Orycon is

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

's annual science fiction/fantasy convention, held in November since 1979.

Event history

{, class="wikitable" width="100%" , - ! Event !! Dates !! Guests !! Attendance !! Notes , - , OryCon 0 , Nov 11, 1978 , No GOHs , align=~125 , The Symposium , - , OryCon , Nov 9-11, 1979 ,

John Varley John Varley may refer to: * John Varley (canal engineer) (1740–1809), English canal engineer * John Varley (painter) (1778–1842), English painter and astrologer * John Varley (author) (born 1947), American science fiction author * John Silvest ...

(Pro), Steve Perry (TM) & Richard Geis (Fan) , align=525 , , - , OryCon '80 , Nov 14-16, 1980 , Fritz Leiber (Pro), Steve Perry (TM) & Elton Elliott (Fan) , align=1,010 , , - , OryCon '81 , Oct 30-Nov 1, 1981 , Frederik Pohl (Pro), Steve Fahnestalk (TM) & Kennedy Poyser (Fan) , align=965 , , - , OryCon '82 , Nov 12-14, 1982 , Robert Silverberg (Pro) & Jeff Frane (Fan) , align=979 , , - , OryCon 5 , Nov 11-13, 1983 , Octavia Butler (Pro), Terry Carr (TM) & Wilson Tucker (Fan) , align=937 , , - , OryCon '84 , Nov 9-11, 1984 , Reginald Bretnor (Pro) & Steve Perry (TM) , align=424 , "The Relaxicon" , - , OryCon '85 , Nov 8-10, 1985 , Somtow Sucharitkul (Pro), Steven Barnes (TM), William Rotsler (Artist) & Jon Singer (Fan—chosen by lot) , align=889 , , - , OryCon '86 , Nov 7-9, 1986 , Edward Bryant (Pro),

George R. R. Martin George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948), also known as GRRM, is an American novelist, screenwriter, television producer and short story writer. He is the author of the series of epic fantasy novels ''A Song ...

(TM) & Jessica Amanda Salmonson (Editor) , align=873 , , - , OryCon '87 , Nov 13-15, 1987 , Tim Powers (Pro), Michael P. Kube-McDowell (TM) & Ben Yalow (Fan) , align=954 , , - , OryCon 10 , Nov 11-13, 1988 , Lucius Shepard, John Varley, Connie Willis (Pros) & Mona Clee (Special Petrey Guest) , align=973 , , - , OryCon 11 , Nov 10-12, 1989 , Michael Bishop (Pro) & David Langford (Special Guest) , align=1,069 , , - , OryCon 12 , Nov 9-11, 1990 , Howard Waldrop & K. W. Jeter (Pros) , align=1,055 , , - , OryCon 13 , Nov 8-10, 1991 , Emma Bull & Will Shetterly (Pros) , align=1,196 , , - , OryCon 14 , Nov 20-22, 1992 , Esther Friesner (Pro), James Warhola (Artist) & Steve Forty (Fan) , align=1,342 , , - , OryCon 15 , Nov 12-14, 1993 , Terry Pratchett Pro), Mark Ferrari (Artist) & Robert Lionel Fanthorpe (Special Guest) , align=1,358 , , - , OryCon 16 , Nov 11-13, 1994 , Tappan King (Pro), Beth Meachem (Editor), Real Musgrave (Artist) & Pat Cadigan (Special Guest) , align=1,451 , , - , OryCon 17 , Nov 10-12, 1995 , Joel Rosenberg (Writer), Heather Hudson & Dameon Willich (Artists), Kristine Kathryn Rusch
& Dean Wesley Smith (Special Guests) , align=1,385 , , - , OryCon 18 , Nov 8-10, 1996 , Diane Duane & Peter Morwood (Writers), Patricia Davis (Artist), Gardner Dozois (Editor) , align=1,624 , , - , OryCon 19 , Nov 7-9, 1997 , Steven Barnes (Writer), Patrick & Teresa Nielsen Hayden (Editors), Frank Lurz (Artist) , align=1,600 , , - , OryCon 20 , Nov 13-15, 1998 , Lois McMaster Bujold (Writer), Ellen Asher (Editor), David Langford & Howard Waldrop (Returning GOHs),
Kathe Koja (Special Petrey Guest), Alan Clark (Artist), Robert Lionel Fanthorpe (Special Guest) , align=~1,600 , , - , OryCon 21 , Nov 12-14, 1999 , Néné Thomas (Artist), Warren Lapine & Angela Kessler (Editors), Nicola Griffith (Writer), Charles Sheffield
(Science), Bill Bowers (Fan) , align=~1,550 , , - , OryCon 22 , Nov 17-19, 2000 , Kara Dalkey & John Barnes (Writers), Gordon Van Gelder (Editor), Dr. Robert Forward (Science), Gail Butler
(Artist), Larry Warner (Music), Richard Dansky (Gaming) , align=~1,600 , , - , OryCon 23 , Nov 9-11, 2001 , Melanie Rawn (Writer), Laura Anne Gilman (Editor), Real Musgrave (Artist), Steve Macdonald
(Special Friends of Filk guest) , align=1,628 , , - , OryCon 24 , Nov 22-24, 2002 , Susan R. Matthews (Writer), Lee Seed (Artist), Martin H. Greenberg (Editor) , , , - , OryCon 25 , Nov 14-16, 2003 ,

