Microcon was an annual

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, held annually at the

University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a public university , public research university in Exeter, Devon, England, United Kingdom. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of Min ...

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

since 1982, usually over the first weekend in March. It is organised by the Exeter University Science Fiction and Fantasy Society.

History and guest speakers

* Microcon (12–13 March 1982):

Lisa Tuttle Lisa Gracia Tuttle (born September 16, 1952) is an American-born science fiction, fantasy, and horror author. She has published more than a dozen novels, seven short story collections, and several non-fiction titles, including a reference book o ...

* Microcon II (5–6 February 1983): According to a contemporary report, there was no guest of honour at this event. ''(As the numbering increased by five in just four years, it appears likely it jumped a digit during 1984 - 1986)'' * Microcon 7 (1987):

Tom Shippey Thomas Alan Shippey (born 9 September 1943) is a British medievalist, a retired scholar of Middle and Old English literature as well as of modern fantasy and science fiction. He is considered one of the world's leading academic experts on the ...

* Microcon 8 (1988):

Terry Pratchett Sir Terence David John Pratchett (28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English humourist, satirist, and author of fantasy novels, especially comical works. He is best known for his ''Discworld'' series of 41 novels. Pratchett's first nov ...

Iain Banks Iain Banks (16 February 1954 – 9 June 2013) was a Scottish author, writing mainstream fiction as Iain Banks and science fiction as Iain M. Banks, adding the initial of his adopted middle name Menzies (). After the success of ''The Wasp Factor ...

Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gr ...

Dave Langford David Rowland Langford (born 10 April 1953) is a British author, editor, and critic, largely active within the science fiction field. He publishes the science fiction fanzine and newsletter ''Ansible'', and holds the all-time record for mos ...

Diana Wynne Jones Diana Wynne Jones (16 August 1934 – 26 March 2011) was a British novelist, poet, academic, literary critic, and short story writer. She principally wrote fantasy and speculative fiction novels for children and young adults. Although usually de ...

Colin Greenland Colin Greenland (born 17 May 1954 in Dover, Kent, England) is a British science fiction writer, whose first story won the second prize in a 1982 Faber & Faber competition. His best-known novel is ''Take Back Plenty'' (1990), winner of both majo ...

, John Brunner, John Grant, Fox,

Fay Sampson Fay Sampson (born 10 June 1935) is a British writer of speculative fiction, predominantly known for the '' Daughter of Tintagel'', ''Pangur Ban'', and ''Sorcerer'' fiction series. Biography Sampson earned a degree in mathematics in 1956 from t ...

, Chris Bell * Microcon 9 (1989): David V. Barrett, Adrian Cole,

Storm Constantine Storm Constantine (12 October 1956 – 14 January 2021) was a British science fiction and fantasy author, primarily known for her Wraeththu series,Encyclopedia of Science Fictio"Constantine, Storm" Retrieved 2010-01-21. which began as one trilog ...

Mary Gentle Mary Rosalyn Gentle (born 29 March 1956) is a UK science fiction and fantasy author. Literary career Mary Gentle's first published novel was ''Hawk in Silver'' (1977), a young-adult fantasy. She came to prominence with the '' Orthe'' duology, w ...

, Fox,

, John Grant,

Pete Loveday Pete Loveday is a British underground cartoonist. He is best known for his series of comics charting the adventures of hippie character Russell, including ''Big Bang Comics'', ''Big Trip Travel Agency'' and ''Plain Rapper Comix'' printed by AK ...

Ron Tiner

* Microcon 10 (1990) * Microcon 11 (1991) * Microcon 12 (29 February - 1 March 1992): John Brunner * Microcon 13 (6–7 March 1993):

* Microcon 14 (5–6 March 1994):

Geoff Ryman Geoffrey Charles Ryman (born 1951) is a Canadian writer of science fiction, fantasy, slipstream and historical fiction. Biography Ryman was born in Canada and moved to the United States at age 11. He earned degrees in History and English at UCLA ...

John Clute John Frederick Clute (born 12 September 1940) is a Canadian-born author and critic specializing in science fiction and fantasy literature who has lived in both England and the United States since 1969. He has been described as "an integral part o ...

, John Grant,

, Stephen Marley, Richard Middleton * Microcon 15 (4–5 March 1995):

Ramsey Campbell Ramsey Campbell (born 4 January 1946) is an English horror fiction writer, editor and critic who has been writing for well over fifty years. He is the author of over 30 novels and hundreds of short stories, many of them winners of literary awa ...

* Microcon 16 (2–3 March 1996):

* Microcon 17 (1–2 March 1997): Christopher Priest, Leigh Kennedy * Microcon 18 (28 February - 1 March 1998):

Brian Stableford Brian Michael Stableford (born 25 July 1948) is a British academic, critic and science fiction writer who has published more than 70 novels. His earlier books were published under the name Brian M. Stableford, but more recent ones have dropped ...

* Microcon 19 (6–7 March 1999):

* Microcon 20 (4–5 March 2000):

Nick Redfern Nicholas Redfern (born 1964) is a British best-selling author, journalist, cryptozoologist and ufologist. Redfern is an active advocate of official government disclosure of UFO information, and has worked to uncover thousands of pages of previ ...

(originally planned to be

Kim Newman Kim James Newman (born 31 July 1959) is an English journalist, film critic and fiction writer. Recurring interests visible in his work include film history and horror fiction—both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's ''Dracula (1931 ...

