World Fantasy Convention

Convention
Name:	World Fantasy Convention
Dates:	1975-
Frequency:	Yearly around Halloween
Location:	Varies
Type:
Focus:	Fantasy
Organization:
Founder:
Founding Date:	1975
URL:	http://www.worldfantasy.org/
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World Fantasy Convention was first held in 1975, and has been held yearly since.

1975

Theme: “The Lovecraft Circle”

Guest of Honor: Robert Bloch

Toastmaster: Gahan Wilson

Chair: Kirby McCauley

1976

Theme: Unknown Worlds

Guests of Honor: C. L. Moore, Michael Moorcock

Toastmaster: Gahan Wilson

Magister: Thom Anderson

1977

Theme: Clark Ashton Smith

Guest of Honor: Richard Matheson

Toastmaster: Gahan Wilson

Chairman: Dennis Rickard

1978

Theme: Robert E. Howard

Guest of Honor: Fritz Leiber

Guest Artist: Alicia Austin

Toastmaster (Scheduled): Gahan Wilson

Toastmaster (Actual): Andy Offutt

Chairman: Michael Templin

1979

Theme: Reunion

Guests of Honor: Stephen King, Frank Belknap Long

Guest Artist: Michael Whelan

Toastmaster: Charles L. Grant

Chairman: Bob Booth

1980

Theme: Edgar Allen Poe

Guest of Honor: Jack Vance

Guest Artist: Boris Vallejo

Toastmaster: Robert Bloch

Chairman: Chuck Miller, Tim Underwood

1981

Theme: Mark Twain, Jack London, Ambrose Bierce, Clark Ashton Smith

Guests of Honor: Alan Garner (did not appear for personal reason), Peter S. Beagle

Guest Artist: Brian Froud

Toastmaster: Karl Edward Wagner

Chairmen: Jack Rems, Jeff Frane

1982

Theme: Mark Twain

Guests of Honor: Peter Straub, Joseph Payne Brennan

Guest Artist: Don Maitz

Toastmaster: Charles L. Grant

Chairmen: Norman L. Hood, Harold Kinney

1983

Theme: Sixty Years of Weird Tales

Guests of Honor: Gene Wolfe, Manly Wade Wellman

Guest Artist: Rowena Morrill

Toastmaster: Robert Bloch

Chairman: Robert Weinberg

1984

Theme: Fantasy, An International Genre

Guests of Honor: Tanith Lee, Jane Yolen

Guest Artist: Jeffrey Jones

Toastmaster: Spider Robinson

Chairmen: John Bell, Rodger Turner

1985

Theme: Fantasy Writers of the Southwest

Guest of Honor: Stephen R. Donaldson

Special Guest: Evangeline Walton

Guest Artist: Victoria Poyser

Toastperson: Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

Chairman: Randal Rau

1986

Theme: From “New Writers” to “Old Masters”

Guests of Honor: Ramsey Campbell, Charles L. Grant

Guest Artist: J. K. Potter

Toastmaster: Douglas E. Winter

Chairman: Robert Plante

1987

Theme: A Southern Fantasy

Guest of Honor: Piers Anthony

Guest Artist: Frank Kelly Freas

Special Guest: Andre Norton, Karl Edward Wagner, Ron & Val Lakey Lindahn

Toastmaster: Charles L. Grant

Chairman: Maurine Dorris

1988

Theme: Gaslight & Ghosts

Guest of Honor: James Herbert

Special Guest: Diana Wynne Jones

Artist Guest: Michael Foreman

Master of Ceremonies: Clive Barker

Chairpersons: Stephen Jones & Jo Fletcher

1989

Theme: Roots of Fantasy: Myth, Folklore & Archetype

Honored Guests: Ursula K. LeGuin, Avram Davidson, S. P. Somtow, Robert R. McCammon, Yoshitaka Amano

Toastmaster: Ginjer Buchanan

Chairman: Robert J. Doyle

1990

Theme: An H. P. Lovecraft Centenary Celebration

Guests of Honor: F. Paul Wilson, L. Sprague de Camp, Susan Allison

Guest Artist: David B. Mattingly

Special Guests: Robert Bloch, Julius Schwartz

Toastmaster: Raymond E. Feist

Chairman: Robert Weinberg

1991

Theme: The Fantasy Heritage of the Spanish and Indian Cultures

Special Guests: Susan and Harlan Ellison

Artist Guest: Arlin Robins

Toastmaster: Stephen R. Donaldson

Chairman: Bruce Farr and Randal Rau

1992

Theme: Grails: Quests, Visitations, and Other Occurences

Guests of Honor: Michael Bishop, John Farris, Martin H. Greenberg, Anne McCaffrey, Robert Gould

Chairmen: Richard Gilliam and Edward Kramer

StarRise Weyr held a Dragonriders of Pern mini-con in honor of McCaffrey's appearance this year.