Nina Kiriki Hoffman Nina Kiriki Hoffman (born March 20, 1955, in San Gabriel, California) is an American fantasy, science fiction and horror writer. Profile Hoffman started publishing short stories in 1975. Her first nationally published short story appeared in ' ...

(Writer), Ken Goddard (Science and Author),

Toni Weisskopf Toni Weisskopf (born Antonia Katherine Flora Weisskopf on December 12, 1965) is an American science fiction editor and the publisher of Baen Books. She has been nominated four times for a Hugo Award. She has won the Phoenix Award, the Rebel Awar ...

(Editor),

Martin Greenberg Martin Greenberg (June 28, 1918 – October 20, 2013) was an American book publisher and editor of science fiction anthologies. Biography Greenberg married in 1941. He was in the U.S. Army from 1942 to 1945 where he attained the rank of corporal ...

(Editor), Gail Butler (Artist), Uffington Horse (Friends of Filk) , , , - , OryCon 26 , Nov 5-7, 2004 ,

Jerry Oltion Jerry Oltion (born 1957) is a science fiction author from Eugene, Oregon, known for numerous novels and short stories, including books in the '' Star Trek'' series. He is a member of the Wordos writers' group and also writes under the pen name ...

(Writer), Mark Roland (Artist), Jennifer Heddle (Editor) , , , - , OryCon 27 , Nov 4-6, 2005 ,

Brian Herbert Brian Patrick Herbert (born June 29, 1947) is an American author who lives in Washington (state), Washington state. He is the elder son of science fiction author Frank Herbert (who died in 1986). Brian Herbert's novels include ''Sidney's Comet' ...

(Writer),

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 ...

(Writer),

Paul Guinan Paul Guinan is an American writer and comic book artist. Some of his most famous works are the Boilerplate robot or DC's Chronos. He is a founding member of Helioscope studio. Paul Guinan is part of the husband-and-wife team with Anina Bennett wh ...

(Artist), Tom Smith (Filk) , , , - , OryCon 28 , Nov 17 - 19, 2006 ,

Cory Doctorow Cory Efram Doctorow (; born July 17, 1971) is a Canadian-British blogger, journalist, and science fiction author who served as co-editor of the blog ''Boing Boing''. He is an activist in favour of liberalising copyright laws and a proponent of ...

(Writer), Chair Mary Olsen , , , - , OryCon 29 , Nov 16-18, 2007 ,

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 ...

(Writer),

Liz Scheier Liz is a female name of Hebrew origin, meaning "God's Promise". It is also a short form of Elizabeth, Elisabeth, Lisbeth, Lizanne, Liszbeth, Lizbeth, Lizabeth, Lyzbeth, Lisa, Lizette, Alyssa, and Eliza. People * Liz Balmaseda (born 1959), Pul ...

(Editor), Molly Harrison (Artist), Vic & Kelly
Bonilla (Media), Jonas Saunders (Fan), Peter S. Beagle (Filk) , , , - , OryCon 30 , Nov 21-23, 2008 ,

Harry Turtledove Harry Norman Turtledove (born June 14, 1949) is an American author who is best known for his work in the genres of alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction, and mystery fiction. He is a student of history and completed ...

(Writer),

Ginjer Buchanan Ginjer Buchanan (born in Pittsburgh, December 12, 1944) was Editor-in-Chief at Ace Books and Roc Books, the two science-fiction and fantasy imprints of Penguin Group (USA). Background Buchanan worked at Ace since 1984, was nominated for both ...

(Editor), Jeff Fennel (Artist), Cecilia Eng
(Fan), Tricky Pixie (Filk) , , , - , OryCon 31 , Nov 27-29, 2009 ,

Patricia Briggs Patricia Briggs (born 1965) is an American writer of Fantasy novel, fantasy since 1993, and author of the Mercy Thompson urban fantasy series. Biography Patricia Briggs was born in 1965 in Butte, Montana, United States. She now resides in Bent ...

