Octocon 2022 Programme Book by Octocon

'VE E W & 2 2 0 ! IT'S 2 HYBRID E GON 2022.octocon.com

Welcome from Octocon's Chairperson Days are getting shorter, the temperature outside is dropping, and Halloween is just around the corner, that only means one thing… It’s time for another Octocon!

Welcome to Octocon 2022! We are back in-person for the first time since 2019 and we're doing it in style. Octocon is celebrating being able to gather together in Croke Park! Having the National Irish Science Fiction convention in the National Irish stadium is such a dream come true for me and I am so glad to be able to celebrate fandom with you all in this wonderful new venue. Getting here has been quite the journey. Organising an in-person convention on a non-pandemic year was already hard enough but we have also taken on the extra challenge of going hybrid. So many things have changed in the past two years and we wanted to make sure that no one gets left behind as the world opens up and we try to navigate a post-pandemic world. I want to say thank you to my ever hard-working committee. It has been a very challenging and bumpy road but we’re here, we made it! Thank you to our Guest of Honour, Michael Carroll and Fan Guests of Honour Helen and Philippa Ryder for patiently waiting to appear at an in-person Octocon. To all the panellists and volunteers for helping with the convention both on-site and virtually. And most of all, to you, for joining us and celebrating fandom with us wherever you may be in the world. Let’s get this party started! Happy Octocon everyone! Raissa

2022 is Hybrid! After two years of Octocon being online, we are delighted to return with a hybrid convention. We are glad to be able to get together again in person, but we wish to do so in a way which is as safe as possible and with lower risks so more of us can attend. We acknowledge that even with these precautions in place, some members will not be able to attend in person and we are glad people are making the best informed decision for themselves, which is why we have an online membership so people can attend safely from home. https://2022.octocon.com/covid-19-policy/

Code of Conduct Octocon exists for the enjoyment and enrichment of the fannish community. To ensure that the greatest number of people can have an excellent Octocon, we have established this Code of Conduct. By this Code, we seek only to ensure that the behavior of anyone does not disturb the membership as a whole, nor does the behavior detract from the relaxed and comfortable atmosphere of our events. The Code of Conduct applies equally to all attendees (this includes Members, Guests, Dealers and Committee). https://2022.octocon.com/code-of-conduct/

This Year We're Proud to Be Supporting:

For the past few years, we have been grateful to be able to support a range of charities and causes that are dear to our hearts, and which we consider important. This year, we will be supporting and fundraising for MASI: the collective Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland https://www.masi.ie/

About MASI The Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland is a grassroots organisation based in Ireland. They’re a collective of people who are or have been in the asylum and direct provision system in Ireland, working and advocating together for justice, freedom and dignity for refugees, asylum seekers and migrants. Their focus is on the Right to Education and the Right to Work for all people seeking asylum, on the complete abolition of direct provision and an end to deportations.

We're Delighted to Be Supported By:

Dublin is the fourth UNESCO City of Literature, one of 39 UNESCO Cities of Literature worldwide. With four Nobel prize winners, a brace of universities of global distinction in Trinity and UCD, over half a dozen books festivals, the internationally prestigious Dublin Literary Award and a world class new city library in the planning, it is without doubt that Ireland’s capital has literature in its blood. Octocon is delighted to be supported and recognised by UNESCO and Dublin City Council. Glasgow 2024, A Worldcon for our Futures, transformed the Hogan Mezzanine 2 into a dance floor for Octocon's Saturday Night Social. We took requests for music you can boogie down to, and our online attendees got to listen to the same playlist we created. We'd also like to thank Dublin 2019 for their support!

Guests of Honour Michael Carroll Irish writer Michael Carroll has written many, many books and comics, including the awardwinning New Heroes series of Young Adult superhero novels and the #1 Amazon best-selling cult graphic novel Judge Dredd: Every Empire Falls. He currently writes Judge Dredd, Proteus Vex, Mayflies and Dreadnoughts for 2000AD and Judge Dredd Magazine. Other works include Jennifer Blood for Dynamite Entertainment, Razorjack for Titan Books (co-written with artist John Higgins), and the Rico Dredd trilogy for Abaddon Books, for whom he has also created the highlyacclaimed Judges series of novellas. Michael is also one of a tiny handful of people to have attended every single Octocon! Like, a really tiny handful. You know, like, those 3½” Star Wars action figures? You know the teeny-tiny Yoda one? Well, about the size of his hand – that’s how tiny the handful is. I forget where I was going with that but the point is, at this stage Michael probably has Octocon encoded into his genetic material.

Guests of Honour Philippa Ryder "I first became involved in fandom when, sick in bed with a cold, my mother bought me The Early Asimov vol. 1. Asimov quickly became a hero of mine, and I loved the snippets of life in New York in the 1930s and 40s he told of, talking of Worldcons, fanzines and famous fans. As soon as I heard of the inaugural meeting of the Irish Science Fiction Association I went, making firm friends and shortly joining the committee, editing the newsletter, becoming secretary then chair as the association expanded from a few dozen members to over 200. We held ISFACon 1 and 2 in the early 1980s, around the time I met my wife Helen at a Star Trek convention in Leeds and I left the committee to pursue other interests for a few years (well, we got married!), but in 1987 I became involved again, chairing its rise to a truly national organisation with a printed magazine and other publications and eventually leading to the establishment of Octocon in 1990."

Helen Ryder "As a child I was an avid reader, and the first SF books that I recall reading included the ‘Kemlo’ books in the school library, and Star Surgeon by Alan E. Nourse. Then a school friend introduced me to Asimov as an author and I was lost. When I was 18 I went to my first Star Trek convention in my home town – and met Philippa. Over the next ten years we attended ST and SF conventions around the UK (Conspiracy ’87 in Brighton was my first Worldcon, and my Darkover costume won the Eastercon masquerade in 1991) and after our marriage in 1986 we were involved in the Irish Science Fiction Association meetings. In 1990 a group of us launched Octocon in the Royal Marine Hotel in Dun Laoghaire with Terry Pratchett as our guest of honour and somehow I ended up as the chair."

In-Person Guests Eve Golden-Woods

Eve Golden-Woods is a writer and artist from Co. Clare. She works as a writer and producer for independent game studio Dreamfeel, where she was the co-writer on the award-winning game If Found. She has also published fiction, including The Antidote to Memory, a fantasyromance novella.

