| Eurocon
2004 Radi Radev reports from this year's European Science
Fiction Convention. While the convention was first created in 1972 in Triest,
Italy, this was the first year it's been hosted in Bulgaria.
 The
European Science Fiction Convention Eurocon 2004 was held from the 5th till 8th
August in the city of Plovdiv. This convention was first created in 1972 in Triest,
Italy. This year it took place in Bulgaria for the first time.
There
were over 360 Bulgarian and about 200 foreign participants from 17 countries at
the event - among them SF writers, publishers, translators, journalists and, of
course, fans.
Eurocon 2004 was held under the patronage of Plamen Panajotov - vice-premier of
the Republic of Bulgaria. The main organisers of Eurocon were: Ivan Krumov - owner
of the specialised SF publishing House Kuasar, Yuri Ilkov - the publisher of Terra
Fantastica magazine and winner of Eurocon for number one fan, Fantastica Foundation,
the municipality of Plovdiv, the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry
of Culture, Club for Science Fiction and heuristics Ivan Efremov, Club for science
fiction - Earthsea, Club for ecoculture and fantastic art - Uibrobia, Tolkien
Club - Rin Ennor, Society Words, Bulgarian Federation for electronic sports, Valinor
Paladium Ltd.
The greatest person to be present at the festival undoubtedly
was the writer Robert Sheckley. Apart from him there were Ian Watson - a writer
from UK, Andrzei Sapkowski - the best selling Polish fantasy writer; Patrick J.
Gyger - the director of Maison d'Aillieurs, a Swiss museum housing one of the
world's largest collections of Science Fiction. Mr. Gyger also presently serves
as artistic director of the Festival International de Science-Fiction Utopiales,
Nantes/France/. At Eurocon 2004, also took part was Roberto Quaglia - one of the
most promising Italian Science Fiction writers.
Unfortunately, the world
famous Russian SF&F writer and winner of many prizes like Strannik/Wanderer/,
Interpresscon, Eurocon 2003 and Aelita, Sergey Lukyanenko did not visit the Eurocon,
although he had previously confirmed his participation and his name was on the
agenda. However, Eric Simon - one of the most famous German SF writers, whose
works were published in the former Soviet Union and other so-called 'Eastern block'
countries (in the time of communism!) came to the event to the greatest pleasure
of all participants and fans.
The various activities on Eurocon were
held in the halls of the City House of Culture, Plovdiv. Sometimes, the activities
were on three at the same time and it was hard to choose which one exactly to
visit.
No doubt the most interesting and exciting event was the meeting
with Robert Sheckley, held on Saturday, 7th August. The second most interesting
event was the meeting with Patrick J. Gyger - the director of Maison d'Aillieurs
- the museum housing one of the world's largest collections of Science Fiction.
I should not forget to mention the fact that the first European performance of
the movie 'I, Robot', inspired by the short stories of the immortal Isaac Asimov
took place at Eurocon 2004.
Another thing that attracted the attention
was the nominations for Eurocon 2004. A voting was organised but the results had
not come out at the time this present article was written. The participants had
the opportunity to see the presentations of Eurocon 2005 and Worldcon 2005.
Lecturers at the festival were Alexander Alexandrov, Prof. Alexander Nedelikovich,
Atanas Slavov, Dr. Dimitar Kabaivanov, Georgi Ivanov, Grigor Gachev, Ilina Konakchieva,
Ilian Iliev, Ivailo Ivanov, Ivan Atanasov, Ivan Ivanov, Ivan Popov, Liza Moroz,
Dr. Lachezar Filipov, Lyubomir Nicolov, Martin Kadinov, Silvia Rasheva, Todor
Yalamov, Yuri Ilkov and Zdravko Georgiev.
It is interesting that at least
half of the time, the participants separated to made contacts between or to create
contacts.
I want to finish my report with the words of Agop Melkonyan/
the second most famous Bulgarian SF writer after Lyuben Dilov/, said at the Meeting
with young Bulgarian SF writers:
'Write something. If it is liked by
at least one more man except you, then it has been worth writing it! No man can
write for everyone. Write for yourself.' Radi Radev
Written
and translated by Radi Radev
www.swordandmagic.com
(c) Radi Radev 2004
all rights preserved - seek permission before reprinting
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OTHER CONTENT - September 2004
Steve Cockayne Interview
Steve talks about his novel Wanderers and Islanders, being influenced by C.S. Lewis and Herman Hesse, and working as a TV cameraman, a puppeteer, and dabbling in hypnotherapy
(AUTHOR INTERVIEWS)
Tanith Lee Interview
Author Tanith speaks with SFF literary agent John Jarrold about how people are the starting point for her fiction, tackling pirates with Piratica, and being influenced by Rider Haggard, Viereck and Eldridge.
(AUTHOR INTERVIEWS)
Eurocon 2004
Radi Radev reports from this year's European Science Fiction Convention. While the convention was first created in 1972 in Triest, Italy, this was the first year it's been hosted in Bulgaria.
(CON REPORTS)
Westercon 2004
Mark reports on the movies at Westercon. The trailers seemed to be better accepted by the audience than they have been at recent Worldcons, while the presentation was a little more polished - and the films seemed of a higher quality.
(CON REPORTS)
Code 46
Mark discovers that Code 46 is a very odd piece of science fiction. It is a film with some very nice material that tries some interesting ideas, but it fails to capture the viewer. Its flaws outweigh its virtues.
(FILM REVIEWS)
The Bourne Supremacy
Robert Ludlum's mysterious United States government assassin again returns to the big screen from what some assumed and hoped was death. Again we have a complex plot with twists and doublecrosses. Again the infallible and deadly assassin is pitted against the agency that made him what he is.
(FILM REVIEWS)
Offworld Report: Science Fiction and Fantasy: September 2004
Interviews with Keith Brooke, Geoff Ryman, Gerry Anderson and the co-producer of the new Sapphire and Steel series, short fiction by John Grant and Walter Jon Williams, and Locus Magazine's excellent primer on genre audiobooks.
(NEWS)
Offworld Report: Weird Science: September 2004
The latest tiny flying robot, why Martian astronauts may need replacement body
tissue, harvesting helium-3 from the Moon, the threat to humanity from giant tsunamis and super volcanoes, and the possibility of life on Venus.
(NEWS)
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