(Author),

Lou Anders Lou Anders is the author of the ''Thrones & Bones'' series of middle grade fantasy novels. Anders is a Hugo Award-winning American editor, a Chesley Award-winning art director, an author and a journalist. Early life Lou Anders is originally f ...

(Editor),

Lubov Lyubov, Liubov or Lubov is a female given name, meaning “love”. It is of Slavic origin, coming from the basic word ''l'ub'' ( la, caritas). Variants * Russian: ''Любовь'' (Lyubov, Liubov, Lubov), ''Люба'' (Lyuba, Liuba, Luba) * Uk ...

(Artist), Jeff Hitchin (Fan), Chris
Lester(Filk), Chair Debra Stansbury , , , - , OryCon 32 , Nov 12-14, 2010 , P.N. Elrod (Author),

Sharyn November Sharyn November is an American writer and an editor of books for children and teenagers. Until March 2016 she was Senior Editor for Viking Press, Viking Children's Books and Editorial Director of Firebird Books, which is a mainly paperback (repri ...

(Editor),

Chad Savage Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...

(Artist),

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 ...

(Filk),
Chair Tammy J. Lindsley , , , - , OryCon 33 , Nov 11-13, 2011 , E.E. Knight (Author),

Scott Allie Scott Allie is an American comics writer and editor, best known as an editor and executive at Dark Horse Comics from 1994 to 2017. Early life Allie grew up in Massachusetts. Career Allie joined Dark Horse Comics as an editor in September 1994. ...

(Editor),

Jim Pavelec James Pavelec is an artist whose work has appeared in role-playing games. Career His ''Dungeons & Dragons'' work includes interior art for '' Races of Faerûn'' (2003), '' Unapproachable East'' (2003), ''Underdark'' (2003), ''Unearthed Arcana'' ...

(Artist),

Tempest Tempest is a synonym for a storm. '' The Tempest'' is a play by William Shakespeare. Tempest or The Tempest may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Films * ''The Tempest'' (1908 film), a British silent film * ''The Tempest'' (1911 film), a ...

(Music), Chair Devlin Perez , , , - , OryCon 34 , Nov 2-4, 2012 , Mike Shepherd (Author), Jess Hartley (Editor),

Vance Kovacs Vance may refer to: Locations United States *Vance, Alabama, a town *Vance Township, Vermilion County, Illinois *Vance, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Vance, Nebraska, an unincorporated community *Vance County, North Carolina * Vance, ...

(Artist),

Aaron Duran Aaron Duran (born 1976 in Susanville, California) is an American writer and media producer in Portland, Oregon, of Mexican and Italian descent. Duran currently hosts the weekly podcast ''Geek in the City Radio'' (FKA ''Film Fever Radio''), with ...

(Media),

Michael Longcor Michael Longcor is a folk and filk singer. His songs span a range of topics including military history, Indiana history, and humor. He has won six Pegasus Awards and has been nominated for six others. His music has appeared on Dr. Demento and on ...

(Music), Chair Tracy Penner , , , - , OryCon 35 , Nov 8–10, 2013 , Ann Bishop (Author),

Liz Gorinsky Liz Gorinsky is a publisher and editor of speculative fiction, founder and former publisher of Erewhon Books, a former editor for Tor Books, multiple Hugo Award nominee, and 2017 Hugo Award winner in the category of Best Editor (Long Form). Bi ...

(Editor),

Jay Lake Joseph Edward "Jay" Lake, Jr. (June 6, 1964 – June 1, 2014) was an American science fiction and fantasy writer. In 2003 he was a quarterly first-place winner in the Writers of the Future contest. In 2004 he won the John W. Campbell Award for Be ...

(Special), Matt Vancil (Media),

Larry Elmore Larry Elmore (born August 5, 1948) is an American fantasy artist whose work includes creating illustrations for video games, comics, magazines, and fantasy books. His list of work includes illustrations for ''Dungeons & Dragons'', ''Dragonlance'', ...

(Artist), Debs and Errol (Filk), Chair Lea Rush , 1,632 , , - , OryCon 36 , Nov 7–9, 2014 , William F. Nolan (Author), Jason Andrew (Editor), Mark Roland (Artist), Jesse Lagers (Cosplay), Vixy & Tony (Music),

(Ghost), Chair Devlin Perez , , , - , OryCon 37 , Nov 20-22, 2015 ,

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 ...

(Author), Alan M. Clark (Artist),

Jason V. Brock Jason Vincent Brock (born March 1, 1970) is an American author, artist, editor and filmmaker. He is the CEO and co-founder (with his wife, Sunni) of JaSunni Productions, LLC, whose documentary films include ''Charles Beaumont: The Short Life of ...

(Editor), Ryan Wells (Cosplay), The PDX Broadsides (Music) , , , - , OryCon 38 , Nov 18–20, 2016 ,

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 ...