, who apparently didn't receive the invitation) * Microcon 21 (3–4 March 2001):

Jon Courtenay Grimwood Jon Courtenay Grimwood (born 1953 in Valletta, Malta) is a Maltese born British science fiction and fantasy author. He also writes literary fiction as Jonathan Grimwood, and crime fiction and thrillers as Jack Grimwood. Biography Grimwood was b ...

* Microcon 22 (2–3 March 2002): Gwyneth Jones * Microcon 23 (1–2 March 2003):

Jasper Fforde Jasper Fforde (born 11 January 1961) is an English novelist, whose first novel, '' The Eyre Affair'', was published in 2001. He is known mainly for his '' Thursday Next'' novels, but has published two books in the loosely connected '' Nursery Cr ...

* Microcon 24 (6–7 March 2004):

* Microcon 25 (5-6 Mar 2005):

Keith Brooke Keith Brooke is a science fiction author, editor, web publisher and anthologist from Essex, England. He is the founder and editor of the infinity plus webzine. He also writes children's fiction under the name Nick Gifford. Biography and publishin ...

, Richard Freeman, Mags Halliday, Paul Hinder,

Ben Jeapes Ben Jeapes (born 14 February 1965) is a British science fiction writer living in Abingdon-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. Early life and education Jeapes was born in Belfast in 1965. He was educated at Hampton Dene Primary School, Hereford, Little C ...

, Mark Leyland,

James Lovegrove James M. H. Lovegrove (born 1965) is a British writer of speculative fiction. Early life Lovegrove was educated at Radley College, Oxfordshire, and was one of the subjects of a 1979 BBC television series, ''Public School''. A follow-up progr ...

, Nick Walters, Beth Webb, Lee Wood * Microcon 26 (4–5 March 2006):

, Nick Walters, Christina Lake, Richard Freeman, Joanne Hall, Mark Leyland,

Paul Cornell Paul Douglas Cornell (born 18 July 1967) is a British writer best known for his work in television drama as well as ''Doctor Who'' fiction, and as the creator of one of the Doctor's spin-off companions, Bernice Summerfield. As well as ''Docto ...

* Microcon 27 (3–4 March 2007):

, Richard Freeman
Colin Harvey
Mark Leyland,

, Nick Walters * Microcon 28 (1–2 March 2008):

Pat Cadigan Patricia Oren Kearney Cadigan (born September 10, 1953) is a British-American science fiction author, whose work is most often identified with the cyberpunk movement. Her novels and short stories often explore the relationship between the human ...

, Richard Freeman, Steve Green
Joanne HallColin Harvey
Michelle Parslow, Nick Walters * Microcon 29 (21–22 February 2009): Doug Bell, Val Cornish, Richard Freeman, Steve Green, Christina Lake, Mark Leyland,

, Nick Walters''Ansible #259'', February 2009
/ref> (

had to cancel at the last minute) * Microcon 30 (6–7 March 2010): Richard Freeman, Steve Green,

Joel Lane Joel Lane (1963 – 26 November 2013) was a British novelist, short story writer, poet, critic and anthology editor.Chris Morgan, "Lane, Joel", in David Pringle, ''St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost & Gothic Writers'' (London: St. James Press, 1998) ...

, Nick Walters
Alasdair Stuart
had to cancel at the last minute) * Microcon 2011 (5–6 March 2011):

Mark Clapham Mark Clapham (born 1976) is a British author, best known for writing fiction and reference books for television series, in particular relating to '' Doctor Who'' (and its spin-offs) and Warhammer 40,000. Writing Clapham started out writing ''D ...

, Richard Freeman
Joanne HallColin Harvey
Beth Webb, Nick Walters * Microcon 2012 (25–26 February 2012):

, Richard Freeman, Steve Green, David A. Hardy,

Philip Reeve Philip Reeve (born 28 February 1966) is a British author and illustrator of children's books, primarily known for the 2001 book '' Mortal Engines'' and its sequels (the 2001 to 2006 '' Mortal Engines Quartet''). His 2007 novel, '' Here Lies Art ...

, Nick Walters,

Anneke Wills Anneke Wills (; born Anna Katarina Willys, 20 October 1941) is an English actress, best known for her role as the Doctor Who companion Polly in the long-running BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Biography Wills's father, Al ...

* Microcon 2013 (23–24 February 2013)
Teresa Derwin
Richard Freeman, Steve Green,

Cheryl Morgan Cheryl Morgan is a British science fiction critic and publisher. She has won Hugo Awards for her work on the fanzine ''Emerald City'' from 1995 to 2006, and as non-fiction editor of ''Clarkesworld'' magazine from 2009 to 2011. Morgan was the f ...

Emma Newman Emma Newman is a British science fiction and fantasy writer, podcaster and audiobook narrator. Her award nominations include the British Fantasy Award (categories: "best fantasy novel", "best newcomer") for ''Between Two Thorns'' in 2014' and ...

Kari Sperring
and Nick Walters * Microcon 2014: The event was cancelled due to difficulties obtaining funding. * Microcon 2015 (7–8 February 2015): Guests include
Teresa Derwin
Richard Freeman, Steve Green
Joanne Hall
and Nick Walters

Misnumbering

Microcon's misnumbering in the mid-1980s (see above) was spotted during research for Steve Green's 2008 guest presentation.

References

{{Reflist, 2

External links

University of Exeter Science Fiction and Fantasy Society's Microcon pageMicrocon 2013 Facebook page
Defunct science fiction conventions Defunct fantasy conventions