CAN-CON, stylized CAN•CON, or more completely "CAN•CON: The Conference on Canadian Content in Speculative Arts and Literature", is a periodic
science fiction and fantasy convention in
Ottawa put on by The Society for Canadian Content in Speculative Arts and Literature. Founded in 1991 by James Botte and Farrell McGovern in response to a perception that there were no dedicated public venues that featured primarily Canadian speculative fiction writers, editors, and artists. In addition to the focus on
Canadian content, it was also an attempt to bring a focus on the book back to
Ottawascience fiction and fantasy events.[1] It ran from 1992 through 1997, and again in 2001 before taking a hiatus of several years due to the two founders moving out of Canada for employment reasons; it was then relaunched in 2010 after they had both returned to Canada.
Over the years, CAN-CON has had as guests or attendees the cream of Canadian English and French
speculative fiction writers and artists (with the notable exceptions of Spider Robinson, Margaret Atwood, and William Gibson). As such, it became a meeting place for Canadian writers and artists and their fans, and provided a natural venue for the national meetings of various related Canadian organizations. This caught the notice of TOR Books' senior editor
David Hartwell, who came to CAN-CON and signed deals with many Canadian
science fiction and
fantasy writers. Of this he said, "I did more business at CAN-CON than I did at Worldcon". This informal access to large numbers of Canadian writers enabled him to spearhead TOR's Canadian publishing initiative.[2]
Programming
CAN-CON has had some of the most diverse programming SF conventions have ever had, while retaining a focus on Canada, its writing environment, and uniqueness. It has also hosted events such as book launches,
Canvention with its
Prix Aurora Awards,[3] the Boréal Congress,[4] a private label CAN-CON Wine, Virtual Reality gaming, and Co-Hosting the launch with the
National Library of Canada of their exhibition "Visions of Other Worlds", Hosting
Canada Post's Canadian Superhero Stamp Series Unveiling, to name a few of the notable events.
The tenth Conference, which took place on September 21–23 of 2012, focused on introducing emerging and aspiring writers and artists to agents, editors, publishers and fans. The eleventh Conference, which took place at Minto Suites Hotel on October 4–6, 2013, had the theme of "The Cutting Edge"; it also hosted
Canvention and the 33rd
Aurora Awards. The seventeenth and most recent Conference occurred at the Ottawa Sheraton Hotel on October 18-20, 2019.
History
Event history
1992
May 22, 1992 (1992-05-22) - May 24, 1992 (1992-05-24)
May 14, 1993 (1993-05-14) - May 16, 1993 (1993-05-16)
Venue: Delta Hotel
Location:Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Guests: Writers:
Robert J. Sawyer,
Karen Wehrstein,
Shirley Meier; Editor:
Greg Ioannou; Fan:
Bink. Saw the launch of the bi-annual publication The Journal of Canadian Content in Speculative Literature by CAN-CON's organizing group The Society for Canadian Content in Speculative Arts and Literature.[6]
1994
May 13, 1994 (1994-05-13) - May 15, 1994 (1994-05-15)
Venue: The Talisman Hotel
Location:Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Guests: Writers:
S.M. Stirling,
Donald Kingsbury,
Tom Henighan,
Bertrand Desbiens,
Ron Holla; Editor:
Cath Jackel; Fan:
Paul Valcour. Included a Computer Expo that featured the just released
Doom game — networked on multiple machines with
VR head-tracking helmets, interactive multimedia from
Jeff Green, hands-on access to the newly released
Mosaic web browser, and discussions by technical experts (Paul Wilson, San Mehet) and a sociologist (Síân Reid) on how to connect to and the future of the
Internet.[7]
1995
May 12, 1995 (1995-05-12) - May 14, 1995 (1995-05-14)