Llaura McGee

Llaura McGee is an Irish artist, writer and game maker known for creating experimental video games, installations and performances through ‘Dreamfeel’, a video game studio she founded in Dublin.

ItsHannyu

"I am a cosplayer, streamer and digital artist. I love creating content evolving around video games and anime. I started cosplaying in 2011 and I haven’t stopped since. I have judged a few cosplay competitions over the years and even judged for EuroCosplay Ireland qualifiers in 2019. I love creating props from video games overall. I now mostly stream jrpgs over cosplay at the moment."

Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan

Gareth Hanrahan’s three-month break from computer programming to concentrate on writing has now lasted nearly 20 years. He’s written more gaming books than he can readily recall, by virtue of the alchemical transmutation of tea and guilt into words. He lives in Ireland with his family.

In-Person Guests Mary Watson

Mary Watson is from Cape Town and now lives on the west coast of Ireland. She’s worked as an art museum guide, library assistant, theatre duty manager, and an actor in children’s musicals. She has a PhD from the University of Cape Town where she taught for many years.

Maura McHugh

Maura McHugh lives in Galway and writes across a variety of media, including prose, theatre, radio, film/TV, video games, and comic books, such as writing the iconic Judge Anderson for the British comic book weekly, 2000 AD.

RB Kelly

RB Kelly’s debut novel, Edge of Heaven, was shortlisted for the Arthur C Clarke Award and the ESFS Award for Best Work of Fiction. The sequel, On The Brink, was published in May 2022. Her short stories can be found in publications from around the world, including The Best of British Science Fiction, Aurealis, and Lamplight Magazine; she is also a fan of the Oxford comma, and of semicolons.

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Online Guests Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki is an African speculative fiction writer and editor in Nigeria. He won the Nebula award and is a multiple Hugo award finalist. He has also won the Otherwise, Nommo, and British Fantasy awards and has been a finalist in the WFA, Locus, BSFA, BFA & Sturgeon awards. His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in Strange Horizons, Galaxy’s Edge, Apex, Asimov’s, Tor.com, and more.

Julia Meitov Hersey

Born in Moscow, Julia Meitov Hersey moved to the U.S. at the age of nineteen and has been straddling the two cultures ever since. She lives north of Boston with her family, juggling all her beloved translation projects and making sure Russian literature is well represented on the American market. She is best known for translating VITA NOSTRA (Harper Voyager, November 2018, and VITA NOSTRA sequel, ASSASSIN OF REALITY, Harper Voyager, February 2023.

Gillian Polack

Dr Gillian Polack is an award-winning Australian speculative fiction writer based in Canberra. Her novels are mostly contemporary fantasy, with some science fiction and historical detours. Her most recent novel is The Green Children Help Out. Her 2019 novel, The Year of the Fruit Cake, won the 2020 Ditmar award. She was the 2020 recipient of the A. Bertram Chandler award for lifetime achievement in science fiction.

Aliette de Bodard

Aliette de Bodard lives and works in Paris. She has won three Nebula Awards, an Ignyte Award, a Locus Award, a British Fantasy Award and five British Science Fiction Association Awards. Her most recent book is Of Charms, Ghosts and Grievances (JABberwocky Literary Agency, Inc., June 28th, 2022), a fantasy of manners and murders set in an alternate 19th Century Vietnamese court.

Octocon's First Cosplay Competition! This year Octocon was delighted to be hosting its first ever cosplay competition. There were such creative cosplays brought to Croke Park!

Thank you to our brilliant judges Helen Ryder, Felandaris and ItsHannyu, and David McConnell, our official photographer!

bric a F e h t to t ecret u s o r t e Shou d our sup an r for o r e n t o n Cou ous d osplay m y n ano the c g n i r o es! spons tition priz e comp

Traders The Chaos Exchange is a trader of official anime goods including DVDs, Bluray and Japanese imported goods with side hustle of cute and kawaii hand made crafts including badges, magnets, potion jars and lucky dips. The Chaos Exchange has been running since 2016 and has a range of items to suit every budget. http://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/thechaosexchange

@thechaosexchangeoninsta

Cuddlefish Studio @CuddlefishStudio

Treasures In A NutShell sells resin art in the form of jewellery, fantasy figurines, and toys such as dice and chess boards. treasuresinanutshell@gmail.com

@willzel23

C he ck o ut our w o n d e rf u l tra d e rs in th e se p a ges a n d o n li ne!

Panels Ask the Horrible Goose and Screaming Cat Do you want rants, rambles, and complete incoherent babbling from the Horrible Goose and the Screaming Cat about the extraordinarily ordinary reality of North America? Yes, you do, even if you don’t realise you do. Octocon's own agents of chaos answer questions from people who should really have known better than to ask, discussing Florida Man, fried Twinkies, if they rode cows or moose to school, and whether American football really is just a figment of our collective imagination.

Abandoned Landscapes Just as the rich wilderness invites us to imagine what lies beyond and what would thrive there, dead cities and the remnants of great industries invite us to imagine alternate kinds of work and culture in the possibilities these spaces provide. Join us in a journey through some of our favourite lifeless things and colossal wrecks.

Panellists: Faranae, Kat Dodd

Panellists: Jo Zebedee, Thomas Connolly, Coral Mallow, Ian McDonald, Oisin McGann

Colonialism in Science Fiction

Octocon's Next Top Panellists

The speculation of science fiction finds its origins in quintessentially imperialist cultures like Britain and France. How does your relationship to science fiction change when you find your culture is a party to colonisation? The ethical way to handle that is a complex question, almost as complex as how to separate your culture from one that has pressed itself upon yours through occupation and bloodshed.

Ever want to know what it is like to be a panellist, and sit at that Top Table? Ever wanted to have your panel made right before your eyes, and set the questions the panellists are to answer? This is your chance! In this speed panelling session, how many panels can we run, and how many people will get to be a panellist before we are done? Come take part and find out, and get to know other members of Octocon too! Priority for asking questions and being a panellist will be given to younger members.

Panellists: Gillian Polack, Rik Lagarto, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, Joseph Elliot-Coleman

Moderator: Janet O'Sullivan

Panels Octocon Showcase: Isekai - Why Doesn’t Anyone Want to Go Home Anymore? Getting transported to a new world has been a staple of anime for decades, but there’s been a boom in recent years. How did we go from falling into books to getting hit by trucks? What are the differences between early and current isekai, and what’s driving those differences? Our panelists will cross time and space discussing everything from Escaflowne, Re:Zero, Spirited Away, and beyond.

