Guest of Honor: Jo Walton
The author of the alternate history mystery Ha'Penny, the sequel to Farthing, the "Still Life With Fascists" or "Small Change" series including Half a Crown (Tor, September 2008), Tooth and Claw (World Fantasy Award winner), The Prize in the Game, The King's Peace, and The King's Name. She has at hand an odd little fantasy novel called Lifelode which is presently in limbo. She is presently working a fantasy novel about a world where lost ships from the ancient Med ended up, called Our Sea. She won the John W. Campbell Award for best new writer in 2002 and the World Fantasy Award in 2004. She comes from Wales, but lives in Montréal where the food and books are more varied.
Official Artist: Stephan Martiniere
Smoothly morphing his considerable skill and experience, Stephan MARTINIERE shapeshifts from whimsical to hard-core science fiction, cartoon to realistic, illustrator to director.
As an illustrator and animation director, Stephan has won numerous Awards including:
- The Grand Master Award from Ballistic Media's Expose 4,
- A Master Award and five Excellence Awards from Ballistic Media's Expose 3,
- Two Master Awards and one Excellence Award from Ballistic Media's Expose 2,
- The British Science Fiction Association Award for Best Cover of 2004,
- The Chesley Award for best hard cover of 2006,
- A Silver Award for Editorial in 1997 and a Gold Award in 2004 from Spectrum,
- A Thea Award for his work on the Paramount theme park Super Saturator in 2001.
As a director for the animated special "Madeline," Stephan won the Humanitas Award, the A.C.T Award and the Parent's Choice Award and was nominated for an Emmy Award.
Jeff VanderMeer has written a great profile about Stephan Martiniere.
Special Guest: Irene Gallo
The Art Director for Tor/Forge books since 1994, and Starscape books since its launch in 2001, the most exciting part of her job is working with all the wonderful artists...and becoming good friends with many of them. She is on the board of Directors of the Society of Illustrators. In 2005 she helped Arnie and Cathy Fenner curate and organize an exhibition at the Museum of American Illustration of the first 11 years of Spectrum. Since then they have asked her to be on their advisory board. She regularly runs a painting demo series with Daniel Dos Santos, Art Out Loud, and annual charity auction of miniature sf/f paintings called MicroVisions.
Featured Filker: Dr. H. Paul ("Dr. SETI") Shuch
Dr. SETI®, as H. Paul Shuch is known to his intimates, is something of a cross between Carl Sagan and Tom Lehrer (he sings like Sagan and lectures like Lehrer). The aerospace engineer credited with the design of the world's first commercial home satellite TV receiver, he now directs his microwave interests toward the search for life in space. Now Executive Director Emeritus of the grassroots SETI League, he has served as a professor of physics, astronomy, and engineering on various campuses for over three decades. Within the New Warrior community, Paul's teaching background earned him the name "Patient Owl." Paul is the author of more than 450 publications, multiple honors, webmaster and co-vice chair of its SETI Permanent Study Group, has been an advisor to the National Science Foundation, and is a military program evaluator for the American Council on Education.