The 73rd World Science Fiction Convention (

Worldcon Worldcon, or more formally the World Science Fiction Convention, the annual convention of the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS), is a science fiction convention. It has been held each year since 1939 (except for the years 1942 to 1945, during ...

), also known as Sasquan, was held on 19–23 August 2015 at the

Spokane Convention Center Spokane Convention Center is the primary convention center in Spokane, Washington, in the northwest United States, and consists of two interconnected buildings along the south bank of the Spokane River in downtown Spokane. The facility, owned and ...

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Canada ...

, United States. The convention was chaired by Sally Woehrle.

Participants

Guests of Honor

* artist

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 ...

* author

David Gerrold David Gerrold (born Jerrold David Friedman; January 24, 1944)Reginald, R. (September 12, 2010)''Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature, Volume 2'' Borgo Press p. 911. Archived at Google Books. Retrieved June 23, 2013. is an American science fic ...

* author

Vonda McIntyre Vonda Neel McIntyre () was an American science fiction writer and biologist. Early life and education Vonda N. McIntyre was born in Louisville, Kentucky, the daughter of H. Neel and Vonda B. Keith McIntyre, who were born in Poland, Ohio. She s ...

* filker Tom Smith * fa
Leslie Turek

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

astronaut

Kjell Lindgren Kjell Norwood Lindgren (born January 23, 1973) is an American astronaut who was selected in June 2009 as a member of the NASA Astronaut Group 20. He launched to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of Expedition 44/ 45 on July 22, 201 ...

participated from Earth orbit as Sasquan's Special Guest while aboard the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...

Programming and events

Masquerade

The Sasquan

masquerade Masquerade or Masquerader may refer to: Events * Masquerade ball, a costumed dance event * Masquerade ceremony, a rite or cultural event in many parts of the world, especially the Caribbean and Africa * Masqueraders, the performers in the West ...

was held in the

First Interstate Center for the Arts The First Interstate Center for the Arts is a 2,609-seat theater and entertainment venue in Spokane, Washington, Spokane, Washington (state), Washington. It is located in Downtown Spokane along the south bank of the Spokane River adjacent to the ...

(then known as the INB Performing Arts Center), on same campus as the Convention Center, in the evening of Friday, 16 August. There were 45 entrants competing for ten major awards. The Sasquan Masquerade Director was Sharon Sbarsky.Kevin Roche
was the master of ceremonies and the judges were

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 ...

, Sandy Pettinger, Kathy Sanders, and Syd Weinstein. The workmanship judges were Tanglwyst de Holloway and Michele Weinstein. The winners, across four experience-based categories, were:

Young Fan division

* Best Comic: "

Ms. Marvel Ms. Marvel is the name of several fictional superheroes appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was originally conceived as a female counterpart to Captain Marvel. Like Captain Marvel, most of the bearers of the Ms. M ...

" by Sashti Ramadorai * Best Media: "

Arya Stark Arya Stark is a fictional character in American author George R. R. Martin's ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' epic fantasy novel series, and its television adaptation ''Game of Thrones'', where she is portrayed by English actress Maisie Williams. She ...

" by Alexis Davis * Best in Class: "

Emma Swan Emma Swan is a fictional character in ABC's television series ''Once Upon a Time'' and the protagonist of seasons 1-6. She is portrayed by Jennifer Morrison as an adult, by Abby Ross as a teenager, and by Mckenna Grace as a child. Emma appears ...

" by Melinda Kilbourne

Novice division

Workmanship awards: * Honorable Mention: "Red" by Megan * Best Use of Traditional Materials: "San" (Princess Mononoke) by Casandra Friend * Best Woodworking Magic: "Ashe and Lux" (League of Legends) by Rachelle Henning and Tori Wheeler * Best Accessory: "Fauntal" by Ashlee * Best Use of Recycled Materials: "Immortan Joanna" by Claire Stromberg * Judge's Choice (de Holloway): "Octopus Dress" by Desiree Gould * Judge's Choice (Weinstein): "Don't Blink" by Paulina Crownhart and Julia Buragino * Rising Star Award: "We Are Groot" by Jason Giddings * Best in Class: "We Are Groot" by Jason Giddings Presentation awards: * Honorable Mention: "Don't Blink" by Paulina Crownhart and Julia Buragino * Dead Ringer Award: "The Captain" (Captain Kangaroo) by Robert Mitchell * Best Re-Creation: "Immortan Joanna" by Claire Stromberg * Best in Class: "We Are Groot" by Jason Giddings