Crafting Non-Human Worlds and Societies If writers are best writing from what they know, how is that knowledge best augmented to take what we understand to be familiar into the area of being truly alien? When does conjecture risk becoming a bad representation of cultures we know little about and how do we best keep the allure of the unknown without it becoming surreal.

Panellists: Vanessa MacLaren-Wray, Faranae, Sakura Perez, Ann Gry, S.L. Dove Cooper

Panellists: Ian Moore, Máire Brophy, Michael Carroll, Peadar Ó Guilín, Jo Zebedee

Unreliable Narrators and Other Tricks

Gender Goals Not Gender Roles: Queering the Family

Do your characters constantly contradict themselves, exaggerate situations, or conceal important details? If so, you may have one or more unreliable narrators! Our panel looks at how multiple viewpoints, restricted perspectives and outright lies can be used to play with the audience's perceptions of what's really going on in a story whether on the page or the screen.

Panellists: Sarah Rees Brennan, Eve Golden-Woods, Maura McHugh, Jonny Nexus, Mary Watson

For so long, the Alpha Male™ father figure was a primary archetype to be found in most genre fiction, but now people are writing the family they wish they’d had or that they themselves would like to be. The "Soft Dad" is a subversion of the so-called paternal norm, but how do we go about queering other members of our families, like mums, siblings or grandparents? Do we have more freedom to explore with masculine characters because we still see masculine as good and feminine as bad, and does that show that we’re still thinking inside of a gender binary? Panellists: Lora O'Brien, Morgan Daimler, Kat Dodd, Ian McDonald

Panels Writing Through the Dark Times Tragedy is personal and tragedy is global: how can you keep your focus in the face of that? Everyone has been affected by world events over the last few years as well as struggling with their own personal challenges old and new. And yet so many of us have continued to write and make art, music and films, and provide entertainment and comfort for others. Our panel talks about what helped them keep creating light in the darkness. Panellists: Vanessa MacLaren-Wray, April Steenburgh, Aliette de Bodard, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, Julia Meitov Hersey

The Storytelling Legacy of Science Fiction and Fantasy Television Before the Targaryen's dragons could fly on HBO, Robin Hood had to quest for the Silver Arrow on 1980s ITV. The complexity and density of on-screen stories has built up over the last half century of drama television, with shows like V, X-Files, Babylon 5, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Game of Thrones becoming new standards in SFF storytelling. Join us as we trace the advancements that led to TV eclipsing film as the place to tell original stories. Panellists: David Ferguson, James Brophy, Niall Kitson, Ruth Frances Long / Jessica Thorne, Jo Zebedee

Holding Onto Our Rights as We Expand Into the Stars Are personal liberties and democratic rights compatible with interstellar expansion? Can our current rights be maintained as we build colonies on new worlds? Our panel discuss how our fundamental human rights will look when we are born into a culture trying to achieve a generational goal.

Panellists: MaryBrigid Turner, Edmond Barrett, RB Kelly, Declan Meenagh, Harun Siljak

Movie Monster Mash In the hundred years since Nosferatu first crept onto the silver screen, movie monsters and uncanny creatures have thrilled, chilled and delighted us. Join us in remembering and celebrating the terrifying icons of classic cinema, from the wolf man and the mummy to Frankenstein's monster and his bride.

Panellists: Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan, Oisin McGann, RB Kelly, Russell A Smith, Ygraine Hackett-Cantabrana

Panels Octocon Showcase: Orbital Tidy Towns Committee

A dhaoine uaisle, I would like to welcome you, one and all to The Upper Middle Lower Orbit Area Community Forum. Our committee of distinguished guests will judge the humorous suggestions submitted for your entertainment and the betterment of our orbital community. If you have a suggestion yourself on the topic of how our world can be improved please feel free to get in touch, As always, Is mise le mass equals density times volume, Gobnait O'Lughnasa Panellists: James Brophy, MaryBrigid Turner, James Shields, Russell A Smith, Dav Waldron, Declan Meenagh, Vanessa MacLaren-Wray

Found in Translation There's so much amazing SFF we would love to read but that wasn't written in a language we know. Fortunately, translators can bring those stories to us by choosing just the right words to convey the nuances and flavour of the landscapes, characters, and dialogue of worlds beyond our experience. Our panel discusses the secrets behind the linguistic alchemy of translation.

Panellists: Jean Bürlesk, Julia Meitov Hersey, Faranae, Cheryl Morgan, Fabio Fernandes

Medicine in Sci-Fi: What's Possible?

Fictional Words to Live By

The future of medicine may be as simple as activating the Emergency Medical Hologram, or we may have to deal with the complexities of clouds of dead nanobots choking our ability to breathe. James White’s Sector General gave us a universe of medical science fiction whose legacy is evident across sci-fi in every medium today and now two decades on, we take a look at medicine in the genre, and how science has outpaced our fiction.

Wisdom can be found wherever we need it, be that in holy texts, self help books or the tales that mean a lot to us. From using Dune's Litany against Fear to control anxiety to accepting advice such as remembering that your focus determines your reality (as stated by Qui-Gon Jinn in Star Wars), many people start their journey in philosophy and comparative religion with the stories that mean the most to them. Join our panellists as they talk about the power and the risks of creating a philosophy to live by.

Panellists: Niall Kitson, Daniella Bella, Legendgerry, Helen Ryder, Deirdre Thornton

Panellists: Dav Waldron, Morgan Daimler, Ian McDonald, Lora O'Brien, Samuel Poots

Panels Space Elevator Pitches Live in hologram 4D, the Martian business leaders of the day after tomorrow pitch their ideas for the next stages of the human race. An expert panel of business leaders - who have already proven the value of capitalism in saving humanity - will be deciding our future fate based on the comedy stylings of folks who have dared to submit bold new plans for the next generation of space startups and intergalactic investment opportunities.

