ConDFW was a literary

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 ...

convention Convention may refer to: * Convention (norm), a custom or tradition, a standard of presentation or conduct ** Treaty, an agreement in international law * Convention (meeting), meeting of a (usually large) group of individuals and/or companies in a ...

held annually in the

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

, area from 2002-2019. Attendees mingled with author and artist guests, attended panel discussions and readings led by guests, got books signed, looked at and bought sci-fi and fantasy art from artists around the country, shopped in a dealer's room with books, art, games, clothing, weapons, and other items, donated used books to charity (and got some others in return), played games (both tabletop and live-action), or just hung out and talked to guests and attendees in the consuite or the hotel bar. ConDFW is a production of the Texas Speculative Fiction Association.

Location

From its founding in 2002 through 2008, ConDFW convention was held at the

Radisson Hotel Radisson Hotels is an international hotel chain headquartered in the United States. A division of the Radisson Hotel Group, it operates the brands Radisson Blu, Radisson Red, Radisson RED, Radisson Collection, Country Inn & Suites, and Park In ...

Dallas North - Richardson in the heart of the Telecom Corridor at the intersection of Campbell Road and

U.S. 75 U.S. Route 75 is a major north–south U.S. Highway that extends in the central United States. The highway's northern terminus is in Noyes, Minnesota, at the Canadian border, where it once continued as Manitoba Highway 75 on the other side ...

in the Dallas suburb of Richardson, Texas. () For the 2009 through 2012 conventions, ConDFW relocated to the Crowne Plaza Suites at the intersection of

I-635 Interstate 635 may refer to: * Interstate 635 (Kansas–Missouri), a connector highway between Interstate 35 in Overland Park, Kansas and Interstate 29 in Kansas City, Missouri, signed as the Harry Darby Memorial Highway * Interstate 635 (Texas), ...

and Coit Road in Dallas. In 2013 and 2014, ConDFW was held at the Crowne Plaza North Dallas on Midway Road between Spring Valley Road and Belt Line Road in the north Dallas suburb of

Addison, Texas Addison is an incorporated town in Dallas County, Texas, in the United States. Addison is situated to the immediate north of the city of Dallas, with a 2020 census population of 16,661. Addison and Flower Mound were the only two Texas municipaliti ...

. Beginning in 2015, the convention was held at

Hilton Hilton or Hylton may refer to: Companies * Hilton Worldwide Holdings, Inc., a global hospitality company based in the United States that owns several hotel chains and subsidiary companies containing the Hilton name ** Hilton Hotels & Resorts, fla ...

Dallas Lincoln Centre in Dallas. Beginning in 2017, the convention moved to the Radisson Hotel Fossil Creek in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

Conventions

Past

ConDFW I was held February 23-24, 2002. The Guest of Honor was

John Steakley John William Steakley, Jr. (July 26, 1951 – November 27, 2010) was an American science fiction author. He published two major novels, ''Armor'' (1984) and ''Vampire$'' (1990); the latter was the basis for John Carpenter's ''Vampires'' movi ...

. Other featured guests included

David A. Cherry David Cherry (born December 14, 1949) is an American artist, author, and illustrator of science fiction and fantasy and has also done substantial work as a marketing artist, concept artist, and 3D modeler in the game production industry. Cherr ...

, Aaron Allston,

Lillian Stewart Carl Lillian Stewart Carl (born 1949) is an American author of mystery, fantasy and science-fiction novels. Carl resides in North Texas. She has been a friend of Lois McMaster Bujold since childhood; both authors credit Carl with getting Bujold start ...

, Bill Crider, P.N. Elrod, Thomas W. Knowles, Julia Blackshear Kosatka,

Lee Martindale Lee may refer to: Name Given name * Lee (given name), a given name in English Surname * Chinese surnames romanized as Li or Lee: ** Li (surname 李) or Lee (Hanzi ), a common Chinese surname ** Li (surname 利) or Lee (Hanzi ), a Chinese s ...

Teresa Patterson Teresa (also Theresa, Therese; french: Thérèse) is a feminine given name. It originates in the Iberian Peninsula in late antiquity. Its derivation is uncertain, it may be derived from Greek θερίζω (''therízō'') "to harvest or rea ...

