New Irish Science Fiction Association

Hi there!

We hope this newsletter finds you well.

You are probably aware that NISFA closed its doors over a year ago, and that there hasn't been an active science fiction society in Dublin since. This month Sorcha Power would like to announce her plans to form a new science fiction society.

If you're interested in hearing more, please come along on Tuesday, 9th Feb, to the White Horse Inn close to Tara Street Dart Station.

We've also been asked to relay a message about Epic-Con, taking place this coming weekend in Maynooth. Without further ado, we pass you over to David to tell you all about it. It will be Epic.

Take care,

The ex-NISFA team.

Dear Sci-fi and Fantasy fans.

My name is David Linke and I am the Con Co-Ordinator of Epic-Con, which is a Fantasy and Sci-fi convention held at NUI Maynooth campus in Co.Kildare in Ireland in February. We started our convention last year, and it was an immense success - over 120 people came from all over the country and our guests at the event included some of Ireland's most popular fantasy and science fiction authors.

Our guests so far for this year include: Juliet E. McKenna, author of The Tales of Einarinn and The Aldabreshin Compass series; Michael Carroll, best known for his superhero novels The New Heroes and Perter McClean who has been organising P-con for the last several years. We will also have talks by two past students of the collage: Aidan O'Reilly who will again dazzle us with his fantastic foresight into future warfare, and Emily Duffy who will delve into the science behind superheroes.

This will all take place on the 13th and 14th of February, in the john hume building in the Nui Maynooth North campus.
The cost? 8 euro for a day ticket and 12 for a weekend ticket. Its all in aid of chairity as is our custom and this year the proceeds from epic-con are going to go to the rag week charity of choice which is to be announced. Have fun, help out.

Below is a list of other events that we have planned for the two days.

Panels

Can fantasy still be original?
- A discussion on the nature of fantasy. Have all the ideas and concepts been used up or are there some fresh and undiscovered stories to be told?

The Contenders
- Explain who your favorite character out of any fantasy, sci-fi or similar setting is, this can be from any medium. Then try to convince everyone there (including the other panelists) why they're the best. The audience votes for a winner at the end.

Zombie survival
- How likely is it that mankind would survive a zombie apocalypse? What steps could and have been taken to improve our chances? This will also discuss how such an apocalypse might occur and what type of zombies might emerge.

The impact of sci-fi
- With our technology ever advancing what inspirations have we taken from sci-fi? And have their stories taught us anything about the use and abuse of such technological power? How do you think they will shape our future?
Workshops
Juliet McKenna will be holding a writing workshop for which we are very thankful.
One of our local students Ashling O'Neill will also be holding a drawing workshop.

Competitions
These will be a writing and an art competitions which are pretty straightforward.

There will also be a dubbing competition in which people will be given a scene and a character to dub as they see fit.
We will also be opening up a torture room which became infamous last year as a place to see the worst films imaginable.
This year we have again scoured the recesses of the internet and other sources for films so bad that they can actually cause physical pain to those who watch them. The winner of the torture room will be the person to last the longest.
To finish off the weekend we will also have a pyrotecnics display given by one of the chemistry professors from the college.

Well thats our convention this year. I hope you will be able to make it and let me apologise for such short notice.
The website for the convention is www.epiccon.info.

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.

Sincerely,
David Linke.
Epic-con co-ordinator.