Panellists: Kat Dodd, James Brophy, Declan Meenagh, MaryBrigid Turner, Máire Brophy, Niall Kitson, James Shields, Karina Steffens

Monarchy and Nepotism in Fact and Fiction

"Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government." Divine right, heroic lineages, secret legacies and cronyism are all often used to explain why a character is important within a story, whether they - or the audience know about their birthright or not. But considering we find it hard to tolerate these ideas in our own societies, what are the alternatives in fiction to the random lottery of inherited power, wealth and privilege? Panellists: Cheryl Morgan, Jean Bürlesk, Aliette de Bodard, Ian Moore, Gillian Polack

Story, Some Assembly Required Roll for investigation as we enter the world of interactive fiction and tabletop RPGs, where stories require some assembly from readers and gamers alike. Choose Your Own Adventures and Dungeons and Dragons have long been a staple aspect of fandom, but how have things changed with the advent of new technologies and the development of new tools for developing stories? And where does the line blur between readers and players? Our panel of experts is here to show you that there’s more to interactive narratives than halfelf rogues and orcish barbarians. Panellists: Samuel Poots, Máire Brophy, Eve Golden-Woods, Jonny Nexus, Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan

Sunday Service with James and Janet A comedy round-up of the past year in film, TV, and genre fiction in general.

Panellists: James Brophy, Janet O'Sullivan

More Panels! Irish Horror Films Ireland's myths and legends are crawling out of the screen to make bank at the box office. Horror was already a reliably profitable end of the film industry but now the strong variation of predicaments provided by wronging some local beastie of Irish folklore has laid the ground for the new boom in contemporary Irish horror films.

Peace and Ways to Find It

With heavily armored droids of Warhammer 40k, light-saber wielding Jedi knights, and fleets of spaceships just blowing each other to bits in innumerable ways, science fiction can appear unrelentingly violent and militaristic. But does it always have to be this way? Our panel explores pathways to peace and cooperation in our future fiction

Panellists: James Brophy, Ygraine Hackett-Cantabrana, Maura McHugh, Jon O'Sullivan

Panellists: Vanessa MacLaren-Wray, Claire McCague, Lorraine Wilson, Jean Bürlesk, Juliet E McKenna

The Darker Side of YA Fantasy

I'm in This Story and I Like It: Writing the Personal

Who'd want to be the protagonist in a YA fantasy novel when death and despair shadow your every choice? Fantasy novels for young adults often cover the same range of age-specific struggles as contemporary YA even while their characters also grapple with murderous trees, malevolent magicians, and the challenges of coming to terms with their own powers. How do writers of YA fantasy create the worlds which give rise to the heroes they want to help their readers become? Panellists: Kat Dodd, Ruth Frances Long / Jessica Thorne, Peadar Ó Guilín, Sarah Rees Brennan, Mary Watson

Many writers insert themselves and their lives into their characters and stories, but what does it take to fictionalise your own experiences or reveal yourself in a memoir? Our panel of writers and storytellers across genres and media explore the steps they take to bring the personal to the public.

Panellists: Kat Chant, Aaron Fever, Philippa Ryder, Mary Watson

Even More Panels! Mental Health in SFFH There's been a growing awareness and honesty around mental health that we are now seeing reflected in fiction, following a trend of improvements in all types of representation in SFFH media. How can writers become properly equipped to represent their characters' mental health challenges, and how much do readers and viewers actually want to see their own experiences mirrored, especially when sometimes the reflection is distorted by misunderstandings or narrative necessity?

Octocon Showcase: African Science Fiction: Reclaiming Our Voices

When someone mentions Black science fiction, they are often thinking of Anglophone African-American and Black British writers. However, there has been an explosion of new writers from the African continent who are beginning to reclaim their voices and histories from colonial cultural damage. Our panel discusses the identities and traditions that contribute to the new wave of African science fiction.

Panellists: Catherine Sharp, S.L. Dove Cooper, Julia Meitov Hersey, Lucy A. McLaren, Lorraine Wilson

Panellists: Joseph Elliott-Coleman, Tobi Ogundiran, Dilman Dila Yvette Lisa Ndlovu

A History of Irish Fandom

Making the Most of your Research

From monthly sci-fi meetings in pubs to the Worldcon in the CCD, Irish fandom has come a long way. As Michael D. Higgins, President of Ireland, put it: “Ireland is a land which celebrates stories and imagination, and our Irish heritage has always been imaginatively interwoven with new cultures and new traditions. … This is aptly reflected in our deep appreciation and appetite for speculative fiction.” Come celebrate the simple radical act of saying: We like this! Come like it with us!

Research and the work done before writing in general has many approaches. Is it better to let the information flow over you like a river where you fish out the interesting and useful facts or is it more effective to simply hunt down that missing piece, to make a story work? Join us as creators take us through their techniques for filtering noise into signal and research into a ripping yarn.

Panellists: Legendgerry, Michael Carroll, Brian Nisbet, Helen Ryder, Philippa Ryder

Panellists: Samuel Poots, Kat Chant, Ruth Frances Long / Jessica Thorne, Oisin McGann, Russell A Smith

More Panels Again! Building Inclusive Communities

Just One Beat: How Music and Anime Shape Each Other

Fan communities come in all shapes and sizes. From a flyer left in a book, to a convention set up in the basement of a hotel, nerds of a feather like to fan together. How do we make sure these spaces are open and inclusive? How do we welcome people with different perspectives and experiences in a safe and meaningful way? Our panel of allies, leaders, and representatives of underrepresented and historically excluded communities takes a look at inclusion in the community as a means of establishing a path towards a better future for fandom.

From the beautiful scores of Joe Hisaishi in Ghibli films or Daft Punk’s Interstellar5555 to RADWIMPS’ collaboration with Makoto Shinkai in Your Name and Weathering with You, music has always played an important role in anime. Opening and ending songs, insert music, character songs; the music can make or break an anime. Join us as we traverse the music sphere and explore how music and anime work together to tug on our heart strings.

Panellists: MaryBrigid Turner, Kat Dodd, Brian Nisbet, Helen Ryder, Philippa Ryder

Panellists: S.L. Dove Cooper, Vanessa MacLaren-Wray, Faranae, Sakura Perez

Comics Is Literature

Which is More Fun? Dragons vs Spaceships!

Why do western comics have a public perception issue? With comics evading a binary description as either a visual art or a form of literature, how do creators and readers navigate the space of literature that's otherwise reserved for prose, drama and poetry? What steps can we take to help others understand comics' place in literature, and what can we learn from how comics are perceived and enjoyed around the world?

Panellists: Oisin McGann, David Ferguson, Eve Golden-Woods, Aaron Fever, Coral Mallow

Giant robots vs unicorns! Superheroes vs talking animals! If you're one of our younger members, this is your chance to share the things you love and what makes them so exciting. Which stories did you find your favourites in, and what stories showed them off the best? If you're one of our younger members and you'd like to be a panellist, please let our registration desk know by Sunday lunchtime.