Brad Sinor Brad may refer to: * Brad (given name), a masculine given name Places * Brad, Hunedoara, a city in Hunedoara County, Romania * Brad, a village in Berești-Bistrița Commune, Bacău County, Romania * Brad, a village in Filipeni, Bacău, Romania * ...

Bruce Sterling Michael Bruce Sterling (born April 14, 1954) is an American science fiction author known for his novels and short fiction and editorship of the ''Mirrorshades'' anthology. In particular, he is linked to the cyberpunk subgenre. Sterling's first ...

, and Martha Wells. ConDFW II was held February 21-23, 2003. The Guest of Honor was

David Drake David A. Drake (born September 24, 1945) is an American author of science fiction and fantasy literature. A Vietnam War veteran who has worked as a lawyer, he is now a writer in the military science fiction genre. Biography Drake graduated Phi ...

. The Artist Guests of Honor were

and

Brad W. Foster Brad W. Foster (born April 26, 1955) is an American illustrator, cartoonist, writer and publisher. He has also been Artist Guest of Honor at multiple conventions such as ArmadilloCon 10, Conestoga 9, Archon 35, NASFiC 2010, and 73rd World Scie ...

. Other featured guests included Aaron Allston,

Jayme Lynn Blaschke Jayme Lynn Blaschke (born 1969) is an American journalist and author of science fiction, fantasy and related non-fiction. Primarily known for his genre-related interviews with authors and editors, he published a collected volume of 17 interviews, ' ...

, P.N. Elrod,

, and Martha Wells. ConDFW III was held February 20-22, 2004. The Guest of Honor was Lois McMaster Bujold. The Artist Guest of Honor was

Alan Gutierrez Alan Gutierrez (born 1958 in Kansas City, Missouri) is an artist and illustrator, specializing in science fiction and fantasy cover art. Gutierrez grew up in southern California, and he received his BFA in illustration from the Art Center Colleg ...

. The Gaming Guest of Honor was Steve Jackson. Other special guests included

Barry N. Malzberg Barry Nathaniel Malzberg (born July 24, 1939) is an American writer and editor, most often of science fiction and fantasy. Biography Malzberg originated from a Jewish family and graduated from Syracuse University in 1960. He worked as an investi ...

, Robert Sheckley, Robert Asprin, and

. ConDFW IV was held February 25-27, 2005. The Guests of Honor were Steven K. Z. Brust,

Patrick Nielsen Hayden Patrick James Nielsen Hayden (born Patrick James Hayden January 2, 1959), is an American science fiction editor, fan, fanzine publisher, essayist, reviewer, anthologist, teacher and blogger. He is a World Fantasy Award and Hugo Award winner (wi ...

, and

Teresa Nielsen Hayden Teresa Nielsen Hayden (born March 21, 1956) is an American science fiction editor, fanzine writer, essayist, and workshop instructor. She is a consulting editor for Tor Books and is well known for her weblog, ''Making Light''. She has also work ...

. The Artist Guest of Honor was

. Other featured guests included Robert Asprin, Bill Fawcett, Jody Lynn Nye, and

. ConDFW V was held February 24-26, 2006. The Guests of Honor were Don Maitz,

F. Paul Wilson Francis Paul Wilson (born May 17, 1946, in Jersey City, New Jersey) is an American medical doctor and author of horror, adventure, medical thrillers, science fiction, and other genres of literary fiction. His books include the Repairman Jack n ...

, and Janny Wurts. Featured guests included the Bedlam Bards. ConDFW VI was held February 23-25, 2007. The Guests of Honor were Emma Bull, Will Shetterly, and Harry Turtledove. The Artist Guest of Honor was

Bob Eggleton Bob Eggleton (born September 13, 1960) is an American science fiction, fantasy and horror artist. Eggleton is a nine-time Hugo Award–winner for Best Pro Artist in science fiction and fantasy, first winning in 1994. He won the Hugo Award for Be ...

