ApolloCon was a
science fiction convention held annually in
Houston, Texas
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
by the Houston Science Fiction Association (HSFA), a non-profit 501(c)3 corporation.
ApolloCon offers information and entertainment for fans of
science fiction,
fantasy,
horror
Horror may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Genres
*Horror fiction, a genre of fiction
** Japanese horror, Japanese horror fiction
**Korean horror, Korean horror fiction
* Horror film, a film genre
*Horror comics, comic books focusing o ...
, and other genres of speculative and imaginative fiction in all their forms, including literary, media, and interactive gaming.
Programming
ApolloCon offers discussion panels on literary, media, science and culture topics. These include several discussions that focus on
space exploration
Space exploration is the use of astronomy and space technology to explore outer space. While the exploration of space is carried out mainly by astronomers with telescopes, its physical exploration though is conducted both by robotic spacec ...
and
astronomy, drawing participants from Houston's space sciences industries and other groups.
In addition to its discussion panels, ApolloCon hosts an exhibition hall for vendors of books and other merchandise, an art show and auction, a full schedule of LARP,
gaming,
filk music, video programming, a judged masquerade, plus networking opportunities for clubs and individual fans. Guests are typically writers and editors, artists, scientists, musicians, actors, and fans in the fields of science fiction, fantasy, and horror.
Past conventions
* 2004 (June 25–26)
** Guest of Honor:
Selina Rosen
** Artist Guest of Honor:
Cat Osborne
** Science Guests of Honor: Paul Abell and Bonnie Cooper
** Convention chair: Doug Herrington
* 2005 (June 24–26)
** Guest of Honor:
Robert J. Sawyer
** Artist Guest of Honor: Victory
** Filk Guest of Honor:
Juanita Coulson
Juanita Ruth Coulson (née Wellons) (born February 12, 1933) is an American science fiction and fantasy writer most well known for her ''Children of the Stars'' books, published from 1981 to 1989. She was a longtime editor of the science fictio ...
** Fan Guests of Honor:
Kathy Thornton and
Derly N. Ramirez II
** Convention chair: Doug Herrington
* 2006 (June 23–25)
** Guest of Honor:
Peter S. Beagle
Peter Soyer Beagle (born April 20, 1939) is an American novelist and screenwriter, especially of fantasy fiction. His best-known work is ''The Last Unicorn'' (1968), a fantasy novel he wrote in his twenties, which ''Locus'' subscribers voted the ...
** Artist Guest of Honor:
Alain Viesca
** Filk Guest of Honor:
Steve Macdonald
** Fan Guest of Honor:
Tim Miller
** Special Guest:
Greg Edmonson
** Special Guest:
David Franklin
** Convention chair: Mark Hall
* 2007 (June 22–24)
** Guest of Honor:
C.S. Friedman
Celia S. Friedman (born January 12, 1957) is an American speculative fiction author who often writes as "C. S. Friedman."
As of 2022, she has published fourteen novels, numerous short stories—several of which were included in her 2021 collec ...
** Editor Guest of Honor:
David G. Hartwell
David Geddes Hartwell (July 10, 1941 – January 20, 2016) was an American critic, publisher, and editor of thousands of science fiction and fantasy novels. He was best known for work with Signet, Pocket, and Tor Books publishers. He was also no ...
** Artist Guest of Honor:
Jeff Sturgeon
** Filk Guests of Honor: Graham and Becca Leathers
** Fan Guest of Honor:
A.T. Campbell, III
AT or at may refer to:
Geography Austria
* Austria (ISO 2-letter country code)
* .at, Internet country code top-level domain
United States
* Atchison County, Kansas (county code)
* The Appalachian Trail (A.T.), a 2,180+ mile long mountaino ...
** Convention chair: Mark Hall
* 2008 (June 27–29)
** Guest of Honor:
Allen Steele
Allen Mulherin Steele, Jr. (born January 19, 1958) is an American journalist and science fiction author.
Background
Steele was born in Nashville, Tennessee on January 19, 1958. He was introduced to science fiction fandom attending meetings o ...
** Editor Guest of Honor:
Lou Anders
** Artist Guest of Honor:
Brad Foster
** Filk Guest of Honor: Margaret Middleton
** Fan Guest of Honor:
Anne KG Murphy
** Convention chair: Shai Mohammed
* 2009 (June 26–28)
** Guest of Honor:
Wil McCarthy
Wil () is the capital of the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Wil in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.
Wil is the third largest city in the Canton of St. Gallen, after the city of St. Gallen and Rapperswil-Jona, a twin city that merged in ...
** Editor Guest of Honor: (unable to attend)
** Artist Guest of Honor:
Pat Rawlings
** Music Guest of Honor: Amy McNally
** Fan Guest of Honor: Al Jackson
** Special Guest:
Stanley G. Love
Stanley Glen Love (born June 8, 1965) is an American scientist and a NASA astronaut from Oregon.{{{cite web, url=https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/love.pdf , title=Stanley G. Love, (Ph.D.) NASA Astronaut , publisher=NASA , acces ...
** Convention chair: Kim Kofmel
* 2010 (June 25–27)
** Guest of Honor:
Catherine Asaro
Catherine Ann Asaro (born November 6, 1955) is an American science fiction and fantasy author, singer and teacher. She is best known for her books about the Ruby Dynasty, called the Saga of the Skolian Empire.
Biography
Catherine Asaro was ...
** Artist Guest of Honor:
Keith Thompson
** Fan Guest of Honor:
Pat Virzi
** Music Guest of Honor:
Dave Weingart
** Special Guest:
Rob Balder of
Erfworld
''Erfworld'' was a story-driven fantasy/comedy webcomic and independently published graphic novel about a master strategy gamer summoned into and stuck inside a wargame running from December 2006 to its abrupt cancellation in October 2019. It f ...
** Convention chair: Kim Kofmel
* 2011 (June 24–26)
** Guest of Honor:
Martha Wells
** Artist Guest of Honor:
ocky Kelley ** Editor Guest of Honor:
Ann VanderMeer
** Fan Guest of Honor:
Jeanne Gomoll
** Convention chair: Katy Pace
* 2012 (June 22–24)
** Guest of Honor:
Tanya Huff
** Artist Guest of Honor:
Jael
Jael or Yael ( he, יָעֵל ''Yāʿēl'') is the name of the heroine who delivered Israel from the army of King Jabin of Canaan in the Book of Judges of the Hebrew Bible. After Barak demurred at the behest of the prophetess Deborah, God turned ...
** Fan Guest of Honor: Candace Pulleine (in memoriam)
** Convention Chair: Jonathan Guthrie
Community participation
ApolloCon is largely conducted by and for local fan based communities which are in turn interwoven with each other. The motto "We are them and they are us" is often used to describe the inter-relationship. Notable organizations that have participated in past ApolloCons include Artist Trading Cards, Bayou City Browncoats, Houston Costume Group, Houston Sci-Fi Video, Houston SF & Fantasy Writers, Houston SF Book Exchange Network, Houston SF Ritual Breakfast, Inklings Roundtable of Houston, Several Unlimited, SF Writers Meetup, South Texas Squad of the
501st Legion, Space City Trade Federation, Star Trek Houston, Starbase Houston, USS Firebird NCC-74919, and USS SpiritWolf NCC-74300.
References
External links
ApolloCon official websiteApolloCon LiveJournal news and discussion forum* Houston SF Ritual Breakfast main pag
{{Texas SF Conventions
Culture of Houston
Defunct science fiction conventions in the United States
Conventions in Texas
2004 establishments in Texas
Recurring events established in 2004
Tourist attractions in Houston
501(c)(3) organizations