Panellists: Paul Carroll

Just a Few More Panels... The Art of Editing Every novel, anthology, textbook and 'zine needs an editor, and so did this panel description. Unfortunately we didn't have one to hand. However, our carefully curated selection of panelists are here now to help you to understand how an editor brings out the best in a writer's work.

Fandom: The Next Generation How do you introduce your favourites to your children and other younger folks in your life? When you can’t see anything in the current media landscape that reflects what made you love fiction, the only thing that remains is to introduce the kids to the stories you loved way back when. But how do we best approach aspects that cultural drift might have rendered problematic, and is it even fair to expect the next generation to share our enthusiasms?

Panellists: April Steenburgh, S.L. Dove Cooper, Laura Anne Gilman, Claire McCague

Panellists: Deirdre Thornton, Edmond Barrett, Jon O'Sullivan, Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan

Octocon Showcase: What Star Trek Means to Me

How Long, Exactly, IS a Split-Second?

It’s lived for over 50 years and prospered throughout. Its new frontier has been a home for many different groups of people from across fandom and the globe all for whom it has meant very different things: racial and sexual representation, freedom from religious oppression, being able to see the humanity in the other, and why we should care for our fellow humans. Join us in the big tent aboard the Enterprise as we share unique perspectives in Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations.

The henchmen are coming, the bomb's about to go off, the island is sinking under rivers of lava: it’s the final countdown and our heroes’ survival is anything but certain. Our panellists discuss the best last-minute escapes in movies, books and comics to see if they can agree on which is the most thrilling, the most inventive, and the most ridiculously implausible.

Panellists: Paul Anothony Shortt, Dav Waldron, Damien Larkin, Linda Butler, Fona

Panellists: MaryBrigid Turner, James Brophy, Michael Carroll, Karina Steffens

Traders Pyroclast17 is an Irish nonbinary artist who dreams of one day working in concept design for film or games. Their focus is on character design, and they do fanart for the funsies. https://ko-fi.com/pyroclast17

@pyroclast17

The Crafty Mama Store offers unique, hand-made nerdy items. Using comic books and magazines, items such as magnets, coasters, jewelry and more are made! www.thecraftymamastore.com

@thecraftymamastore

AstroCube is a two person team! A duo who create fan art/charms and stickers as well as some original works! https://astrocube.carrd.co/

@astro.cube

Hi there! If you are looking for geeky/fantasy/alternative gifts, this is your stop! An amazing range of handmade jewelry, accessories, wands, pens, home decor and much more! www.shopinireland.ie/store/alberichdesign

@alberichdesign

My name is Phoebe, I am a huge fan of cartoons and make fanarts of The Owl House, Amphibia, Avatar The Last Airbender and so much more and I make a large variety of badges, stickers, prints and cups. https://thephoebster.tumblr.com/

@phoebesoddities

Talks How To Sail A Star: Who Needs a Spaceship? The hardest technical challenge of interstellar travel is that of maintaining a closed environment for thousands of years. Moving the entire solar system might be easier. In this low-math talk we will discuss some technologies and examples from SFF literature toward the goal of moving stars for exploration, colonization and more nefarious ends.

Octocon Showcase: Asexuality in Fantasy and Science Fiction: A Partial Study in Contrasts Though asexuality may seem like a relatively new phenomenon, the concept is as old as modern ideas of other queer identities. Science fiction and fantasy has always had room for asexual coding, though in somewhat different ways. Join us to take a look at some of the tropes found in early contemporary ace coding in fantasy and science fiction and how more recent books handle asexual themes.

Edmund Schluessel

S.L. Dove Cooper

Australia's Lost Lands How 'What If' Reinforced White Australia a Century (Or So) Ago

We’re Not a Message, We’re a Medium: Disability in Fiction

Australia has a vigorous history of sci-fi and fantasy stories, going back to the early days of colonisation. One strand of them, from the late nineteenth /early twentieth centuries was about lost civilisations. Gillian will introduce the most important of the novels, and talk about the way people were depicted and described in them. She will focus on how seeing an imaginary Australia gave words and concepts for the Australia European settlers most wanted. Where possible, she will avoid the political history, because it still hurts.

Author and disability activist Kat Dodd is here to discuss how you can help your character be who they are and not what they are; from the parts of their life that are informed by their disability to the parts of their life that aren't. Disability is not necessarily a permanent state and it can have a large cultural component depending on the access issues and the cultures that have developed away from able-culture. These are overlapping complexities that while initially daunting can be navigated so that anyone can create satisfying and complex worlds that include disabled people.

Gillian Polack

Kat Dodd

Talks Missing in Action: The Toys of Women Cartoon Characters A bunch of well-known (and some perhaps lesser-known) animated TV show from the 1980s took advantage of having free reign to be extended toy commercials. But there was often a disconnect between that sales pitch and the female characters actually having toy versions for sale at all. The talk is about the journey some of these theoretical toys have made, some are yet to make, and the occasional natter about some of Russell's favourite childhood viewing. There may even be a little singalong. Russell A Smith

Octocon Showcase: Food in Fantasy Most writers have moved beyond serving up stew and more stew and yet more stew in fantasy novels. What types of food are we likely to see in fantasy these days, then? Does the food do more than feed weary travellers when questing? Gillian will talk about the food depicted in the novels of Australian writers and Irish writers. Because this is part of Gillian's research on how we depict culture in speculative fiction rather than part of her foodie dreams, there will probably be no recipes.

Gillian Polack

Crafting Cosy: Light and Shadows in SFF

With stories such as Becky Chambers’ A Psalm for the Wild-Built or Travis Baldtree’s Legends & Lattes, cosy SFF is slowly on the rise. Yet the elements of cosy SFF have been around for decades, and these stories can harbour far more darkness at their core than people realise. Discussions on cosy SFF, its definition and core elements abound, often still focused on what it is to authors in relation to their own works and tastes. So what exactly IS cosy SFF? Why is this subgenre growing in visibility now when it’s been around for so long? And how can authors create a compelling narrative with such low stakes? Join S.L. Dove Cooper in exploring these questions and learn to craft your own cosy plot! S..L. Dove Cooper

Half a Man in a Trenchcoat: Network Theory and Storytelling Different stories take different shapes: here, we explore the networks they weave. It is very common nowadays to see data visualisation of personal relationships as graphs, vast complex networks in vivid colours exposing some intricate patterns. What patterns might we expect in a story, what patterns do we look for when we want character communities to look realistic? What patterns might be excitingly alien to us? In this session, we'll talk about network theory, and how it applies to characters in fiction. Did Beowulf exist, and are Dale Cooper and Sheriff Truman the same person? Harun Siljak

Talks Where Did Elves Get Pointed Ears? Untangle Common Fairy Tropes Why do we show fairies with wings? Why do we think elves have pointed ears? Are fairies tiny? The answers might surprise you, as popular belief and older folklore give different answers to what fairies and elves look like and how they act. Over the past hundred and fifty years two distinct streams of fairy belief have appeared, one based in older folk belief and one shaped by the Victorian era and new age theories, yet many people take the newer ideas as ancient. By exploring the roots of several common ideas about fairies and elves we can see the way that they were shaped by popular culture and understand the entire fascinating subject better. Morgan Daimler

You can this yea find many of r's item s on ou YouTub r e chann el!

