Christopher at Brazil’s 14th National Literary Journey

Passo Fundo is known as the “Literature Capital of Brazil”.  Not only do they host the National Literary Journey every two years, they have one of the highest literary rates in Brazil.  While the national average of books read outside of school is 1.3 per inhabitant per year, in Passo Fundo the average is an amazing 6.5!

This National Literary Journey is HUGE

This year I was one of the authors invited to speak at the event, an immense honor.  I was proud to have “The Fortutious Meeting of Gerard van Oost and Oludara” named as a work “of special merit in the formation of young readers”.  Inspiring young readers is what inspires me.

Over two days, I spoke to eleven groups of junior high and high school aged children.  I never felt like a rock star until I participated in the event.  Each time I walked into one of the circus tents, the master of ceremonies would speak my name and over a thousand children would scream and applaud.  In all, I spoke to around 12.000 students.

Speaking to a captive audience – one of eleven…

I saw children reading books, buying books, and most importantly, discussing books.  For a writer, the event was a spiritual high.  It refueled my faith in the next generation.

Interacting with young readers was the best part

At the end, I was presented with the Vasco Prado Trophy for my participation.  It was a great honor to be able to participate and interact with the real stars of the show: the readers.  They are our future, and they’re doing just fine.

Vasco Prado Trophy

(Photographs by Christopher Kastensmidt and National Literary Journey staff)

Worldcon panel on non-Tolkienesque fantasy

One of my Worldcon highlights this year was the panel entitled “F*** Your Knight and the Horse he Rode in on: Fantasy Series not Based on Medieval European Culture”.  This panel featured Aliette de Bodard, Ken Scholes, Saladin Ahmed, and myself as moderator.

The room was packed–standing room only with people spilling out into the hallway.  We spent an hour discussing fantasy series that break away from the typical Medieval Western European settings, and the crowd loved it.  All the panelists were amazing, and fielded some pointed questions from the audience.  The panel proved there is a great demand out there for fantasy series like The Elephant and Macaw Banner.  I had people stopping me in the halls to congratulate me for the rest of the con.

The Untitled Convention Project filmed the panel and put about a quarter of it online.  I hope you enjoy it!


Watch Non-Medieval Fantasy in SciFi & Fantasy | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

Worldcon 2011 schedule

And so here goes my Worldcon schedule, in all its glory 🙂  Hope to see many of your there!

Wendesday, August 17

14:00 – 15:00, Adventures in Gaming: The Business of Game Design (Panel), A02 (RSCC)
The business and production aspects of gaming, both board and video games.
Maurine “Mo” Starkey (M), Jennifer Brozek, Christopher Kastensmidt, Mur Lafferty ,  Tom Lehmann

16:00 – 17:00, Interview with Aliette de Bodard (Interview),  A09 (RSCC)
Aliette de Bodard, Christopher Kastensmidt (M)
This should be fun.  I’ll be conducting an interview with my good friend Aliette.

Thursday, August 18

13:30 – 14:00, Reading: Christopher Kastensmidt (Reading), A15  (RSCC)
At this one, I’ll be reading from an upcoming The Elephant and Macaw Banner story.  Hear it here first!

14:30 – 16:00, SFWA Dealer’s Table (Hall 2)
I’m volunteering at the SFWA table most of Thursday afternoon.  This is a great chance to stop by for a chat, and to learn more about the SFWA.

Friday, August 19

16:00 – 17:00, F*** Your Knight and the Horse He Rode in on: Fantasy Series not Based on Medieval European Culture (Panel), A10  (RSCC)
An irreverent panel where young writers challenge the predominance of medieval-inspired settings in fantasy.
Christopher Kastensmidt (M), Saladin Ahmed, Aliette de Bodard, Ken Scholes
This was a panel I invented and it’s going to be a blast.  A lot of fun, talented panelists and a tongue-in-cheek subject.  This is my “DON’T MISS” panel of the week.

Saturday, August 20

10:00 – 11:00, Life Lived in the Extremes (Panel), A04 (RSCC)
What is it like to live in “extreme  environments” like Alaska?  in Viet Nam?  in Brazil?  in the desert?  in tornado alley?
Christopher Kastensmidt (M), Beth Meacham, Robert Reed

12:00 – 13:00, Practical Considerations in Game Design (Panel),  A13 (RSCC)
This panel addresses game design issues for the broad spectrum of game types.
Dave Howell (M), Jennifer Brozek, Christopher Kastensmidt, Gregory A. Wilson, Tom Lehmann, Steve Jackson
This is going to be another great panel with an all-star cast of game designers.  And me.

17:00 – 18:00, Autograph session,  (Hall 2)
I will be sitting all alone in a corner of Hall 2, watching fans queue up for autographs of other authors.  Please drop by and say hello!

Sunday August 21

Sun 11:00 – 12:00, Revolutions in SF, Fantasy, and the Real World (Panel), A03 (RSCC)
Revolutions vary from the disparate traditional tropes of the French and American revolutions to non-violent revolution (Gandhi’s India),   The entrenched power may be colonial, class-based, or simply authoritarian.  How well does SF & F represent the ideals and ambiguities of revolution, the need to rebuild, and the cultural stresses that result.
Christopher Kastensmidt (M), Bradford Lyau, Walter Jon Williams, Nick Mamatas

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The complete Worldcon schedule can be found in PDF format here.

A searchable database of Worldcon programming can be found here.

Two weeks, three events

I have a long writer’s journey ahead…in three acts.  Starting on August 12th, I will participate in three major literary events during a two-week period.  The events include Fantasticon (Sao Paulo, Brazil), Worldcon (Reno, Nevada), and the Jornada Nacional de Literatura (Passo Fundo, Brazil).

During those two weeks, I’ll travel over 15,000 miles by plane, and another 400 by car.  I’ll appear on seven panels, give eleven lectures, participate in four autograph sessions, give one reading, and have at least one interview.  At the Jornada alone, I’ll speak to over 12.000 people.  At the other events, hundreds more.

And I’m looking forward to every minute of it.  Worldcon and Fantasticon are two events I’ve done before, and I enjoy them both immensely.  They are a chance to catch up with dozens of friends from the industry.  The Jornada invite is a once-in-a-lifetime honor.  It is South America’s largest “Literary Journey”, one of the largest events of its type in the world.  It occurs only once every two years, and there are so few authors invited that they don’t tend to repeat very often.

These are two weeks that could change my life, and give me a chance to change in some small way the lives of many others.  For that I’m enormously greatful.  I hope I can live up to the faith the organizers of these events have put in me.

I’ll be posting the agendas shortly.  Fantasticon and the Jornada I’ll put on the Portuguese site, and Worldcon on the English website.

And I hope to see some of you there!