Being nice to each other at conventions is good but doesn't replace need for harassment and accessibility policies
Yesterday the World Fantasy Convention 2016 uploaded accessibility and harassment policies to their website. I wish they'd done this before being criticized for not having them and before their deadline passed for a registration fee increase, but it's good they now have the policies.
That said, I'm troubled by how many people said these policies wouldn't be needed if people only treated each other with kindness and respect. For example, in the screengrabs from the World Fantasy Con 2016 discussion group, one of the organizers said "We should not need these policies. ... Play nice and mind your manners."
I understand the appeal of statements like this. I'm generally an optimist. I believe if people treated each other with respect and kindness and goodwill, most of the world's problems would disappear.
Yet I'm also a realist. Even though versions of the Golden Rule have been preached and taught for thousands of years, people still don't behave in this idealistic manner. And that's one reason why statements like "We wouldn't need these policies if people behaved" rubs so many people the wrong way. It's like people making such statements are using wishful thinking to avoid dealing with a problem, or sticking their head in the sand because the problem isn't "their" problem.
I mean, would you seriously follow the advice of anyone who made the following statements?
- We don't need laws and a court system and police because people generally behave themselves.
- Don't lock the front door to your home at night because people are generally trustworthy.
- You don't need passwords for your bank and work and other life accounts because it would be bad manners to steal your money or personal information.
Anyone who made such statements would be laughed at for not seeing the world as it is. Yet somehow it's acceptable to dismiss having a code of conduct and accessibility policies for a convention because all we need to do is have people be nice and mind their manners?
Everyone should be nice to each other at genre conventions. Good manners are a wonderful way to smooth personal interactions. But don't pretend such acts of kindness and good behavior can ever replace policies for dealing with harassment and accessibility.
World Fantasy Con 2016 doesn't care about your harassment and accessibility concerns
I love the World Fantasy Convention. The 2010 World Fantasy in Columbus was the first big SF/F convention I ever attended. In addition to meeting lots of fellow authors and editors, I was even picked to be a participating author on some really exciting panels. In general I had a fantasy-themed ball.
So imagine my excitement when I learned World Fantasy was returning to Columbus in 2016. I planned to register early and be all up in that convention.
Except I still haven't registered, and now I'm ticked. You see, I support both John Scalzi's convention harassment policy pledge and Mary Robinette Kowal's accessibility policy pledge. Basically, these pledges mean that I won't attend a convention which doesn't have clear and enforceable policies dealing with both of these issues.
As of February 1st, WFC2016 has yet to post either of these policies. Today's date matters because on January 31 at 11:59 pm the price to register jumped from $150 to $225. I wanted to register at that lower price but without the policies I wouldn't do so (I'd also have liked to known the guests of honor, but I can live without that).
Until today I was trying to be understanding. After all, managing a convention is difficult and relies extensively on volunteer assistance. Maybe no one had pointed out to the people running WFC 2016 how important these policies were to people. Maybe they were having trouble devising these policies.
But then I receive the following screengrabs and many others, which come from the private Facebook group of the people running WFC 2016. The screengrabs show that the people behind WFC 2016 were told repeatedly that they needed these policies, and that it is unfair to not have the policies up before the lower registration fee deadline passed.
But instead of listening to these concerns, which were raised with WFC 2016 since early December, the people agitating for these policies — along with the very need for such policies — were ignored and belittled.
Let me be very clear: It is wrong for a convention to accept registration payments before that convention posts their harassment and accessibility policies. It is even more wrong to belittle these policies and those requesting them.
I mean, seriously, did people learn nothing from the debacle around last year's World Fantasy Convention fail on harassment?
See below for a selection of these screengrabs.
I'm guessing that by posting these screengrabs I won't be invited to WFC 2016 as a participating author. And that's fine with me, especially if anything I've revealed pushes World Fantasy to finally fix their continual lack of respect and attention around these issues. I've also heard a rumor that WFC 2018 in Baltimore already has their harassment and accessibility policies. If so, that's how a big con like World Fantasy should be run.
Novel of the week: The Strange Crimes of Little Africa by Chesya Burke
My new novel of the week is The Strange Crimes of Little Africa by Chesya Burke, an exciting mystery set in New York City during the Harlem Renaissance. The novel follows the adventures of anthropology student Jaz Idawell as she tries to solve a murder alongside her best friend Zora Neale Hurston.
Burke is an amazing writer, creating a 1920s Harlem which crackles with life and energy and pulls the reader into that famous time period. The novel's characters are equally engrossing, with Jaz quickly endearing herself to the reader, who can't help rooting for her as she battles corruption, discrimination, and revelations which threaten to tear apart both her family and society.
While The Strange Crimes of Little Africa is a historical mystery, Burke's writings are well known within the SF/F and horror communities, with her short story collection Let's Play White being one of the best first collections released by a new genre author in recent years. Even though this isn't a SF/F or horror novel, genre fans will likely enjoy Burke's mystery, as will any fan of mysteries and historical novels.
I also hope that Burke will write more stories featuring Jaz Idawell, who is a protagonist who would benefit from an entire series of novels.
Highly recommended.
Thank you, David G. Hartwell
My thoughts are with David G. Hartwell and his wife Kathryn Cramer. Last night Hartwell suffered severe head trauma, from which he passed away today.
As an editor Hartwell influenced my love of science fiction in many unseen ways. Without Hartwell the world would have a very different view of the works of Samuel R. Delany and Philip K. Dick and Gene Wolfe.
It's quite likely Delany's The Motion of Light in Water and Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun, both of which are among the best literary works of the entire 20th century, wouldn't exist without Hartwell.
On a personal level Hartwell was responsible for two of my most exciting moments as a SF author. The first was when he and Kathryn selected my story "The Ships Like Clouds, Risen by Their Rain " for one of their year's best anthologies.
The second was at a convention where Hartwell was the editor guest of honor. My short story collection Never Never Stories was released at the con and I was sitting at a table signing copies when Hartwell walked up with a friend. Hartwell smiled at me and told his friend, "I love this guy's stories."
I was floored that such a legendary editor would express such kindness about my writing.
Hartwell cared deeply about promoting and finding new authors. In fact, he once complained to me that not enough new authors where approaching him at a convention and pitching their stories.
In my mind, that kind of receptiveness to new authors is exactly what you'd want in an editor.
Thank you, David Hartwell. Thank you.
A very good New Year for writing
The new year is starting off great in terms of publications. In the last few weeks I've sold two novelettes, along with Chinese translation rights to two books.
- My science fiction novelette "Toppers" sold to Asimov's Science Fiction. This is my first dip into the time travel subgenre in what I believe is a totally unique vision of time travel.
- My historical fantasy/horror novelette "May Our Voices Sing Like Blood from Open Wounds" sold to Intergalactic Medicine Show. This is my first vampire story ever, although as above in a different manner than the norm.
I've also sold reprint and translation rights to both my Nebula Award nominated novella Sublimation Angels and my short story collection Never Never Stories to Douban Read. This Chinese ebook publisher has released translations of works by such authors as Ken Liu and Aliette de Bodard and it's exciting to join their ranks.
In other news I have a story slated to appear next month in Apex Magazine, have recently completed several other short stories and novelettes, and have written 30,000 words of a new young adult novel.
So far my writing muse is loving 2016.