Traders MeMyselfAndMisha is a small Irish business who specialises in shadow boxes and dioramas with handmade game memorabilia. Each game is played in full to choose appropriate scenes during the design phase (or at least that's her excuse for replaying all her old favourites). At MeMyselfAndMisha's stall you will find many shadow boxes and dioramas, along with a range of our fan art and original art printed as stickers and badges. We look forward to seeing you! www.MeMyselfAndMisha.com

@MeMyselfAndMisha

@memyselfandmisha/

Nad art kinda is a small illustrator based in Dublin, they'll work with anything you throw at them from watercolour to oils and even digital media. They'll be taking commissions during the convention, feel free to pop by! @nad_art_kinda_

Paul Carroll is a writer and comic creator from Dublin. His work primarily focuses on the extraordinary, be that through magic, science or just downright chaotic. He is a founding member of both Limit Break Comics and Cupán Fae, Dublin-based creative groups. His obsessions include tea, foxes and spreadsheets. http://paulcarrollwriter.com/

@writeranonymous

@pcarrollwriter

Limit Break Comics is a Dublin-based comic collective, founded on the back of a shared desire to see small press comics grow in Ireland. Its titles include Turning Roads, Lens, Meouch and Plexus. http://limitbreakcomics.com/

@lb_comic

@limitbreakcomics

The people’s artist, you may know him best for his collection of Garfields. Clarke has a passion for the weird and wonderful, he likes to deliver the things you didn’t want but now need. @Its_Ja_Boye

@its_ja_boye

Readings Gillian Polack

Claire McCague

Claire McCague is a writer, scientist, and musician. She works on sustainable energy systems, plays with words, and owns a lot of musical instruments. As a director and playwright, she’s had productions in theatres, fields and forests from Victoria to New York. Her novels, The Rosetta Man and The Rosetta Mind (published by EDGE-Lite), are first contact thrillers that begin when a pair of spike-covered, mostly harmless space visitors turn up in New Zealand and want to climb the nearest tree.

Lorraine Wilson

R.B. Kelly

. Having spent many years working as a conservation scientist in remote corners of the world, Lorraine now lives by the sea in Scotland writing stories influenced by folklore and the wilderness. Her debut novel, the dystopian thriller This Is Our Undoing, is a multi-award finalist. The Way The Light Bends, a dark folkloric mystery, was released in August 2022, and her third book, Mother Sea, is due out in 2023. Her short fiction has won a British Fantasy Award and appeared in (amongst others) Strange Horizons, Forge Lit, The Mechanics’ Institute Review and Boudicca Press.

.RB Kelly's debut novel, Edge of Heaven, was shortlisted for the Arthur C Clarke Award and the ESFS Award for Best Work of Fiction. The sequel, On The Brink, was published in May 2022. Her short stories can be found in publications from around the world, including The Best of British Science Fiction, Aurealis, and Lamplight Magazine; she is also a fan of the Oxford comma, and of semicolons. She has a PhD in film theory, so you should probably avoid asking her about toga movies.

Readings Joseph Elliott-Coleman

Jonny Nexus

Joseph Elliott-Coleman is an illustration graduate who hails from Croydon, London.

Jonny Nexus started out writing humour pieces for pen-and-paper roleplaying games, firstly in his semi-cult webzine Critical Miss and then in a monthly column for Mongoose Publishing's house magazine Signs & Portents, before moving into fiction with his ENnienominated, self-published novel of roleplaying gods, Game Night. He has since published two novels in the West Kensington Paranormal Detective series, If Pigs Could Fly and Sticks and Stones, as well as the Sleeping Dragon, a standalone novel set in a fantasy world of mass-produced magic.

His work has been published by Rebellion Books, 2000AD and NewCon Press. He wishes you all well.

Lucy A. McLaren

Laura Anne Gilman

As a writer, Lucy spends her time capturing the imaginary kingdoms, faroff places, and characters who live there (and their pets, of course) that her brain throws at her at random times of day.

Laura Anne Gilman is the author of more than twenty novels, including the Nebula award-nominated The Vineart War trilogy and the award-winning Devil’s West series from Saga Press/ Simon & Schuster. Her latest projects are the Gilded Age historical fantasy, UNCANNY TIMES (October 18, 2022), and a series of paranormal romance novellas focusing on non-traditional partners, starting with SOMETHING PERFECT.

She is passionate about fantasy and mental health, and uses a mix of counselling theory and personal experiences (as well as D&D backstories) when creating her characters. Add a pinch of magic, an exploration of real-world issues, and perhaps a talking animal or two, and you’ll have an idea of what her stories involve.

She has also dipped her pen into the mystery field, writing as L.A. Kornetsky (Collared, Fixed, Doghouse, and Clawed).

Readings Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki is an African speculative fiction writer and editor in Nigeria. He won the Nebula award and is a multiple Hugo award finalist. He has also won the Otherwise, Nommo, and British Fantasy awards and has been a finalist in the WFA, Locus, BSFA, BFA & Sturgeon awards. His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in Strange Horizons, Galaxy’s Edge, Apex, Asimov’s, Tor.com, and more.

S.L. Dove Cooper S.L. Dove Cooper (she/they) is a biromantic demisexual SFF author, focusing on cosybright narratives and gentle stories with highly personal stakes. She has published over 40 short stories and multiple novels, though she is by her own admission ‘too slow’ to keep up with her own narrative thoughts. As a multilingual English teacher with a lifelong interest in languages, Dove’s work frequently features linguistic themes and questions of communication across language barriers.