. Other featured guests included Robert Asprin, Steven K.Z. Brust,

, and

. ConDFW VII was held February 22-24, 2008. The Guest of Honor was author

Peter S. Beagle Peter Soyer Beagle (born April 20, 1939) is an American novelist and screenwriter, especially of fantasy fiction. His best-known work is ''The Last Unicorn'' (1968), a fantasy novel he wrote in his twenties, which ''Locus'' subscribers voted the ...

. The Artist Guest of Honor was Donato Giancola. The Special Guest was

Tom Monteleone Thomas Francis Monteleone (born April 14, 1946) is an American science fiction author and horror fiction author."Monteleone, Thomas F(rancis)", by Don D'Ammassa in David Pringle, ''St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost & Gothic Writers''. London : S ...

. Other featured guests included Aaron Allston,

Rachel Caine Rachel Caine was the pen name of Roxanne Longstreet Conrad (April 27, 1962 – November 1, 2020) who was an American writer of science fiction, fantasy, mystery, suspense, and horror novels. Personal life Conrad grew up in West Texas and gradu ...

Brad Foster Brad W. Foster (born April 26, 1955) is an American illustrator, cartoonist, writer and publisher. He has also been Artist Guest of Honor at multiple conventions such as ArmadilloCon 10, Conestoga 9, Archon 35, NASFiC 2010, and 73rd World Sc ...

, David Cherry,

Carole Nelson Douglas Carole Nelson Douglas (November 15, 1944 – October 20, 2021) was an American writer of sixty novels and many short stories. She has written in many genres, but is best known for two popular mystery series, the ''Irene Adler'' Sherlockian suspe ...

, Katharine Eliska Kimbriel,

, Martha Wells,

Teddy Harvia Teddy Harvia is the pen name of David Thayer, an American science fiction fan artist. "Teddy Harvia" is an anagram of "David Thayer". He was born in Oklahoma but grew up in and resides in Dallas, Texas. , Teddy Harvia has won the Hugo Award ...

, and

Selina Rosen Selina Rosen (born February 2, 1960) is a U.S. science fiction publisher, editor, and author. In 1995 she founded her own publishing house, Yard Dog Press, specializing in the adventure, fantasy, and science fiction genres. She is the 2011 recipie ...

. ConDFW VIII was held February 20-22, 2009. The Guests of Honor included authors Jim Butcher and

David Weber David Mark Weber (born October 24, 1952) is an American science fiction and fantasy author. He has written several science-fiction and fantasy books series, the best known of which is the Honorverse, Honor Harrington science-fiction series. His ...

plus animation studio Janimation, Inc. Other featured guests included

Lou Antonelli Louis Sergio Antonelli (January 6, 1957 – October 6, 2021) was an American speculative fiction author who wrote primarily alternate history, secret history, science fiction, and fantasy. He resided in Clarksville, Texas. Antonelli's stories hav ...

, Martha Wells,

P. N. Elrod Patricia Nead Elrod (b. 1954) is an American novelist specializing in urban fantasy. She has written in the mystery, romance, paranormal, and historical genres with at least one foray into comedic fantasy. Elrod is also an editor, having worked on ...

, Paul Black,

Shanna Swendson Shanna Swendson is an American author of romance novels and chick lit. She has also written under the pseudonym Samantha Carter. Swendson is perhaps best known for the "Katie Chandler" series of novels, beginning with the 2005 publication of ' ...

Steven Brust Steven Karl Zoltán Brust (born November 23, 1955) is an American fantasy and science fiction author of Hungarian descent. He is best known for his series of novels about the assassin Vlad Taltos, one of a disdained minority group of humans livi ...

, and

. ConDFW IX was held February 12-14, 2010. The Guest of Honor was scheduled to be

Nebula Award The Nebula Awards annually recognize the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the United States. The awards are organized and awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), a nonprofit association of profe ...