1993

Theme: The Vocabulary of the Fantastic

Guests of Honor: Poul Anderson, John Crowley, Roger Zelazny

Guest Artist: Tom Canty (did not appear)

Special Guest: Basil Copper

Other Guests: Megan Lindholm, Don Maitz, Patricia McKillip, Tim Powers, Terri Windling, Jane Yolen

Toastmaster: Neil Gaiman

Chairman: Greg Ketter

1994

Theme: Obsessions in Fantasy and Gothic Horror

Honored Guests: Damon Knight, George Alec Effinger, George R. R. Martin, Tim Powers, Kate Wilhelm

Artist Guest of Honor: Jill Bauman

Chairman: Tom Hanlon

1995

Theme: Celebrating the Craft of Short Fiction in Fantasy and Horror

Writer Guests of Honor: Terry Bisson, Lucius Shepard, Howard Waldrop

Artist Guest of Honor: Rick Berry

Publisher Guest of Honor: Lloyd Arthur Eshbach

Toastmaster: Edward W. Bryant, Jr.

Chairman: Michael J. Walsh

1996

Theme: The Many Faces of Fantasy

Guests of Honor: Katherine Kurtz, Joe R. Lansdale, Ellen Asher

Artist Guest of Honor: Ron Walotsky

Toastmaster: Brian Lumley

Chairmen: Nancy Ford, Tina L. Jens, Phyllis Weinberg

1997

Theme: The Centenary of Dracula/The Hidden Realms of London

Guest of Honour: Joan Aiken, Iain Sinclair

Artist Guest of Honour: Bob Eggleton

Special Guests: Hugh B. Cave, R. Chetwynd-Hayes

Special Media Guest: Doug Bradley

Master of Ceremonies: Robert Holdstock

Chairman: Jo Fletcher

1998

Theme: Golden Ages

Guest of Honor: Gahan Wilson

Special Guests: Cecelia Holland, Richard Laymon, Frank M. Robinson

Toastmaster: Richard A. Lupoff

Chairman: Bryan Barrett, Linda McAllister

1999

Theme: Voyages

Guests of Honor: Charles de Lint, Patricia A. McKillip, Robert Silverberg

Artist Guests of Honor: Leo & Diane Dillon

Special Guest: Samuel R. Delany

Toastmaster: John M. Ford

Co-Chairs: Chip Hitchcock & Davey Snyde

2000

Theme: El Dia de los Muertos (The Day of the Dead)

Guests of Honor: K.W. Jeter, John Crowley

Artist Guest of Honor: Charles Vess

Toastmaster: Joe R. Lansdale

Chairman: Fred Duarte

2001

Theme: Je me souviens/I remember

Guests of Honor: Fred Saberhagen, Joel Champetier, Donato Giancola

Toastmaster: Charles de Lint

Chairpersons: Bruce & Lea Farr

2002

Theme: Of Gods and Monsters

Guests of Honor: Dennis Etchison, Jonathan Carroll, Kathe Koja, Dave McKean, Stephen Jones

Chairman: Greg Ketter

2003

Theme: Dark Fantasy: Honorable Traditions

Guests of Honor: Brian Lumley, Jack Williamson (appeared via video interview)

Artist Guest of Honor: Allen Koszowski

Publisher Guest of Honor: W. Paul Ganley

Master of Ceremonies: Douglas E. Winter

Chairman: Michael J. Walsh

2004

Theme: Women in Fantasy and Horror

Guests of Honor: Gwyneth Jones, Janny Wurts, Ellen Datlow

Publisher Guest of Honor: Betty Ballantine

Toastmistress: Jennifer Roberson

Chairman: Mike Willmoth

2005

Theme: The Architecture of Fantasy & Horror

Guests of Honor: Graham Joyce, Robert Weinberg, Terri Windling

Artist Guest of Honor: Kinuko Y. Craft

Toastmaster: Peter Straub

Special Recognition: Arkham House

Chairman: Meg Turville-Heitz

2006

Theme: Robert E. Howard Centennial

Guests of Honor: Glen Cook, Dave Duncan and Robin Hobb

Artist Guest of Honor: John Jude Palencar

Editor Guest: Glenn Lord

Artist Guest: Gary Gianni

Toastmaster: Bradley Denton

Chairman: Renee Babcock and Fred Duarte

2007

Theme: Ghosts and Revenants: Memory, History and Folklore

Guests of Honor: Carol Emshwiller, Kim Newman, Lisa Tuttle

Artist Guest of Honor: Jean Giraud (Moebius)