April Steenburgh

Samuel Poots

April Steenburgh is the penname of Burdock Broughton, who lives on a homestead near the shore of Lake Ontario with a cunning little cat they found in a swamp. That cat might be a witch. They also share their homestead with a small herd of alpaca, two goats, a roving horde of chickens, one very friendly turkey, and a husband who crafts dreams and wild schemes into reality.

Samuel Poots is a writer from Northern Ireland who communicates through Pratchett quotes. He has been a dead Wildling, a teacher in Japan, a tabletop games journalist, and spent a lot of time assuring tourists at the Causeway he was the new 5ft 4in giant due to budget cuts. Now, he works as a tabletop games writer, primarily for the Warhammer Fantasy RPG, and is an associate editor for Cast of Wonders, the YA fiction podcast. His short fiction has been featured by Daily SF and Toasted Cake, and is upcoming in a number of anthologies. If found, please give him a cup of tea and send him home via the nearest post office.

Coyote song and owl shouts are the music they write to most often, sitting inside the perfect circle of maple trees hidden in the woods near the house.

Readings Morgan Daimler

Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan

Morgan Daimler is the author of a nine book urban fantasy series, Between the Worlds, and the forthcoming high fantasy novel Into Shadow. Besides these they have written a series of short stories which offer diverse retellings of older fairy ballads as well as several short stories for anthologies. All of this material incorporates mythology or fairy folklore in various ways and emphasize characters who are LGBTQ+ and/or disabled.

Besides writing fiction they have an extensive background in non-fiction, with more than two dozen books focused on Irish mythology and fairies.

id What books d ur you add to yo his reading list t Octocon?

Vanessa MacLaren-Wray Vanessa MacLaren-Wray writes science fiction and fantasy about people (human or otherwise) trying to communicate, form connections, and solve problems in a complex universe. She has short stories in Fault Zone: Reverse, Dragon Gems, and The Truck Stop at the Center of the Galaxy. Her first-contact sci-fi book, All That Was Asked, has a sequel, Shadows of Insurrection, arriving in November 2022. Her latest book is an aliens-on-a-space-station adventure, The Smugglers.

Interviews An Interview with Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki Joseph Elliott-Coleman interviews multiple award winner and nominee Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki. Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki is an African speculative fiction writer and editor in Nigeria. He won the Nebula award and is a multiple Hugo award finalist. He has also won the Otherwise, Nommo, and British Fantasy awards and has been a finalist in the WFA, Locus, BSFA, BFA & Sturgeon awards.

An Interview with Michael Carroll Michael Carroll 'has written a number of books, but then […] you could also say that he has eaten a number of helicopters (in such a case, of course, that number would be zero).' In 1990 he read the first Judge Dredd Megazine and also attended the first Octocon. Over the following 30+ years, as he worked tirelessly towards his twin goals of writing for 2000AD and maintaining a perfect attendance record for Octocon, he created multiple well-loved novels and comics across various genres, including the New Heroes series of YA superhero novels, and most recently, Proteus Vex: Another Dawn. Join us in a sequel to his 2020 Guest of Honour interview as he once again opens a can of worms and spills the beans.

Both inter of these avail views a re able onlin e!

Traders Capricreep is an Irish transmasc artist specializing in a juxtaposition of cute and creepy art - from DnD, sighthounds, anime, and gaming (FFXIV especially - catboy player unfortunately). He is in final year of studying animation and has been involved in illustration for the past 4 years. Nicorylands.carbonmade.com

@capricreep

Anthea West of Dustbunny-Studios is a comic creator and illustrator from Dublin. She created the ongoing web series "Fate" & "Dustbunnies" as well as the award-winning debut graphic novel The Earthbound God. Dustbunnies are her studio's mascot, sweet and cuddly little creatures who are available on various merch as well as comics. www.dustbunny-studios.com

@AntheaWest

Cupán Fae is the caffeine-filled home away from home for writers in Dublin and beyond. Since October 2018, Cupán Fae has published six short story anthologies. Collecting a total of 78 stories from 16 authors, the books explore science fiction, fantasy, horror, LGBT fiction, punk subgenres, hopepunk and superhero stories. http://cupanfae.com/

@cupanfae

@ohlookitsMatty

@matty_makes

CyborgCinders is a nonbinary digital artist specializing in character design and fanart. They love exploring the media they enjoy in their art, and are influenced by animation, webcomics, video games and TTRPGS. They have a variety of prints, stickers, charms and commission options to choose from at Octocon.

https://cyborgcindersart.wixsite.com/website https://linktr.ee/cyborgcinders

Guest Chats Jo Zebedee

Llaura McGee & Eve Golden-Woods

Laura Anne Gilman

Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki

Ruth Frances Long aka Jessica Thorne

Guest of Honour Michael Carroll

We h o had pe every chat a good t one ting i toge me ther!

Fan Chats This One Goes to Eleven Welcome members of the Hellfire Club as we gather to discuss the outcome of this year's dice rolls on the table and even dicier rolls in the Upside Down. What were your favourite needle drops in Stranger Things s4? Did it get you into D&D? Or more into it? Will Will ever get to come out? What next for Eleven and Mike? What is the ultimate fate of the city of Hawkins?

Returning to the Dreaming The Endless & Co have stepped finally from comic books and onto our screens in Netflix's The Sandman. Was it everything we dreamed of? What made us delirious to see, and what made us despair? Did it leave us with a desire for more?

Glasgow 2024 Book Club: Walking On Glass The Octocon book club is once again hosted by Glasgow 2024, a Worldcon for Our Futures. Join us in-person in Croke Park and online on Zoom (Zoom 1) for a discussion of Iain Banks' novel Walking on Glass.

A Multiplicity of Multiverses From Everything Everywhere All at Once to the Marvellous multiverses of Doctor Strange heralding the newly announced Multiverse Saga of the MCU, what are the functions, uses and effects of a multiverse upon a story you love? In another 'verse you got to watch our panel at Dublin Comic Con - but don't worry if the You of this universe missed out! Come join us in an open discussion about what makes the multiverse a great way to explore different iterations of our favourite characters and worlds.

Fan Chats Set Course for Everywhere! From kids to adults, from serious explorations of the galaxy to silly adventures on the lower decks, Star Trek has become everything, with the novel Strange New Worlds, the kids' adventure Prodigy, the empathetic Discovery, the confusing Picard and the hilarious Lower Decks. Come and join other Star Trek fans at the convention as we discuss what got us to beam aboard a starship and if our allegiance has swapped to a new show during our trek through the stars.

