Hi to all the MGC-goers from Aussiecon4. The venue is very spacious, and despite the attendance levels there is plenty of room to move about. I would have to say I found the intense orange-red décor just a little disorienting to begin with, but that might have been just me trying to deal with the array of potential panels to attend.
Some real luminaries here. I have not seen George RR Martin yet, but Kim Stanley Robinson is busy giving plenary lectures on various topics, and last night Robert Silverberg was chatting in the foyer with a bunch of other writers so casually you would think he appeared there every night.
Yesterday I trundled along – via the Dealer’s Room — to Dave’s signing, then along with Barb Freer, went to listen to Kate’s reading. A very smooth performance for a first timer! Kate read from her “Knights in Tarnished Armour” and a work in progress — “Wetherfakawi Blues” (hope I got the spelling right). The typical dry humour was endemic, with tightly written prose and a good storytelling voice. We were all disappointed when the half-hour slot was up.
The fellow who followed Kate, a SF writer from the UK called Gary Couzens, read a ghost story that had appeared in Fantasy and Science Ficton. I very interesting piece written from the point of view of the ghost, and written in second person. The voice was an unusual choice, yet really worked with this, increasing the tension. It made me feel like it was a sort of cautionary tale, like it could be you trapped in that house watching your loved ones go about their lives.
Below are two photos of Kate, one in mid-sentence and the other eyes down on her little life companion, her Kindle.
Tomorrow I will get to hear Dave read — always a treat — as well as China Mieville. It has been great to be able to sit back and hear these talented writers read their own works.
What are some of the best readings that you have been to?
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