapters" in the event's programme book. *2001 ** - **Venue: Chimo Hotel ** Location: ** Guests: Writers:

, Julie E. Czerneda, Terence M. Green, Alison Sinclair, M.D. Benoit, Norma McPhee; Editor:

; Poet: Carolyn Clink; Artist: Larry Stewart (aka "The Doctor"); Musician:

Kurt Swinghammer Kurt Swinghammer is a Canadian singer-songwriter and visual artist based in Toronto."Canadian pop finds its own way to rock". ''Toronto Star'', 30 June 1989. He has released 13 full-length albums of original songs and as a session musician appea ...

. Hosted the "First Annual Action Figure Video Contest", where amateur videos were being solicited for judging. Programme book included fiction by Julie E. Czerneda entitled "'Ware the Sleeper", and an essay by

titled "The Future Is Already Here: Is There A Place for Science Fiction in the Twenty-First Century?". *2010 ** - **Venue: Travelodge Hotel Ottawa (former ''Talisman Hotel'') ** Location: ** Guests: Writers: Marie Bilodeau, Jean-Louis Trudel,

Hayden Trenholm Hayden may refer to: Places Inhabited places in the United States *Hayden, Alabama *Hayden, Arizona *Hayden's Ferry, former name of Tempe, Arizona *Hayden, California, former name of Hayden Hill, California *Hayden, Colorado *Hayden, Idaho *Hayden ...

, Matthew Johnson, Eric Choi; Special: Larry Stewart (aka "The Doctor"). Theme: Steampunk. Hosted Book Launches for Marie Bilodeau and

, along with a showing of an

indie film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, in ...

named

M-Theory M-theory is a theory in physics that unifies all consistent versions of superstring theory. Edward Witten first conjectured the existence of such a theory at a string theory conference at the University of Southern California in 1995. Witten's ...

produced by Lloyd Deane. *2011 ** - **Venue: Travelodge Hotel Ottawa (former ''Talisman Hotel'') ** Location: ** Guests of Honour: Writer: Julie E. Czerneda; Comics/Graphic Novel:

Leonard Kirk Leonard Kirk is an American-born comic book artist living in Canada. He has worked on such properties as ''Supergirl (comic book), Supergirl'', ''Justice Society of America, JSA'', ''Star Trek'', ''Batman (comic book), Batman'', and ''Witchblade' ...

; Media: Liana K and

Ed the Sock Ed the Sock is a sock puppet character, created and voiced by Steven Joel Kerzner, who first appeared on Canadian local cable television in 1987. He is best known for his hosting appearances in the 1990s on MuchMusic and his own late night talk sh ...

; Special Guests: Marie Bilodeau, J.M. Frey. *2012 ** - **Venue: Best Western Plus Ottawa/Kanata Hotel and Conference Centre ** Location: ** Guests of Honour: Writer:

; Artist: Tom Fowler; Media: CBC's Alan Neal; Special Guests: Marie Bilodeau, Eric Choi,

Leah Bobet Leah ''La'ya;'' from (; ) appears in the Hebrew Bible as one of the two wives of the Biblical patriarch Jacob. Leah was Jacob's first wife, and the older sister of his second (and favored) wife Rachel. She is the mother of Jacob's first son ...

, Matt Moore *2013 ** - **Venue: Minto Suite Hotel ** Location: ** Guests of Honor: Writer/Author:

; Editor:

; Science: Mark Robinson; Special Guests: Brendan Myers, Peter Watson, Rick Lutes, Jeffrey Manthorpe, Marie Bilodeau *2014 ** - **Venue: Ottawa Sheraton Hotel ** Location: ** Guests of Honor: Writer/Author:

Jo Walton Jo Walton (born 1964) is a Welsh and Canadian fantasy and science fiction writer and poet. She is best known for the fantasy novel ''Among Others'', which won the Hugo Award, Hugo and Nebula Awards in 2012, and ''Tooth and Claw (novel), Tooth ...

; Editor:

Gabrielle Harbowy Gabrielle Harbowy (born 1972) is an American author, editor, and anthologist. She has been Managing Editor at Dragon Moon Press, a copyeditor for Pyr, an imprint of Prometheus Books, and a Submissions Editor at Apex Magazine. Works Novels *' ...

; Media: Jay Odjick; Special Guests: Marie Bilodeau,

Julie Czerneda Julie E. Czerneda (born April 11, 1955) is a Canadian science fiction and fantasy author. She has written many novels, including four Aurora Award for Best Novel winners (''In the Company of Others'', ''A Turn of Light'', ''A Play of Shadow'', an ...

, Prof. Jim Davies,

*2015 ** - **Venue: Ottawa Sheraton Hotel ** Location: ** Guests of Honor: Writer/Author: Edward Willett; Editor:

Trevor Quachri Trevor Quachri (, born 1976) has been the sixth editor of ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' magazine since September 2012. He started as an editorial assistant in 1999 at ''Asimov's Science Fiction'' and ''Analog.'' Previously, he was “a Broa ...

; Renaissance Studies: Cristina Perissinotto; Special Guests: Marie Bilodeau,

, Jay Odjick,

, Dominic Bercier, Prof. Jim Davies, Derek Newman-Stille, Prof. Peter Watson *2016 ** - **Venue: Novotel Hotel ** Location: ** Guests of Honor: Science:Eric Choi; Writer/Author:

; Agent: Sam Morgan; Editor:

Sheila Williams Sheila Williams (born 1956 in Springfield, Massachusetts) is the editor of ''Asimov's Science Fiction'' magazine. Biography Sheila grew up in a family of five in western Massachusetts. Her mother had a master's degree in microbiology. Ms. Willi ...

*2017 ** - **Venue: Ottawa Sheraton Hotel ** Location: ** Guests of Honor: Writer/Author: Steven Erikson; Editor: Sheila Gilbert; Agent: Kim-Mei Kirtland *2018 ** - **Venue: Ottawa Sheraton Hotel ** Location: ** Guests of Honor: Agent: Kurestin Armada; Writer/Author:

Kevin Hearne Kevin Hearne is an American urban fantasy novelist born and raised in Arizona. Hearne is the author of nine novels published by Del Rey Books, Del Rey in the fantasy book series ''The Iron Druid Chronicles'', plus the 2015 ''Star Wars'' novel ' ...

; Editor: Miriam Weinberg *2019 ** - **Venue: Ottawa Sheraton Hotel ** Location: ** Guests of Honor: Agent: DongWon Song; Writer/Author:

Charlie Jane Anders Charlie Jane Anders is an American writer and commentator. She has written several novels, published magazines and websites, and hosted podcasts. In 2005, she received the Lambda Literary Award for work in the transgender category, and in 2009, t ...

; Editor: Lee Harris; Canvention: Kelly Robson *The convention was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but a few minor events took place through Zoom meetings. *2022 ** - **Venue: Ottawa Sheraton Hotel ** Location: ** Guests of Honor: Publisher : Nathan Caro Fréchette; Author: Suyi Davies Okungbowa; Editor: E.D.E. Bell; Virtual Author: C. L. Clark; Virtual Editor:

Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki or Ekpeki Oghenechovwe Donald is a Nigerian speculative fiction writer and editor residing in New York. His fiction and non-fiction have appeared in ''Omenana Magazine'', Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores', ''Tor.com'', ' ...

References

External links

Official Site
* http://browncoatsburlesque.com/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Can-Con (Convention) Science fiction conventions in Canada Events in Ottawa

Programming

History

Event history

See also

References

External links