Keep the conversation going on Discord and social media! We're on most of them!

Sports Anime: Finding a New Fandom Against All Odds SPORTS! What makes sports anime so compelling to watch? Is it the thrill of competition? The journey of the main character to become the best? Or is it the friends that they make along the way? Join us to discuss a genre that somehow unites fans of baseball, poetry competitions, and even space roller derby.

How Have These Interesting Times Influenced Our Media Consumption? Traumatic societal events influence the art we make and enjoy. Join us to discuss how our media consumption has changed since the Before Times, and how the world we now live in can be seen reflected and echoed in the pages, words and images of our favourite sci-fi, fantasy and horror settings. Is storytelling therapy for our collective trauma?

Workshops Let’s Get Writing Bootcamp Do you enjoy creative writing? Have you a story in you? Interested in taking part in a writing workshop as part of this year’s Octocon? Jane Mitchell will be running a fun creative writing workshop for young people. This will focus on developing characters and story plot, so bring along your imaginations and great ideas. Jane Mitchell has run writing workshops for enthusiastic young writers in schools, libraries, and festivals. Her novel A Dangerous Crossing (Little Island) has sold more than 100,000 copies worldwide.

Challenge LEGO® Whether you're a first time LEGO creator or a master builder, prepare to stretch your imagination with a series of challenges set by expert builder James Shields. There are no wrong solutions - it's just about having fun. Suitable for all ages and abilities.

LEGO® is a registered trademark of the LEGO Group, who do not authorise, sponsor or endorse this event.

Jane Mitchell

James Shields

Writing for Roleplay Games

Lockpicking Workshop

Veteran writer and game designer Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan gives an overview of the craft of writing tabletop roleplaying games, from planning your own scenarios to freelance writing to publishing your own games. You'll learn the process, techniques for dealing with player choice, unpredictability and branching storylines, and how roleplaying differs from other forms of creative writing.

As soon as the lock was invented, so was the way to get past it for rogues who need to get through the door at the last minute or hackers breaking into the server room to save the world. TOG, Dublin’s Hackerspace, brings their free lockpicking class to Octocon. Learn about physical security and protective technology, and how to defeat them.

Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan

TOG

Workshops Manuscript Boot Camp: Get Ready for Grinder

Scrapheap Cosplay

Learn how to make your layout style and formatting disappear before an editor's eyes, so all they see is your story. We'll talk formatting and style, talk through cover letters, and discuss submissions guidelines and ways to avoid triggering that terrible "auto-reject" syndrome. A small-press author (and sometime slush reader) will give you some insider tips and help you with common manuscript problems and frequently-occurring submission pitfalls. Bring your laptop or tablet, loaded with the manuscript you’re currently polishing, and ask those tough questions on how to get it into shape. Next stop: Submission Grinder!

We bring the trash, you create the cosplay. You have 30 minutes to create your masterpiece out of scraps, trash, and duct tape. The best costume gets a prize. Who says you need a sewing machine to create cosplay?

Vanessa MacLaren-Wray

Sakura Perez

How Writing for Games Made Me a Better Writer

Crochet Another Octo

Rik draws on his 17 years' experience of writing for games to share the lessons he has learned that have made him a stronger story writer. Games don't give much space or time for telling the narrative through text or even dialogue, so narrative and game writers must learn to master and maximise the Showing Not Telling' through things such as dialogue and environmental story telling.

Rik Lagarto

With a pattern created by Octocon's Kat Dodd, we will help you crochet your very own Octo. A basic knowledge of crochet would be helpful but not essential, because our pattern is suitable for both beginners and experienced crocheters. We will provide hooks and yarn, but please feel free to bring your own. You will need approximately 25g of yarn and a hook between 3mm and 5mm. Both the 2021 and 2022 patterns can be found on the Octocon website!

Kat Dodd MaryBrigid Turner

Workshops Staving Off Boredom: an Introduction to Loving and Writing Speculative Poetry

Sometimes the way to the heart of an idea is not through a prose story. Occasionally you need to wander aimlessly amongst the stacks and find the door that wasn’t there a moment ago marked, “Speculative Poetry”. Walk through this door and you will: Hear and read some work from amazing futuristic/fantastic/horrific/mysterious Poets! Speculate on what it is to warp words beyond the language you were given. Wonder at the mercurial nature of poetic form and the interstitial space where music can be heard. Then my fellow and future poets…we create! Coral Mallow

Plea se sh are t you'v he th e lea ings crea rned te w ith u how to s! W to se e wa e the nt m al l!

Committee & Team

Chairperson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Raissa Perez Treasurer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Marguerite Smith Secretary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Maire Brophy Memberships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .MaryBrigid Turner Newsletter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MaryBrigid Turner On-site Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ryan Coomber Virtual Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Faranae On-site Volunteer Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Finbar Nicholl Virtual Volunteer Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Faranae Venue Liaison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . James Bacon Co-Head of Programme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Catherine Sharp Co-Head of Programme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Paul Carroll Trade Liaison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Paul Carroll Guest Liaison. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Paul Carroll On-site Guest Liaison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Coral Mallow Accessibility Officer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Kat Dodd Sponsorship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Coral Mallow Graphic Artist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Eimear Kelly Publications Officer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Amy O’Riordan Web Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Karina Steffens Web Admin & Programme Technologies . . . . . . . James Shields General Committee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Janet O’Sullivan Assistant Treasurer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ali Mack Live Stream Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Faranae Social Media Team . . . . . . . . . Janet O’Sullivan, Amy O’Riordan, Karina Steffens Programme Team . . . . . Amy O'Riordan, Coral Mallow, Faranae, Declan Meenagh, James Brophy, Janet O'Sullivan, Kat Dodd, MaryBrigid Turner, Nige Furlong, Sakura Perez

Thank You to all our Volunteers!

Friends of Octocon Gareth Kavanagh Gareth Kavanagh Yes, twice! Really!

Joe Doyle chebe Oliver Esmonde S.L. Dove Cooper Luiza MaryBrigid Turner Catherine Sharp Sakura Perez

Thank you for coming to our first hybrid con, see you next year!

If you're looking f or more con ventions to go to, check these out !

Gaelcon Oct 28-31 2022

Ireland's Premier Tabletop Gaming Convention https://gaelcon.com

Vaticon

Instagram: @Vaticon26 www.facebook.com/VaticonIE/