Chattacon is an annual

science fiction convention Science fiction conventions are gatherings of fans of the speculative fiction genre, science fiction. Historically, science fiction conventions had focused primarily on literature, but the purview of many extends to such other avenues of expre ...

held in

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020 ...

. The convention is organized by the nonprofit Chattanooga Speculative Fiction Fans, Inc. First held in 1976, the convention drew more than 1,200 attendees to the Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel in 2014. Chattacon was founded by Chattanooga native Irv Koch; the first Chattacon was held in January 1976. Formatted as a "relaxacon", it drew 81 guests, and lost money. By Chattacon III in 1978, it was a more traditional science fiction convention, with A. E. van Vogt as Guest of Honor, and had returned the costs of its original organization to Koch, with enough left over to serve as

seed money Seed money, sometimes known as seed funding or seed capital, is a form of securities offering in which an investor invests capital in a startup company in exchange for an equity stake or convertible note stake in the company. The term ''seed'' ...

for Chattacon IV.

Conventions

History

Chattacon 36
held January 21–23, 2011, included guests of honor writers

Kristine Kathryn Rusch Kristine Kathryn Rusch (born June 4, 1960) is an American writer and editor. She writes under various pseudonyms in multiple genres, including science fiction, fantasy, mystery, romance, and mainstream. Rusch won the Hugo Award for Best Nov ...

and

Chelsea Quinn Yarbro Chelsea Quinn Yarbro (born September 15, 1942) is an American writer. She is known for her series of historical horror novels about the vampire Count Saint-Germain. Biography Yarbro was born in Berkeley, California. She attended Berkeley sch ...

, artist

Ruth Thompson Ruth Thompson (September 15, 1887 – April 5, 1970) was a Republican politician from the U.S. state of Michigan. A lawyer by profession, she served three terms in the United States House of Representatives from 1951 to 1957. Biography Early l ...

, filkers Bill and Brenda Sutton, and

Baen Books Baen Books () is an American publishing house for science fiction and fantasy. In science fiction, it emphasizes space opera, hard science fiction, and military science fiction. The company was established in 1983 by science fiction publisher an ...

publisher

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 Awa ...

as toastmaster. Attendance for this event was estimated at over 1,000 members.
Chattacon 37
held January 20–22, 2012, included writers Steve Miller and Sharon Lee, author Laura Ann Gilman, and artist John Picacio, plus " Morganville Vampires" writer Rachel Caine as Special Guest and author Mark Van Name as Toastmaster.
Chattacon 38
held January 25–27, 2013, included guests of honor

Tim Powers Timothy Thomas Powers (born February 29, 1952) is an American science fiction and fantasy author. Powers has won the World Fantasy Award twice for his critically acclaimed novels '' Last Call'' and ''Declare''. His 1987 novel ''On Stranger Tide ...

and

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 ...

, artist guest William Stout, and toastmistress Wendy Webb.
Chattacon 39
held January 24–26, 2014, included guest of honor

Tobias Buckell Tobias S. Buckell (born 1979) is a New York Times Bestselling author and World Fantasy Award winner born in the Caribbean. He grew up in Grenada and spent time in the British and US Virgin Islands, which influence much of his work. His novels and ...

, featured guests John Kaufmann, Jean Johnson, and Robert Buettner, plus toastmistress Wendy Webb and special music guest Matthew Ebel.
Chattacon 40
held January 30–February 1, 2015, included guests of honor

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'', ...

Kathleen Ann Goonan Kathleen Ann Goonan (May 14, 1952 – January 28, 2021)Kathleen Ann Goonan (1952–2021)

, and

, artist guests

Alan Clark Alan Kenneth Mackenzie Clark (13 April 1928 – 5 September 1999) was a British Conservative Member of Parliament (MP), author and diarist. He served as a junior minister in Margaret Thatcher's governments at the Departments of Employment, ...

and David Dietrick, special guest Adam-Troy Castro, and toastmistress Wendy Webb.
Chattacon 41
held January 29–31, 2016 at the Chattanooga Choo Choo, included guest of honor William C. Dietz, artist guest of honor

Scott Grimando Scott Grimando is an American illustrator. In his teenage years he studied classical painting under Harold Stevenson, one of the few protégées of Norman Rockwell. Later studying under the aviation artist Attila Hejja, Grimando went on to work wit ...

