The International Discworld Convention, also known as DWCon, is a biennial

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 ...

held in the United Kingdom on even-numbered years. DWCon was first held in 1996 by members of the

Usenet newsgroup A Usenet newsgroup is a repository usually within the Usenet system for messages posted from users in different locations using the Internet. They are not only discussion groups or conversations, but also a repository to publish articles, start ...

alt.fan.pratchett. The DWCon is a fan-run convention focussing on the

Discworld ''Discworld'' is a comic fantasy"Humorous Fantasy" in David Pringle, ed., ''The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy'' (pp.31-33). London, Carlton,2006. book series written by the English author Sir Terry Pratchett, set on the Discworld, a fl ...

novels and other works by

Terry Pratchett Sir Terence David John Pratchett (28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English author, humorist, and Satire, satirist, best known for the ''Discworld'' series of 41 comic fantasy novels published between 1983 and 2015, and for the Apocalyp ...

. The programme has several events that appear each time such as the Gala Dinner, Maskerade (spelled in this manner due to Pratchett's novel of the same name), Charity Auction, Guest of Honour Interview, and "Terry's Bedtime Stories". The conventions regularly feature large attendee-run groups that have been known variously as Guilds and Sects. There are also smaller events such as interviews, games and competitions, guest klatches, and other activities.

History

The convention has been held in the UK since 1996. The conventions have been held at various different hotels. A planned convention in 2000 (Titled 'MilleniCon Hand and Shrimp') had to be cancelled for financial reasons, but the conventions have been run every two years since. While Sir Terry once made a point of attending every UK-based Discworld Convention (and many of the non-UK conventions) as guest of honour, the Convention announced on 1 July 2014 that he would be unable to attend in person for health reasons, but that he would appear in an on-camera Q&A session from his home instead.

References

External links

The International Discworld Convention official website

The North American Discworld Convention

German Discworld Convention

Australian Discworld Convention
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130401170435/http://ausdwcon.org/ , date=2013-04-01
Irish Discworld Convention
Discworld organisations