(Author), Diana Gill (Editor), David Mattingly (Artist) , , , - , OryCon 39 , Nov 17-19, 2017 ,

Timothy Zahn Timothy Zahn (born September 1, 1951) is an American writer of science fiction and fantasy. He is known best for his prolific collection of ''Star Wars'' List of Star Wars books, books, chiefly the Thrawn trilogy, ''Thrawn'' series, and has publis ...

(Author), Sarah Clemens (Artist),

David Boop David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

(Editor),

Solovox The Hammond organ is an electric organ, invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Various models were produced, which originally used tonewheels to generate sound via additive synthesis, where component wave ...

(Musical), Brichibi Cosplay (Cosplay) , , , - , OryCon 40 , Nov, 2018 , , , , - , OryCon 41 , Nov, 2019 , , , , - , OryCon 42 , Nov 12-14, 2021 ,

Phil Foglio Philip Foglio (born May 1, 1956) is an American cartoonist and comic book artist known for his humorous science fiction and fantasy art. Early life and career Foglio was born on May 1, 1956, in Mount Vernon, New York, and moved with his family to ...

and

Kaja Foglio Kaja Foglio (born January 12, 1970) is a Seattle-based writer, artist, and publisher. Foglio co-won the first Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story in 2009 for ''Girl Genius, Volume 8: Agatha Heterodyne and the Chapel of Bones'', a series which went ...

(Artists), A. Lee Martinez (Author) , , , - The one-day Symposium in 1978 was held at Portland State University. OryCon was held at the Lloyd Center Sheraton in 1979, at the Portland Hilton 1980-83 and 1985, at the Portland Cosmopolitan Hotel in 1984, at the Red Lion/Lloyd Center (formerly the Lloyd Center Sheraton) in 1986, at the Red Lion/Doubletree Columbia River Hotel from 1987 to 2003, at the Marriott (waterfront downtown) from 2003 to 2008, at the Red Lion/Lloyd Center beginning 2009.

Highlights

Orycon promotes science fiction and fantasy works of all kinds. There are many panels and workshops discussing topics from how to write a great science fiction novel to current events in science, as well as numerous

filk Filk music is a musical culture, genre, and community tied to science fiction, fantasy, and horror fandom and a type of fan labor. The genre has existed since the early 1950s and been played primarily since the mid-1970s. Etymology and defin ...

sessions and concerts. Some of the recent panel topics have included: *Writing **When is enough research too much? **How to write about something you don't really know about **Using Your Imagination to Write and Draw **Inventing Languages: Alien Linguistics **Balancing Writing with Family/Real Life—Deadlines vs. diapers *Current events **What impact does technology really have on history **Murdering stemcells and frankenfood: modern biology and the far left and right **The web in 2015 - a look ahead **The rest of the world's last year in space/Japanese Space Program. What they've done, what they are doing, what they have planned. *Costuming **Making an original costume: What you need to get started **Fabric manipulation-How to twist, dye, stitch, fold, pleat and otherwise bully your fabric into submission **Period costumes beyond Victorian and medieval: Why don't we see more eras? **Costuming 101: Pattern bashing for beginners *Art **Art Jam - Everybody Draws **Selling the Offspring: Your Emotional Investment in Your Art and How Much do You Charge for It? **The Business of Art **My inspiration - My art: Why I did what I did The Susan C Petrey Scholarship Fund Auction awards scholarships to the Clarion Science Fiction Writers' Workshop (both in the East and West)

The Endeavour Award

The

Endeavour Award The Endeavour Award, announced annually at OryCon in Portland, Oregon, is awarded to a distinguished science fiction or fantasy book written by a Pacific Northwest author or authors and published in the previous year. Pacific Northwest is home to ...

is presented to a distinguished science fiction or fantasy book written by a Pacific Northwest author or authors and published in the previous year. ;Finalists for 2012 *''Anna Dressed in Blood'' by Kendare Blake (Tor) *''City of Ruins'' by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (Pyr) *''River Marked'' by Patricia Briggs (Ace) *''Robopocalypse'' by Daniel H. Wilson (Doubleday) *''When the Saints'' by Dave Duncan (Tor) ;2011 Winner: * ''Dreadnought'' by

Cherie Priest Cherie Priest (born July 30, 1975) is an American novelist and blogger living in Seattle, Washington. Biography Priest is a Florida native, born in Tampa in 1975. She graduated from Forest Lake Academy, a Seventh-day Adventist boarding school ...

External links

Orycon websiteOSFCI links to past OryconsEndeavour Award webpageOregon Science Fiction Conventions, Inc. (OSFCI)Game Storm website
Culture of Portland, Oregon Science fiction conventions in the United States Annual events in Portland, Oregon