Special Guests: Joseph Bruchac, Barbara and Christopher Roden, George Scithers

Master of Ceremonies: Guy Gavriel Kay

Chairman: Joe Berlant

2008

Theme: Mystery in Fantasy & Horror

Guests of Honor: David Morrell, Barbara Hambly, Tom Doherty

Artist Guest of Honor: Todd Lockwood

Toastmaster: Tad Williams

Chairman: Randy McCharles

2009

Theme: Celebrating Edgar Allan Poe’s 200th Birthday

Guests of Honor: Garth Nix, Michael Swanwick, Ann & Jeff VanderMeer

Artist Guest of Honor: Lisa Snellings

Toastmaster: Jay Lake

Special Guests: Zoran Zivkovic, Donald Sidney-Fryer, Richard A. Lupoff

Chairman: David Gallagher

2010

Theme: Whimsical Side of Fantasy

Guests of Honor: Dennis McKiernan, Esther Friesner, David Hartwell, Darrell K. Sweet

Chairman: Larry Smith and Sally Kobee

2011

Theme: Sailing the Seas of Imagination

Guests of Honor: Jo Fletcher, Neil Gaiman, Parke Godwin, Shawna McCarthy, Ruth Sanderson

Toastmaster: Connie Willis

Chair: Val Ontell

2012

Theme: Northern Gothic and Urban Fantasy

Guests of Honor: Elizabeth Hand, John Clute, Richard A. Kirk, Gary K. Wolfe, Charles De Lint, Tanya Huff, Patricia Briggs, Mercedes Lackey, Larry Dixon

Chair: Peter Halasz

2013

Theme: World Fantasy Convention: The Next Generation, Arthur Machen @ 150

Guests of Honour: Richard Matheson, Alan Lee, Brian Aldiss, Tessa Farmer

Toastmaster: China Miéville

Chair: Amanda Foubister, Stephen Jones, Michael Marshall Smith

2014

Theme: Three Centennials

Guests of Honor: Guy Gavriel Kay, Les Edwards, Stuart David Schiff, Lail Finlay, Mary Robinette Kowal

Chair: Peggy Rae Sapienza, Michael Walsh

2015

Guests of Honor: Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Steven Erikson

Special Guests: Glen Cook, David Drake, Lloyd Currey, Rick Lieder, Kathe Koja

Toastmaster: Paul DiFillippo

2016

Guests of Honor: Mercedes Lackey, Larry Dixon, L.E. Modesitt, Jr., Randal Spangler

2017

Guests of Honor: Karen Joy Fowler, Gregory Manchess, David Mitchell, Gordon Van Gelder

Toastmaster: Martha Wells

2018

Guests of Honor: Scott Edelman, Kaaron Warren, Tom Kidd, Michael J. Walsh

Special Guest: Aliette de Bodard

Toastmaster: Linda D. Addison

2019

Theme: Fantasy Noir

Guests of Honor: Margo Lanagan, Beth Meacham, Reiko Murakami, Sheree Renée Thomas, Tad Williams

Toastmaster: Robert Silverberg

2020

Theme: Fairyland was nothing like this

Guests of Honor: David Cherry, Editor: Anne Groell Artist: Stephen Gallagher

Author Special Guests: C.J. Cherryh, Cindy Pon, Brandon  Sanderson, Stephen Graham Jones

Toastmasters: Tracy and Laura Hickman

The con was held virtually this year due to COVID-19.

2021

Theme: Fantasy, Imagination, and the Dreams of Youth

Guests of Honor: Author: Nisi Shawl, Artist: John Picacio, Editor: André-François Ruaud

Author Special Guests: Owl Goingback, Yves Meynard

Toastmaster: Christine Taylor-Butler

2022

Theme: Old Souls and New Rhythms

Guests of Honor: Author: Victor LaValle, Jo Walton, Artist: Iris Compiet, Editor: Ginjer Buchanan

Author Special Guests: Caitlín R. Kiernan, Andrei Codrescu

Toastmaster: Ursula Vernon