Boskone is an annual

science fiction convention Science fiction conventions are gatherings of fans of the speculative fiction subgenre, science fiction. Historically, science fiction conventions had focused primarily on literature, but the purview of many extends to such other avenues of ex ...

("con") run by the New England Science Fiction Association (NESFA) in

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, United States. In the words of the convention organizers, "Boskone is a regional Science Fiction convention focusing on literature, art, music, and gaming (with just a dash of whimsy)". It is held every February, in Boston. The name is a reference to the Lensman series by E. E. Smith, in which "Boskone" is a council of villains, and also a name for their civilization. The obvious name for a con in Boston would, of course, be "Boscon"; the similarity was noticed and embraced. Continuing the trend, when a new Boston-area convention was formed, the organizers of that event named it "

Arisia Arisia is a Boston-area, volunteer-run science fiction convention, named for a planet in the Lensman novels by E. E. "Doc" Smith. The name was chosen in response to an older Boston-area con, Boskone, which took the typical ending for a conv ...

History

Boskone I was held in 1941 under the auspices of The Stranger Club, an earlier Boston-based SF club. Four more were held annually, ending with Boskone V in 1945. The current series of Boskones started in 1965 with Boskone I again (still using

Roman numerals Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, eac ...

until Boskone XXVIII and then using

Arabic numerals The ten Arabic numerals (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9) are the most commonly used symbols for writing numbers. The term often also implies a positional notation number with a decimal base, in particular when contrasted with Roman numera ...

beginning with Boskone 29) and continued without interruption to the present. Boskones 1, 2, and 4 were run by BosSFS, the now-defunct Boston Science Fiction Society. The then-newly formed NESFA took over with Boskone 5. The tradition of holding Boskone in February started in 1976. In the 1980s, Boskone exploded in popularity—gaining a reputation as the "Winter

Worldcon Worldcon, officially the World Science Fiction Convention, the annual convention of the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS), is a science fiction convention. It has been held each year since 1939 (except for the years 1942 to 1945, during Wor ...

," and surpassing the attendance of the World Science Fiction Convention in both 1985 and 1987—peaking at an attendance of 4200 for Boskone XXIV in 1987. Seeking to pull back to a more modest convention, the organizers deemphasized movie and media-related activities and moved Boskone out of Boston to Springfield for five years and then to Framingham. The convention would not return to Boston until 2003, and has yet to again exceed 1400 attendees. Boskone typically features a guest of honor, an official artist, a science speaker, a featured

filk Filk music is a musical culture, genre, and community tied to science fiction, fantasy, and horror fandom and a type of fan labor. The genre has existed since the early 1950s and been played primarily since the mid-1970s. The genre has a ni ...

er, and a special guest. The

Higgins Armory Museum The Higgins Armory Museum is a collection in the Worcester Art Museum. It was formerly a separate museum located in the nearby Higgins Armory Building in Worcester, Massachusetts, Worcester, Massachusetts, dedicated to the display of Weapon, arms ...

and other

Historical European martial arts Historical European martial arts (HEMA) are martial arts of European origin, particularly using arts formerly practised, but having since died out or evolved into very different forms. While there is limited surviving documentation of the mar ...

groups have held demonstrations and classes.

References

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External links

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NESFA Press

by Mark L. Olson {{Portal bar, Science Fiction Science fiction conventions in the United States Culture of Boston Recurring events established in 1941 1941 establishments in Massachusetts Conventions in Boston

History

See also

References

External links