, special guest

Larry Correia Larry Correia is an American fantasy and science fiction writer, known for his ''Monster Hunter International'', ''Grimnoir Chronicles'', and ''Saga of the Forgotten Warrior'' series. He has authored or co-authored over 20 novels, has over 50 pub ...

and toastmistress Wendy Webb.
Chattacon 42
held January 20–22, 2017 at the Chattanooga Choo Choo, included guest of honor

Mike Resnick Michael Diamond Resnick (; March 5, 1942 – January 9, 2020) was an American science fiction writer and editor. He won five Hugo awards and a Nebula award, and was the guest of honor at Chicon 7. He was the executive editor of the defunct ma ...

, with

Alan Pollack Alan Pollack (born 1964 in New Jersey) is an American artist whose work has appeared in role-playing games. Works Alan Pollack produced interior illustrations for many ''Dungeons & Dragons'' books and ''Dragon'' magazine since 1994, and did th ...

as the artist guest of honor, special guest Jennifer Mulvihill and toastmistress Wendy Webb.
Chattacon 43
held January 19-21, 2018 at the Chattanoogan, included guest of honor

Peter David Peter Allen David (born September 23, 1956), often abbreviated PAD, is an American writer of comic books, novels, television, films and video games.Buxton, Marc (March 29, 2014)"From 'Future Imperfect' to '2099': Peter David's Greatest Hits" Co ...

and artist guest of honor

Todd McCaffrey Todd J. McCaffrey (born 27 April 1956 as Todd Johnson) is an Irish American author of science fiction best known for continuing the ''Dragonriders of Pern'' series in collaboration with his mother Anne McCaffrey. Life Todd Johnson was born 27 Apr ...

, as well as artist Sam Flegal and gaming aficionado Michael Bielaczyc.
Chattacon 44
held January 19-21, 2019 at the Read House, included guest of honor Timothy Zahn and artist guest of honor Charles Urbach, as well as author

Tim Waggoner Tim Waggoner is the author of numerous novels and short stories in the Fantasy, Horror, and Thriller genres. Education Waggoner graduated from Wright State University in 1989 with a Master of Arts in English with a Creative Writing Concentra ...

and toastmaster D. Alan Lewis.
Chattacon 45
held January 26-28 2020 at the DoubleTree Hilton Chattanooga, included guest of honor Robert McCammon, artist guest of hono
Melissa Gay
special guest

Faith Hunter Gwendolyn Faith Hunter is an American author and blogger, writing in the fantasy and thriller genres. She writes as Faith Hunter in the fantasy genre, and as Gwen Hunter in the thriller genre.

and toastmaste
Big Daddy Voodoo

Recent

'
Chattacon 46
'', was held January 22-24 2021, originally scheduled for the DoubleTree Hilton Chattanooga, was held live online on

Discord Discord is a VoIP and instant messaging social platform. Users have the ability to communicate with voice calls, video calls, text messaging, media and files in private chats or as part of communities called "servers".The developer documenta ...

. Guests included guest of hono
M.D. Cooper
artist guest of hono
Amanda Makepeace
special gues
Brian Cooksey
and toastmistress Brandy Bolgeo Hendren. '
Chattacon 47
'', was held January 14-16 2022 at the DoubleTree Hilton Chattanooga. Guests included author guest of honor M.D. Cooper, artist guest of honor Amanda Makepeace, special guest Brian Cooksey, and toastmistress Brandy Bolgeo Hendren.

Upcoming

'
Chattacon 48
'', will be held in January 2023 in Chattanooga. Guests include will include guest of hono
Martin Powell
artist guest of hono
Leia Powell
special gues
B.L. Blankenship
special gues
Paige Gardner
(originally scheduled to attend Chattacon 47) and toastmaste
Michael Corrie

References

External links

Chattacon official website
{{Multigenre conventions in North America Recurring events established in 1976 Science fiction conventions in the United States Culture of Chattanooga, Tennessee Festivals in Tennessee Tourist attractions in Chattanooga, Tennessee Conventions in Tennessee 1976 establishments in Tennessee