Journeyman division

Workmanship awards: * Honorable Mention: "Luigi" by Bevan Rogers * Honorable Mention (Transformation): "Diana Prince/Wonder Woman" by Denise Tanaka * Best Use of Non-Traditional Materials: "Sleeping Beauty, the Vintage Edition" by Hal Bass, Sharon Bass, Barbara Galler-Smith, Janine Wardale, John Wardale, and Ita Vandenbroek * Best Use of Materials That Hate You: "Theia the Tabbybrook Mage" by Natalie Rogers * Best Patterning and Fitting: "Marian Keiffer" by Debi "7 of Eowyn" Schwartz * Worst Infection of the Beading Disease: Tie:- ** "Doctor Who Time Lords" by Carol Hamill and Forrest Nelson ** "Victorian Justice League" by Barbara Hoffert, Mark Ezell, Ellie Ezell, Ann Ezell, Zachary Brant, and Kathryn Brant * Rising Star Award: "Blood Dragon Lord" by Lesli Jones * Best in Class: "Blood Dragon Lord" by Lesli Jones Presentation awards: * Most Beautiful: "Marian Keiffer" by Debi "7 of Eowyn" Schwartz * Best Re-Creation: "Doctor Who Time Lords" by Carol Hamill and Forrest Nelson * Best in Class: "Blood Dragon Lord" by Lesli Jones

Master division

Workmanship awards: * Best Use of a Sweater Pattern: "Knit Klingon Warrior" by Shael Hawman * Best Use of Light Refraction: "Dreams of a Rainbow" by Susan Torgerson and Chris Corbitt * Best Use of Shower Accessories: "Rainbow Jellyfish" by Orchid Cavett * Best Dyeing: "Senator Padmé Amidala" by Torrey Stenmark * Most Skill-Sets in a Single Bound: "Professor R. Miles Levell, Gentleman Time Traveler" by Richard Miles * Go Big or Go Home Award: "Princess Marshmallow" by Lance Ikegawa * Rising Star Award: Tie:- ** "Knit Klingon Warrior" by Shael Hawman ** "Rainbow Jellyfish" by Orchid Cavett Presentation awards: * Honorable Mention: "Rainbow Jellyfish" by Orchid Cavett * Honorable Mention: "Senator Padmé Amidala" by Torrey Stenmark * Best Critter: "Roll for Initiative" by Jonnalyn Wolfcat, Melissa Quinn, Alita Quinn, and Anita Taylor * Most Beautiful: "Princess Marshmallow" by Lance Ikegawa * Best in Class: "Professor R. Miles Levell, Gentleman Time Traveler" by Richard Miles

Overall

* Best in Show (workmanship): "Roll for Initiative" by Jonnalyn Wolfcat et al. * Best in Show (presentation): "Victorian Justice League" by Barbara Hoffert, Ann Ezell, Mark Ezell, Kathryn Brant, Zach Brant, Ellie Ezell

Awards

Of the 2,122 valid nominating ballots, 2,119 were submitted online and 3 on paper. The year's final ballot was dominated by slates organized as the "

Sad Puppies Sad Puppies was an unsuccessful right-wing anti-diversity voting campaign run from 2013 to 2017 and intended to influence the outcome of the annual Hugo Awards, the longest-running prize (since 1953) for science fiction or fantasy works. It was ...

" and "

Rabid Puppies Sad Puppies was an unsuccessful right-wing anti-diversity voting campaign run from 2013 to 2017 and intended to influence the outcome of the annual Hugo Awards, the longest-running prize (since 1953) for science fiction or fantasy works. It was ...

". The controversy brought international press attention to the awards process and caused several nominees to withdraw from consideration. However, only one slate candidate won an award, and in the five categories in which only slate candidates were nominated, no award was given.

2015 Hugo Awards

* Best Novel: '' The Three-Body Problem'', by

Cixin Liu Liu Cixin (, pronounced ; born 23 June 1963) is a Chinese science fiction writer. He is a nine-time winner of China's Galaxy Award and has also received the 2015 Hugo Award for his novel '' The Three-Body Problem'' as well as the 2017 ...

, translated by

Ken Liu Ken Liu (born 1976) is an American author of science fiction and fantasy. His epic fantasy series ''The Dandelion Dynasty'', which he describes as silkpunk, is published by Simon & Schuster. Liu has won Hugo and Nebula Awards for his short fic ...

(

Tor Books Tor Books is the primary imprint of Tor Publishing Group (previously Tom Doherty Associates), a publishing company based in New York City. It primarily publishes science fiction and fantasy titles, and is the largest publisher of Chinese scien ...

) * Best Novella: no award * Best Novelette: "

The Day the World Turned Upside Down "The Day The World Turned Upside Down" is a magical realismAu ...

", by

Thomas Olde Heuvelt Thomas Olde Heuvelt (born 16 April 1983) is a Dutch horror writer. His short stories have received the Hugo Award for Best Novelette, the Dutch Paul Harland Prize, and have been nominated for two additional Hugo Awards and a World Fantasy Awar ...

