This is a small Danish convention with a few hundred people attending. Only foreign Guest was Norman Spinrad. The con was held in the "Vanloese Kulturhus" (cultural house) in nice large rooms and a terrace. Even the weather cooperated and we could sit outside chatting along between the programmed events. I arrived there after a long (12 hour) drive and a few hours of sleep.
On Saturday I went to the interview with Niels Brunse who has translated a large amount of English language books into Danish, and also written stories of his own. He was, among other subjects, talking about the difficulty of making a good translation, something I can relate to in a limited capacity, having attempted translation in both directions between Danish and English. Some elegant words or phrases in one language translate *very* poorly into the other.
Sunday had a surprise guest speaker, the Danish physicist Holger Bech Nielsen, giving a presentation of his version of the "theory of everything" : "Random Dynamics". He is a *very* lively lecturer, and it is always fun to see him, his enthusiasm for the subject is just radiating from him. This was the first time I saw him "live", the other times were just on television.
Arthur C. Clarke :
For me the best part of the programme on Sunday was the panel discussion about Arthur C. Clarke, the panel consisting of 3 Danish fans and the guest speaker Norman Spinrad. Spinrad had sopme cooperation with Clarke in the 1960's and could tell us that the final scene of the movie "2001 - A Space Odyssey" was in fact not the one we saw in the movie. Clarke had envisioned a scene with very beautiful aliens, but it was not technically possible to do to his satisfaction - meaning the scene had to be rewritten.
Clarke's relatively optimistic view of the future has by some been regarded as naive, but it most probably is an expression of his dream about the future.
Finally there was a discussion of Clarke's unusual combination of hard science fiction and the "mystical" (for lack of a better word), something very prominent in "2001", but it is in much of his other work.
Of course, you cannot mention Arthur C. Clarke without talking about his strong influence on science and technology (as well as science fiction), interesting to see how many of his early thoughts have come true already.
All in all a very nice week end , I will try to make it again next year.
Showing posts with label events. Show all posts
Showing posts with label events. Show all posts
Tuesday, 29 April 2008
Sunday, 30 September 2007
Impressions from Eurocon 2007 (5)
Sunday : Anne McCaffrey and Zoran Zivkovic readings :
Anne McCaffrey chose to read the short story "The Ship Who Sang" (is the title afaik) , a beautiful and very emotional story that I had not yet heard or read. The story, she told, was written in response to the too early death of a close relative, and she told the audience that this was the first time she could read through the story without breaking down.
For me the surprise of Sunday was the reading of Zoran Zivkovic from Serbia. A BBC recording of his story about a conversation with God (though strictly speaking not quite Science Fiction) was very humorous, and I will try to get some more of his work for reading.
Finally a talk by Lene Kåberbøl, a Danish author of childrens books and fantasy books. What she said about the role of translators of stories struck a cord with me, since I have attempted such a thing myself - and know some of the difficulties of making a good translation - not of the words - but of the essence of the story.
Anne McCaffrey chose to read the short story "The Ship Who Sang" (is the title afaik) , a beautiful and very emotional story that I had not yet heard or read. The story, she told, was written in response to the too early death of a close relative, and she told the audience that this was the first time she could read through the story without breaking down.
For me the surprise of Sunday was the reading of Zoran Zivkovic from Serbia. A BBC recording of his story about a conversation with God (though strictly speaking not quite Science Fiction) was very humorous, and I will try to get some more of his work for reading.
Finally a talk by Lene Kåberbøl, a Danish author of childrens books and fantasy books. What she said about the role of translators of stories struck a cord with me, since I have attempted such a thing myself - and know some of the difficulties of making a good translation - not of the words - but of the essence of the story.
Impressions from Eurocon 2007 (4)
Saturday (2) : More Anne McCaffrey :
An hour long Q&A session and the speech as Guest of Honour with Anne McCaffrey again showing us a *very* lively "Dragon Lady", telling her story as an author and as a person.
I took the opportunity to get a single book signed by this excellent author : "The White Dragon" , the 3rd book of the Dragonriders of Pern series, and in my view one of the very best of the extensive series.
Also the "Trekkies.dk" had an open coffee meeting . The rest of the day - until the banquet was spent chatting along with other fans - getting to know some new people.
Since I did not have a ticket for the banquet I was watching a quite amusing film about convention goers and their quirks. The title esacapes me, but it was a BBC production.
An hour long Q&A session and the speech as Guest of Honour with Anne McCaffrey again showing us a *very* lively "Dragon Lady", telling her story as an author and as a person.
