Welcome to the first newsletter for HSFCon, your convention for Horror, SF and Fantasy! HSFCon will be held on 14 and 15 November 2020 in NH Hotel Sparrenhorst in Nunspeet, the Netherlands.
The convention is organised on a strictly not-for-profit base by fans and for fans, with moral support from NCSF and the Stichting Fantastisch Genre.
We are proud to present to you: our Guests of Honour!
Rochita Loenen-Ruiz is known as a trailblazer for diversity in the fantastical genre.
She was born in the Philippines, and now lives in The Netherlands. She is a graduate of the Clarion West Writing Workshop and was the recipient of the Octavia Butler Scholarship Award for 2009. In 2018, she was a recipient of the Milford Bursary for writers of colour.
More on her work can be found on her website at rcloenenruiz.com
Peter Schaap is the author of many fantasy books, among which his latest, De helden van Sidian, published by Zilverspoor.
In addition, he is well-known in The Netherlands as the singer of songs like De hoge heren van het dorp and Adem mijn Adem. Peter is an old hand in the world of the Dutch fantastical genre and is a welcome guest, brimful of stories about music, the art of making stone tools and writing fantasy. If we ask him really nicely, he may even filk a few songs! More on his work can be found at www.peterschaap.nl
Guests at HSFCon
We have been approached by a lot of people and we sent out quite a few e-mails ourselves, and now we can present them to you: the guests at the first HSFCon:
Sophia Drenth, author of the book series De Bloedwetten and numerous short stories,
Marjo Heikoop, one half of writers’ duo Johanna Lime, the pseudonym she also uses to publish her new trilogy De Vergeten Vloek,
Johan Klein Haneveld, author of the ziltpunk novella Plastic Vriend, short story collection Ruisreizigers, contributions to magazines Modern Myths and Ganymedes, and lots more.
In addition, we also have a number of participants. We will have a varied programme consisting of two tracks, over 20 programme items in 2 days! Keep an eye on our website for more announcements. Would you like to give a presentation, host a workshop or join in a panel discussion? Send us an e-mail outlining your idea and we will get in touch with you.
The team: who are we?
André, Alice, Heidi, Tanja, Jan and Paul, pleased to meet you! You can get to know us better at: www.hsfcon.nl/en/the-organization-2/
All information is on our website
Do you want to know more about HSFCon? Our website www.HSFCon.nl had all the latest on our Guests of Honour, our guests, participants, the organization, location and lots more. Come and see us at our digital home.
Competition
Would you like to win a free ticket to HSFCon 2020 for yourself or for someone else? Answer the following questions and send the answers by e-mail to Jan@HSFCon.nl before 1 April 2020. Maybe you are the winner of one of the two free tickets.
- Star Trek: The Next Generation: how many lights are there again?
- What is the title of the first (unofficial) horror and vampire movie?
- In which book is Than the magician the main character?
Conventions and events
HSFCon is by no means the only convention or gathering aimed at genre fans. They come together all over the world and throughout the year to share their passion for science fiction, fantasy and horror. We will use the next couple of months to attend some of these gatherings and spread the news of HSFCon. We can do this by running a fan table, or by simply going there as a paying visitor and handing out our leaflets.
At the short term it’s going to be hard to attend events, because of the corona outbreak. Unless the conventions are cancelled, you can certainly find us at Eastercon in Birmingham (10 – 13 April) and FedCon 28 in Bonn (29 – 31 May). In addition, you can pick up our leaflet wherever the NCSF Book Club has a stall, such as Comic Con Antwerp on 9 and 10 May, and the book markets of Dordrecht and Tilburg later this summer.
The list is far from complete. There are plenty of other events and we do what we can to attend as many as possible.
Should you meet one of our team at a convention or event, don’t forget to ask for the HSF ribbon. By wearing it, you help us spread the word and so make a contribution to HSFCon’s success!
Hotel
Hotel “De Sparrenhorst” in Nunspeet is situated among the forests at the northern end of the Dutch Veluwe region. It boasts a splendid theatre room which on 14 November will be the stage for the presentation of a SF&F short story competition. Information on how to reach the hotel is to be found on our website. The hotel has plenty of function rooms for the first HSFCon, and there are also more than enough hotel rooms to accommodate our convention members. If you wish to book a hotel room (breakfast included) for the duration of the convention, you can do so at a special rate by following this link: https://www.nh-hotels.nl/event/hsfcon-2020