Three weeks from today begins the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) in Dublin, and I’ll be on programming!
Here’s where you can find me:
Escape Artists podcast – Live Recording
16 Aug 2019, Friday 13:00 – 13:50, Wicklow Hall 2B (CCD)
Come learn more about free weekly podcast fiction! Join the Escape Artists for an audio fiction show presented by all four EA podcasts — Escape Pod, PseudoPod, PodCastle and Cast of Wonders. There’ll be a Q&A session, swag giveaways, all the latest news, and live readings.
Talk: Neuroscience for writers and readers: the evolved brain
16 Aug 2019, Friday 15:30 – 16:20, Odeon 4 (Point Square Dublin)
The human brain and mind have been topics of fiction since time immemorial, but our stories don’t always keep up with the science. The classic science fictional frameworks of the last fifty years have produced a lot of great stories, but a better understanding of the brain can lead us to new stories and new ideas. How can we, as writers and readers, make sense of the most complex structure in the world?
This will be an updated version of the talk given at the 2017 Nebula Conference and 2018 Readercon.
Panel: What writers need to know: the brain and body
16 Aug 2019, Friday 18:00 – 18:50, Wicklow Hall 2B (CCD)
This is the first of a two-part series of panels designed to help authors on science topics. Join our panel of experts who share the ins and outs about the brain and body. Let’s dive into what’s possible, impossible, and probable at some point in the future. How do you write about medical issues without a medical background? How much do you need to know and how much can you fake, and can a writer ensure that they are getting their body and brain science right?
Kaffeeklatsch: Benjamin C. Kinney
18 Aug 2019, Sunday 10:00 – 10:50, Level 3 Foyer (KK/LB) (CCD)
Did my Friday talk inspire any neuroscience questions? Here’s your chance to pin me down with caffeine and pick my brain!
Panel: Intelligent Others in SF
18 Aug 2019, Sunday 15:30 – 16:20, Stratocaster BC (Point Square Dublin)
The outsiders. Inhuman intelligences. What are they and what do they signify? Let’s explore the concept of aliens, mutants, cyborgs, artificial intelligences, and other cases in which sentience is different to our own. How difficult is it to write from the perspective of a non-human sentience? Will we inevitably insert some humanity into our inhuman creations and what does that make them?