(''

Lightspeed Magazine ''Lightspeed'' is an American online fantasy and science fiction magazine edited and published by John Joseph Adams. The first issue was published in June 2010 and it has maintained a regular monthly schedule since. The magazine currently publis ...

'', April 2014) * Best Short Story: no award * Best Related Work: no award * Best Graphic Story: ''

'', "Volume 1: No Normal", written by

G. Willow Wilson Gwendolyn Willow Wilson (born August 31, 1982) is an American comics writer, prose author, and essayist. Her best-known prose works include the novels ''Alif the Unseen'' and '' The Bird King''. She is most well known for relaunching the '' Ms. Ma ...

, illustrated by

Adrian Alphona Adrian Alphona is a Canadian comic book artist best known for his work on Marvel Comics' '' Runaways'', which he co-created with writer Brian K. Vaughan. Slated to be pencilling the second volume of ''Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane'' when writer Ter ...

and Jake Wyatt (

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

) *

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form The Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation is given each year for theatrical films, television episodes, or other dramatized works related to science fiction or fantasy released in the previous calendar year. Originally the award covered both ...

: ''

Guardians of the Galaxy The Guardians of the Galaxy is a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It may more specifically refer to: Comic book teams * Guardians of the Galaxy (1969 team), the original 31st-century team fr ...

'', written by

James Gunn James Francis Gunn Jr. (born August 5, 1966) is an American filmmaker and executive. He began his career as a screenwriter in the mid-1990s, starting at Troma Entertainment with ''Tromeo and Juliet'' (1997). He then began working as a director ...

and

Nicole Perlman Nicole Perlman (born December 10, 1981) is an American screenwriter, best known for co-writing the Marvel Cinematic Universe film ''Guardians of the Galaxy'' (2014), and the story for Marvel's '' Captain Marvel'' (2019), and for ''Pokémon Detecti ...

; directed by James Gunn *

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form The Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation is given each year for theatrical films, television episodes, or other dramatized works related to science fiction or fantasy released in the previous calendar year. Originally the award covered both ...

: ''

Orphan Black ''Orphan Black'' is a Canadian Science fiction on television, science-fiction Thriller (genre), thriller television series created by screenwriter Graeme Manson and director John Fawcett (director), John Fawcett and starring Tatiana Maslany. Th ...

'', "By Means Which Have Never Yet Been Tried", written by Graham Manson, directed by John Fawcett (

Temple Street Productions Temple Street Productions is a Canadian television, film, and digital media production company based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, owned by Boat Rocker Studios, a division of Boat Rocker Media. Past and present Temple Street projects include ''Orp ...

Space Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider ...

BBC America BBC America is an American basic cable network that is jointly owned by BBC Studios and AMC Networks. The channel primarily airs sci-fi and action series and films, as well as selected programs from the BBC (such as its nature documentary ser ...

) * Best Professional Editor, Long Form: no award * Best Professional Editor, Short Form: no award * Best Professional Artist:

Julie Dillon Julie Dillon (born in 1982) is an American artist specializing in science fiction and fantasy art.Best Semiprozine: ''

'', edited by

John Joseph Adams John Joseph Adams (born 1976) is an American science fiction and fantasy editor, critic, and publisher. Career Editor Adams worked as Assistant Editor at ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' from May 2001 to December 2009. In January 20 ...

, Wendy N. Wagner, Stefan Rudnicki, Rich Horton, and Christie Yant * Best Fanzine: ''

Journey Planet Journey Planet is an Irish-American science fiction fanzine currently edited by James Bacon, Christopher J Garcia and various other co-editors. It has been nominated twelve times for the Hugo Award for Best Fanzine, winning in 2015. Description J ...

'', edited by James Bacon, Chris Garcia, Alissa McKersie, Colin Harris, and Helen Montgomery * Best Fancast: ''Galactic Suburbia Podcast'', by Alisa Krasnostein, Alexandra Pierce, Tansy Rayner Roberts (presenters) and Andrew Finch (producer) * Best Fan Writer: Laura J. Mixon * Best Fan Artist: Elizabeth Leggett

Art Show Awards

* Best Convention Theme: "Whatever Happened to Bigfoot" by Sandra Ackley * Best 3D Non-Jewelry: "Just Keeping an Eye on Things" by Mark Chapman * Best 3D Jewelry: "Lapis Dragon" by Arlin Robins * Best 2D Color: "The Dala Horse" by Julie Dillon * Best 2D Monochrome: "Othello" b
M. Scott Hammond
* Judges Choice: "Resurrection of Perspective" by Andy VanOverberghe * Body of Work: Andy VanOverberghe * Staff Choice: "Tracking a Giant" by Jeff Sturgeon * Fan Choice: "Tang Horse" by Elizabeth Berrien * GOH Choice: "Circles of Quanta 2" by Andy VanOverberghe

Other awards

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer The ''Astounding'' Award for Best New Writer (formerly the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer) is given annually to the best new writer whose first professional work of science fiction or fantasy was published within the two previous ...

