Hey Everyone! The Underwords Blog has been quiet for awhile, and I am taking this moment to break the silence and share with you one of the projects that I have been working on over the last six months. BOSKONE!!!

As you may (or may not) know, I also help to plan and organize science fiction and fantasy conventions. The one I love most is Boskone, which takes place in Boston, MA from February 19-21, 2016 at the Westin Waterfront Hotel.

If you love books, movies, games, and anything connected to science fiction or fantasy, you should consider coming to Boskone this year. We have have a fantastic line up of Guests as well as over 150 other authors, artists, musicians, scientists, and publishers who are coming…and it is going to be a fantastic event.

Online registration is open through midnight on Saturday, February 13, 2016. So, if you want to save some time, definitely take a moment now to register online. However, if you miss the window, you can still buy your membership at the door.

Membership Registration Information:

Full Weekend Rates
Adult Full Convention: $65
College Student Full Convention: $40*
K-12 Full Convention: $25*

One Day Rates
Friday One Day: $25
Saturday One Day: $45
Sunday One Day: $25

* Valid school ID may be required.

Boskone’s Signature Evening Events Include:

Boskone Reception & Meet the Guests: Step it up, and join us in the Galleria for an upscale social mixer where with Boskone’s Guests and program participants. Come meet this year’s guests:

• Guest of Honor:  Garth Nix
• Official Artists: Richard Anderson
• Special Guests: Arnie & Cathy Fenner
• Featured Filkers: Vixy & Tony
• NESFA Guest: Bob Eggleton

The Videri String Quartet will be performing in the galleria from 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM! Cash bar available. (Friday)

Featured Filkers Concert with Vixy & Tony: Vixy & Tony (disguised by day as Michelle Dockrey, mild-mannered officemouse, and Tony Fabris, mild-mannered codemonkey) are award-winning musicians with an easygoing style, catchy songs, accessible lyrics, and energetic performances — enjoyed by both SF fans and mainstream music enthusiasts alike. (Friday)

Noir at the Bar – Special Edition: Noir at the Bar is a popular literary series that has “sprung up all over the country.” Boston’s Noir at the Bar series comes to Boskone on February 19th for a special night of readings, fun, and prizes with our noir, crime, mystery, and horror writers.

Hosted by Chris Irvin and Errick Nunnally. Cash bar available. (Friday)

Boskone Book Party: Join the party, buy books, grab some swag, and have a fantastic time adding new material from nearly 20 of your favorite Boskone authors to your bookshelf.

Publishers and authors come together to in the Galleria to share what’s new since last year. This year NESFA Press is also launching two anthologies: The Grimm Future, edited by Erin Underwood, and Conspiracy!, edited by Tom Easton and Judith K. Dial.  (Saturday)

Boskone Rapid-Fire Theater and NESFA Awards Ceremony: Tonight’s presentation: a fast-paced theatrical extravaganza, featuring a set of mini-shows that resemble live-action “podcast experiments.” This special Saturday night program has something for everyfan. We hope you’re entertained, amused, soothed, gratified, provoked, intrigued, informed, or if possible all of the above in swift succession. Hosted by Boskone’s very own David G. Grubbs. (Saturday)

• Music with Vixy & Tony.
• NESFA Awards Presentation: The New England Science Fiction Association (NESFA) presents its annual Skylark and Gaughan Awards as well as the winner of the NESFA Short Story Contest.
• The Wesley Chu Interview.
• At the Movies with Boskone (Dan Kimmel and Garen Daly)
• Mystery Radio Play (Bruce Coville, David Grubbs, Bob Kuhn, Laurie Mann, Melinda Snodgrass).

Superhero Open Mic: Kapow! Live from Boskone … enjoy the knock-out stylings of our program participants and audience members who share their open mic skills in the first-ever Superhero Open Mic. Each person gives his/her best 5-minute superhero performance – story, poem, song, skit, interpretive dance, or whatever! OPTIONAL: For extra appeal, feel free to come dressed as a superhero! Cash bar available.

THE RULES: Boskone members are invited to join our participants in the open mic by signing up for one of the eight open slots at the door to the event, which opens for sign-ups at 8:30 pm. Each performer is given a firm 5-minute time limit (max), including set-up time. So a quick transition between acts is key. (Saturday)

In addition to these signature events, we also have over 350 other program items . . . and much, much more! You can view the Boskone 53 Program Schedule here.

We also have more than 150 amazing writers, artists, publishers, scientists, and editors coming back to Boskone. Some of our program participants include:

Ginjer Buchanan, Wesley Chu, Neil Clarke, C.S.E. Cooney, Bruce Coville, Gardner Dozois, Brendan DuBois, Esther Friesner, Charles Gannon, David Gerrold, Christopher Golden, Theodora Goss, Joe Hill, James Patrick Kelly, Thomas Kidd, Flourish Klink, John Langan, Ken Liu, Darlene Marshall, Cerece Rennie Murphy, E.C. Myers, Teresa Nielsen Hayden, Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Robert Sawyer, Melinda Snodgrass, Charles Stross, Django Wexler, Fran Wilde, Gary K. Wolf, Walter Jon Williams, Brianna Spacekat Wu, and E. Lily Yu.

You can view the full list of program participants here.

AN INCREDIBLE ART PROGRAM AND ART SHOW!

Bob Eggleton doing an art demo.

This year’s Art Show is truly amazing, featuring work by our Official Artist Richard Anderson, a retrospective by NESFA Press Guest Bob Eggleton, and a Spectrum inspired exhibit in honor of our Special Guests Arnie & Cathy Fenner (organized by Edie Stern and Joe Siclari), which includes work by more than 35 artists that spans more than 20 years of speculative art.

There are also dozens of speculative art program items, demos, and discussions. In addition, we also have a number of artists who are attending as program participants as well as members this year, including Tommy Arnold, Rick Berry, Kristina Carroll, Scott Grimando, Stephen Hickman, Ingrid Kallick, Tom Kidd, Gary Lippincott, Sheeba Maya, Omar Rayyan, Ruth Sanderson, Dave Seeley and many others!

There is so much more to share, but let me finish by saying…. I love this convention and I am so happy to be able to share it with you. If you’re going to be in Boston, MA from February 19-21, 2016, it would be awesome to see you there.

Remember to register for Boskone! You can either buy your membership online by midnight on Saturday, February 13, 2016 or you can buy your membership in person at the convention.