Highly recommended: Archipelacon 2
Archipelacon 2 will be held from 26 June to 29 June 2025 at Alandica Culture & Congress Centre Mariehamn, Åland, Finland.
We Love Horror, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Literally!
Highly recommended: Archipelacon 2
Archipelacon 2 will be held from 26 June to 29 June 2025 at Alandica Culture & Congress Centre Mariehamn, Åland, Finland.
Highly recommended: 9000con
The second edition of 9000con is planned for May 4, 2025 in Sint-Amandsberg (Belgium).
9000com
The Dutch nominations for the ESFS Awards have been submitted. Congratulations to the nominees.
Chrysalis Award Netherlands
– Robin Rozendal
Achievement awards
– Best written work of fiction: All evil comes in two, Chris Hoksbergen
– Best comic book or graphic novel: The Shadow Prophet, Marissa Delbressine and Anne Delseit
– Best Fanzine: Fantastic Stories (Remco Meisner) – Stichting Fantastische Vertellingen
– Best work for children: Sterre en de Bijnanaut, Anaid Haen & Django Mathijssen
– Best event, festival or cosplay convention organised by fans: Eurocon 2024, Erasmuscon
Hall of fame
– Best artist: Danielle Futselaar
– Best author: Tais Teng
– Best promoter of science fiction: Martijn Lindeboom and Heidi van der Vloet
The winners of the ESFS Awards will be announced this year on Archipelacon 2 – The Nordic SF and Fantasy Convention,
While Sophia herself is a cheerful person with an overdeveloped sense of humour, most of her stories are marked by a sense of darkness. A cosy ‘happy ever after’ is not usually on the cards.
When she was about sixteen years old the ambition to write first made itself felt. A chronic health condition meant that she was confined to her home with not a lot in the way of future prospects. As if by miracle she discovered genre literature. Especially Michael Moorcock’s books about Elric of Melniboné struck a chord for her. She recognised herself in this eternally ailing albino prince and the books about him made her realise that in genre literature you could talk about serious emotions while disguising them with lots of cool fantasy trappings.
Editors were quick to embrace her as an author, but were not necessarily enthusiastic about the books she was working on. She gave up writing for a few years out of frustration, but then a nightmare made her pick up a pen again in 2014. That was the start of her series ‘De Bloedwetten’.
Over the years she won multiple awards, among which the Millennium Award, two Indie Awards, two Bastaard Fantasy Awards, Edge.Zero and recently a Harland Award.
Even though it’s been nearly forty years since she first put pen to paper she feels like her adventures in writing have only just begun.
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Sophia Drenth loves to write about misfits, because she recognises herself in them. Her stories are usually marked by a sense of darkness, but even in the darkest night there’s always a glimmer of hope.
Photographer: Riske de Vries
The third edition of HSFCon will be held on Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 November 2025 in the ever-bustling Maastricht. We found the beautiful Hotel De l’Empereur as a good place for a weekend full of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror.
After two editions in the hospitable north of the country, it is now the turn of the south. Nice and central in the BeNeLux!
During HSFCon you will follow lectures, workshops and panels for and by the fans and the writers and ‘makers’ in our genre. You will have ample opportunity to meet new people and reconnect with old acquaintances. There will be a cozy SF/F/H market with a varied offer.
And: did we already mention that there is a swimming pool?!
Ticket sales are already open!
Would you like to help with the organization, make suggestions for the program or distribute flyers? Send an email to info@hsfcon.nl and we will contact you. See you at HSFCon3!
Like a spider in a web, Marieke weaves all aspects of her life together: singing, acting, voice-acting, she does it all. But writing is the most powerful thread in her web. Story lines shoot out like silvery threads, curling and twisting through the web of her life. The books, musicals, novellas and short stories she’s written can no longer be counted on the fingers of two hands and the toes of two feet, and the next books are on the way. One thing is sure: they will have a little glimmer of magic in them, because Marieke loves to grab the tiny moments of magic in everyday life and make them shine in her stories.
Photo: Anne-Claire Philippo
“Good news, everyone!”
The third HSFCon will take place on November 1 and 2, 2025 at the Amrâth Grand Hotel de l’Empereur in Maastricht.
Keep an eye out for updates on www.hsfcon.nl.
Enjoy Robin Rozendal’s video report of the HSFCon 2023.
The photos taken at HSFCon 2023 by Hans van Kampen can be found here.
Do you want to use one or more photos? Then mention Photo: © Hans van Kampen.
Do you want a larger version of one or more photos? Contact us.
Do you want to use a photo in which other people are recognizable elsewhere? Please ask permission from us.
Do you share your own photos from the convention? Our hashtags are #HSFCon2023 #WeLoveItLiterally #HSFCon across all platforms
Problem with one of the photos? Contact us at info@hsfcon.nl.
The Leeuwarder Courant also made an article of the second HSFCon. To read on their website and yesterday in the newspaper.
https://lc.nl/friesland/sudwest-fryslan/Fantasyfeest-verbindt-spokenjagers-28325315.html (Dutch)
#HSFCon2023 #WeLoveItLiterally