Wesley Chu Wesley Chu (朱恆昱) (born September 23, 1976, in Taipei) is a #1 New York Times Bestselling speculative fiction author. He was originally raised by his grandparents in Taiwan while his parents were studying in the United States. In 1982, he ...

* Special Committee Award:

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 ...

First Fandom Hall of Fame award First Fandom Hall of Fame is an annual award for contributions to the field of science fiction dating back more than 30 years. Contributions can be as a fan, writer, editor, artist, agent, or any combination of the five. It is awarded by First Fa ...

Julian May Julian Clare May (July 10, 1931 – October 17, 2017) was an American science fiction, fantasy, horror, science and children's writer who also used several literary pseudonyms. She is best known for her ''Saga of Pliocene Exile'' (''Saga of the ...

Margaret Brundage Margaret Brundage, born Margaret Hedda Johnson (December 9, 1900April 9, 1976), was an American illustrator and painter who is remembered chiefly for having illustrated the pulp magazine ''Weird Tales''. Working in pastels on illustration bo ...

(posthumous),

Bruce Pelz Bruce Edward Pelz (August 11, 1936 – May 9, 2002) was a US science fiction fan. He was highly active in the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society (LASFS) and a major SMOF, co-chairing the 30th World Science Fiction Convention. He also wrote ...

(posthumous),

F. Orlin Tremaine Frederick Orlin Tremaine (January 7, 1899 – October 22, 1956) was an American science fiction magazine editor, most notably of the influential ''Astounding Stories''. He edited a number of other magazines, headed several publishing companie ...

(posthumous) * Sam Moskowitz Archive Award: David Aronovitz * Forrest J. Ackerman Big Heart Award: Ben Yalow

Staff

After the "Spokane in 2015" bid chaired by Alex von Thorn won the site selection vote
Sally Woehrle
an
Bobbie DuFault
were announced as co-chairs of the convention on behalf of the Seattle Westercon Organizing Committee. DuFault died suddenly on the morning of 14 September 2013. The convention announced that Sally Woehrle would serve as chair wit
Glenn GlazerPierre Pettinger
and Mike Willmoth as vice-chairs.

Site selection

The location was selected on 31 August 2013, by the members of the

71st World Science Fiction Convention The 71st World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), also known as LoneStarCon 3, was held on 29 August–2 September 2013 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center and Marriott Rivercenter in San Antonio, Texas, United States. The convention ...

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

. Three committees announced bids and qualified to be on the site selection ballot for the 73rd World Science Fiction Convention: * Helsinki in 2015, bid chair Eemeli Aro, would be held 6–10 August 2015 * Orlando in 2015, bid chair Adam Beaton, would be held 2–6 September 2015 * Spokane in 2015, bid chair Alex von Thorn, would be held 19–23 August 2015 The first contested Worldcon selection since the 2007 vote for the 2009 Worldcon site saw active campaigning and drew celebrity endorsements. Authors

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 ...

and

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 ...

publicly supported the Helsinki bid and encouraged their fans to vote while artist

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 ...

declared his support for Spokane's bid and artist

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 ...

declared his support for Orlando. Spokane won the site selection contest on the third round of ballot counting in Australian-style

preferential ballot The term ranked voting (also known as preferential voting or ranked choice voting) refers to any voting system in which voters rank their candidates (or options) in a sequence of first or second (or third, etc.) on their respective ballots. Ran ...

ing. Spokane finished with 645 votes, gaining a majority over Helsinki with 610. Orlando was dropped in the second round with 307 votes and "none of the above" had been eliminated in the first round.

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

, and Locust Grove, Virginia, each received multiple write-in votes with Pyongyang and other hoax sites receiving single write-in votes.

Future site selection

Four committees announced bids to host the

75th World Science Fiction Convention The 75th World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), also known as Worldcon 75, was held on 9–13 August 2017 at the Helsinki Exhibition and Convention Centre in Helsinki, Finland. The convention chair was Jukka Halme, and the vice-chairs wer ...

and filed all of the required paperwork by the February 2015 deadline: "Nippon in 2017", "Montréal in 2017", "Helsinki in 2017", and "Washington D.C. in 2017". The 2017 site selected by the voters was announced during the convention's third World Science Fiction Society business meeting, on Saturday, 22 August 2015. With 1363 votes out of 2625 valid ballots, Helsinki won on the first ballot and will operate as "Worldcon 75". DC17 ran second with 878 votes, Montréal third with 228, and Nippon fourth with 120.

References

External links

Sasquan official website

"Come to Sasquan" by Visit Spokane
{{DEFAULTSORT:World Science Fiction Convention 073 2015 conferences 2015 in Washington (state) Culture of Spokane, Washington Science fiction conventions in the United States Worldcon