I took the opportunity to get a single book signed by this excellent author : "The White Dragon" , the 3rd book of the Dragonriders of Pern series, and in my view one of the very best of the extensive series.
Also the "Trekkies.dk" had an open coffee meeting . The rest of the day - until the banquet was spent chatting along with other fans - getting to know some new people.
Since I did not have a ticket for the banquet I was watching a quite amusing film about convention goers and their quirks. The title esacapes me, but it was a BBC production.
Wednesday, 26 September 2007
Impressions from Eurocon 2007 (2)
This was only my second Scifi convention, the first one being a Star Trek convention in Fresno,California about 15 years ago.
Thursday night :
Already on Thursday evening at the pre-registration there was convention activity. The organisers were quite happy that I offered to make some photos at the con, so they are receiving a CD with photos for every day of the con.
A nice talk with frequent convention goer - and volunteer - Wilf from the UK was already a good start for me. A quite knowledgeable fellow with a solid scientific angle as well.
Friday :
Panel with Guests of Honour. Anne McCaffrey arrived a little late and, when asked, insisted on going up the stairs to the stage (in spite of the handicap) - hats off. A few words from the guests of honour. Harry Harrison is a veteran guest of con's and has quite a few stories to tell.
Anne McCaffrey, too is very experienced in conventions and could tell of her first con's where she had good advice from (then) experienced writers, and expressed her advice to new writers : in short , if you want to write , make youself sit down and write ... every day.
Scientific lecture on Solar eruptions. This has had my interest for a long time, being a licensed radio amateur. For me the content was not new, but a condensed version of what I already knew. Only difference was - this came from a scientist's point of view.
There were lots of other presentations during the day , but these stand out for me. A lot of time went with meeting other fans and discussing science fiction, science and fantasy .
A little fun thing is a photo I made : Anne McCaffrey is also involved in the "Writers of th Future", a quarterly competition, where the winners get their stories published in collections. One moment a Star Wars Stormtrooper in full gear was "standing guard" right behind the famous author, link to the picture .
more to come ...
Jan from Denmark
Thursday night :
Already on Thursday evening at the pre-registration there was convention activity. The organisers were quite happy that I offered to make some photos at the con, so they are receiving a CD with photos for every day of the con.
A nice talk with frequent convention goer - and volunteer - Wilf from the UK was already a good start for me. A quite knowledgeable fellow with a solid scientific angle as well.
Friday :
Panel with Guests of Honour. Anne McCaffrey arrived a little late and, when asked, insisted on going up the stairs to the stage (in spite of the handicap) - hats off. A few words from the guests of honour. Harry Harrison is a veteran guest of con's and has quite a few stories to tell.
Anne McCaffrey, too is very experienced in conventions and could tell of her first con's where she had good advice from (then) experienced writers, and expressed her advice to new writers : in short , if you want to write , make youself sit down and write ... every day.
Scientific lecture on Solar eruptions. This has had my interest for a long time, being a licensed radio amateur. For me the content was not new, but a condensed version of what I already knew. Only difference was - this came from a scientist's point of view.
There were lots of other presentations during the day , but these stand out for me. A lot of time went with meeting other fans and discussing science fiction, science and fantasy .
A little fun thing is a photo I made : Anne McCaffrey is also involved in the "Writers of th Future", a quarterly competition, where the winners get their stories published in collections. One moment a Star Wars Stormtrooper in full gear was "standing guard" right behind the famous author, link to the picture .
more to come ...
Jan from Denmark
Thursday, 30 August 2007
Eurocon 2007
The European Convention on Science Fiction and Fantasy takes place in Copenhagen on 21 - 23 September.
For me the most interesting guest of Honour is Anne McCaffrey. The "Dragonriders of Pern" series is one of my favorite SciFi book series, well written and with an interesting plot.
The first book of the series ,"Dragonflight" was published in 1968 , and since then a steady flow of sequels (and prequels) have come out.
You can find out more at their website Eurocon 2007
If I can find the time (and an Internet connection) I might make a few posts during the days of the Eurocon
For me the most interesting guest of Honour is Anne McCaffrey. The "Dragonriders of Pern" series is one of my favorite SciFi book series, well written and with an interesting plot.
The first book of the series ,"Dragonflight" was published in 1968 , and since then a steady flow of sequels (and prequels) have come out.
You can find out more at their website Eurocon 2007
If I can find the time (and an Internet connection) I might make a few posts during the days of the Eurocon
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