Octocon

Octocon, Ireland
Octocon, Ireland logo
GenreScience fiction, fantasy
Location(s)Dublin
CountryIreland
Inaugurated1990
Websitehttp://www.octocon.com/

Octocon, the National Irish Science Fiction Convention, first held in 1989, is held (almost) annually in October. It has mostly been staged in Dublin, but for four years was in the university town of Maynooth. It was not held in 2003, and in 2014, when Ireland hosted that year's Eurocon, Shamrokon, in Dublin.[1][2] It was virtual in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid pandemic.

History

Kristian Nairn and George R. R. Martin at Octocon
Game of thrones actor Kristian Nairn (Hodor) and Writer George R. R. Martin at Octocon in Dublin, 17 October 2010.
  • 1989/1990: The convention was initiated by members of the Irish Science Fiction Association, and named by artist Peter McCanney, who created the convention's first logo.
  • 1990: Terry Pratchett was the first Guest of Honour of the convention.
  • 1995: Advertised Guest of Honour Mary Gentle had to cancel her appearance at the last minute, leading to the appointment of Kim Newman in her place.
  • 1997: This was also the year's official Eurocon, and consequently the largest Octocon to date.
  • 1998: The only one-day Octocon to date.
  • 2003: The convention took a break for a year.
  • 2004: For the first time, Octocon was held outside Ireland's capital of Dublin, in Maynooth, County Kildare, where it was held for 3 further years.
  • 2008: The convention returned to Dublin.
  • 2009: The first Golden Blaster was awarded.
  • 2014: There was no October convention this year. Instead a lot of the regular organizers helped run the official Eurocon, Shamrokon, in August.

Golden Blasters

The Golden Blasters are the National Irish Science Fiction Awards for short science fiction, fantasy or horror films. Submissions can and have come from anywhere in the world, and the winners are selected by audience vote and a panel of judges.[3]

The awards now include the Golden Blaster, The Silver Blaster and the award for the best script.

Year Golden Blaster Silver Blaster Best Script
2009 Silent City (Director Rurairi Robinson)
2010 Übermensch (Directed by Simon Temple and written by Daniel Poole) The Astronomer's Sun (Written and directed by Simon Cartwright & Jessica Cope) He Knows by Stuart Creque
2011 Hai In Mano Il Tuo Futuro! (Directed by Enrico Maria Artale) Hai In Mano Il Tuo Futuro! (Directed by Enrico Maria Artale) Wet Rot by Stuart Creque
2012 Shoreditch Slayer (Directed by Simon Levene) CRYO (Directed by Luke Doolan) This Vehicle Has Been Checked For Sleeping Children by John Burdeaux
Honourable mentions: Pet by Eoin O’Faolain and The Vox-Warrior Princess by Fiona Mustard.
2013 Locked Up (Written and directed Jane Eakin) Sleepworking (Written and directed by Gavin Williams) An Bean Sidhe by Eoin O'Sullivan
2014 ON/OFF (Directed by Thierry Lorenzi) Steadfast Stanley (Directed by John Kim) The Borders of the Imagination (Written by Benjamin A Friedman)
Honourable mentions: Once A Hero by Neil Chase and The Almost Dead by Stanley B Eisenhammer
2015 C.T.R.L (Directed by Mariana Conde) The Detectives of Noir Town (Directed by Andrew Chambers) The Dirty Naturals Where's my Bunny? (Written by Derek Wills)
2016 The Way Back (Directed by John Carlin) They Will All Die In Space (Directed by Javier Chillon) Message through the Stars (Written by Vijay Varman)
2017 Einstein Rosen (Directed by Olga Osorio) Einstein Rosen (Written by Olga Osorio)

In 2018 it was decided to have a "Best of best" award given in place of the usual structure. The overall winner was the 2017 Einstein Rosen short film.

Events

Year Guests of Honour Location Date
1990 Terry Pratchett Royal Marine Hotel 13–14 October 1990
1991 Geoff Ryman Royal Marine Hotel 4–6 October 1991
1992 Orson Scott Card Royal Marine Hotel 16–18 October 1992
1993 Storm Constantine Royal Marine Hotel 30–31 October 1993
1994 Robert Holdstock Royal Marine Hotel 1–2 October 1994
1995 Kim Newman Royal Marine Hotel 14–15 October 1995
1996 Brian Stableford Royal Marine Hotel 11–13 October 1996
1997 – Eurocon Harry Harrison Dublin Castle, Dublin 25–27 October 1997
1998 - Octocon Lite James White Royal Marine Hotel 10 October 1998
1999 Robert Rankin Royal Marine Hotel 9–10 October 1999
2000 Michael Marshall Smith Royal Dublin Hotel 21–22 October 2000
2001 Anne McCaffrey Royal Marine Hotel 13–14 October 2001
2002 China Miéville Royal Marine Hotel 19–20 October 2002
2003 - no event
2004 Tanith Lee Glenroyal Hotel 16–17 October 2004
2005 Charles Stross Glenroyal Hotel 15–16 October 2005
2006 J. G. Jones Glenroyal Hotel 14–15 October 2006
2007 Alastair Reynolds Glenroyal Hotel 13–14 October 2007
2008 Ken MacLeod Royal Dublin Hotel 18–19 October 2008
2009 Mike Carey
Fan Guest Dave Lally		 Camden Court Hotel 10–11 October 2009
2010 George R. R. Martin Camden Court Hotel 16–17 October 2010
2011 John Higgins Camden Court Hotel 15–16 October 2011
2012 Liz Williams Camden Court Hotel 13–14 October 2012
2013 Richard K. Morgan and Gail Simone Camden Court Hotel 12–13 October 2013
2014 – No Octocon, per above & *
2015 Maura McHugh and Emma Newman Camden Court Hotel 19–11 October 2015
2016 Rhianna Pratchett, Diane Duane and Peter Morwood Camden Court Hotel 14–16 October 2016
2017 Dan Abnett and Nik Vincent Abnett Camden Court Hotel October 2017
2018 Pat Cadigan and Colleen Doran Crowne Plaza Hotel, Blanchardstown 19 - 21 October 2018
2019 - 1-day due to
August Worldcon in Dublin		 Diane Duane, Peter Morwood, Ruth Frances Long, Peadar Ó Guilín Crowne Plaza Hotel, Blanchardstown 13 October 2019
2020 Michael Carroll (and fan GoHs Helen and Philippa Ryder Virtual due to pandemic 9 - 11 October 2020
2021 No GoHs Virtual due to pandemic 1 - 3 October 2021
2022 Michael Carroll (and fan GoHs Helen and Philippa Ryder Croke Park Convention Centre & online 15 - 16 October 2022

References

  1. ^ "Meet Rhianna Pratchett - The woman behind the Lara Croft backstory". www.irishexaminer.com. 6 October 2016.
  2. ^ "Convention Connection: Geek Culture Conventions for Week 42 2018". GeekDad. 19 October 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  3. ^ "Octocon Presents..." Dublin 2019. 10 May 2019. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  4. ^ "Welcome to nginx!".