-winning author

Jack McDevitt Jack McDevitt (born April 14, 1935) is an American science fiction author whose novels frequently deal with attempts to make contact with alien races, and with archaeology or xenoarchaeology. Most of his books follow either superluminal pilot Pri ...

but a record-setting snowstorm in North Texas prevented him from flying in for the convention. Fortunately, Guest of Honor

Elizabeth Moon Elizabeth Moon (born March 7, 1945) is an American science fiction and fantasy writer. Her other writing includes newspaper columns and opinion pieces. Her novel '' The Speed of Dark'' won the 2003 Nebula Award. Prior to her writing career, sh ...

was traveling by train and was able to attend. ConDFW X was held February 18-20, 2011. The Guests of Honor included

-winning author

, author Tim Powers, ''New York Times'' best-selling author

Brandon Sanderson Brandon Winn Sanderson (born December 19, 1975) is an American author of high fantasy and science fiction. He is best known for the Cosmere fictional universe, in which most of his fantasy novels, most notably the ''Mistborn'' series and ''The ...

, and

Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier a ...

-winning artist

. ConDFW XI was held February 17-19, 2012. The Guests of Honor were author Cherie Priest and artist

William Stout William Stout (born September 18, 1949) is an American fantasy artist and illustrator with a specialization in paleoart, paleontological art. His paintings have been shown in over seventy exhibitions, including twelve one-man shows. He has worke ...

. ConDFW XII was held February 15-17, 2013, at the Crowne Plaza North Dallas. (This new location is the same hotel used by

FenCon FenCon is a literary science fiction and fantasy convention with filk held each year on or around the fourth full weekend of September in or around Dallas, Texas. The name is derived from "fen", the fannish plural of "fan", and "con", an abbrevia ...

All-Con All-Con is a four-day convention held annually in the Dallas, Texas, area. All-Con provides an umbrella of content supporting fans of science fiction, fantasy, Renaissance, anime, costuming, theater/performing arts, mystery, art, crafts, collectin ...

, and Furry Fiesta.) The Guests of Honor included 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 ...

and artist Brian Stelfreeze. ConDFW XIII was held February 21-23, 2014, at the Crowne Plaza North Dallas. The Guests of Honor included author

Kevin J. Anderson Kevin James Anderson (born March 27, 1962) is an American science fiction author. He has written spin-off novels for ''Star Wars'', ''StarCraft'', ''Titan A.E.'' and ''The X-Files literature#Novels, The X-Files'', and with Brian Herbert is the ...

and artist

Alain Viesca Alain may refer to: People * Alain (given name), common given name, including list of persons and fictional characters with the name * Alain (surname) * "Alain", a pseudonym for cartoonist Daniel Brustlein * Alain, a standard author abbreviation u ...

. ConDFW XIV was held February 13–15, 2015, at the Hilton Dallas Lincoln Centre. The Guests of Honor included authors Sherwood Smith and

Rachel Manija Brown Rachel () was a Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban. Her older sister was Leah, Jacob's first wife. Her aunt ...

, and artist Galen Dara. ConDFW XV was held February 12–14, 2016, at the Hilton Dallas Lincoln Centre. The Guests of Honor included authors

John Scalzi John Michael Scalzi II (born May 10, 1969) is an American science fiction author and former president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. He is best known for his ''Old Man's War'' series, three novels of which have been nom ...

and

Seanan McGuire Seanan McGuire (pronounced SHAWN-in; born January 5, 1978 in Martinez, California) is an American author and filker. McGuire is known for her urban fantasy novels. She uses the pseudonym Mira Grant to write science fiction/ horror and the pseudon ...

. ConDFW XVI was held February 10–12, 2017, at the Radisson Hotel Fossil Creek, Fort Worth, Texas. The Guests of Honor included author

and artist R. Cat Conrad. ConDFW XVII was held February 16-18, 2018, at the Radisson Hotel Fossil Creek, Fort Worth, Texas. The scheduled Guests of Honor were author Charlaine Harris and artist John Picacio. Charlaine Harris was unable to attend because of a medical procedure. ConDFW XVIII was held February 15-17, 2019, at the Radisson Hotel Fossil Creek, Fort Worth, Texas. The scheduled Guests of Honor were author Charlaine Harris and author Yoon Ha Lee.

Upcoming

The organizers announced that ConDFW XVIII was the final conDFW.

References

External links

ConDFW official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Condfw 2002 establishments in Texas Science fiction conventions in the United States Conventions in Texas Fantasy conventions Festivals in Dallas Recurring events established in 2002