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Guests of honour

Guests of Honour (GoH) is an integrated part of science fiction conventions around the world. They make it possible to attract a lot of people, and they are also the ones that makes it fun to go to conventions.

A Guest of Honour participates in a lot of different things at the convention, and he/she will also be put on the official poster and will certainly have several program items in the convention program.

Science fiction GoH's are unique in the sense that fans can usually get much closer and talk to them. Usually they hang around in the bar or a similar place between programs, so it's normally easy to get to talk to them.­

In keeping with tradition we will present a Fan Guest of Honour, a fan that has done a big effort to spread knowledge and interest about science fiction.

Please notice that program changes can occur

Anne McCaffrey

Anne McCaffrey is one of the world’s most popular science fiction and fantasy writers. She is best known for her series of Dragonriders of Pern books, but she has written many other popular books like The Ship Who Sang, Acorna, Crystal Singer, Decision at Doona, Freedom’s Landing and Dinosaur Planet. 

Check Anne McCaffreys website for more information:

Programme with Anne McCaffrey:

  • Friday 14.00-15.00 - PANEL: Why do we go to a Convention? Anne McCaffrey, Zoran Zivkovic, Harry Harrison.
  • Saturday 12.00-13.00 - The GoH nne McCaffrey Interview, conducted by Lea Thume
  • Saturday 16.00-17.00 - The Anne McCaffrey GoH Speech
  • Saturday 17.00-18.00 - Anne McCaffrey Booksigning
  • Sunday 11.00-12.00 - Round table. 10 fans gets the opportunity to sit and talk with McCaffrey. This event requires that you sign up to participate
  • Sunday 15.00-16.00 - Round table. 10 fans gets the opportunity to sit and talk with McCaffrey. This event requires that you sign up to participate
  • Sunday 18.00-19.00 - Anne McCaffrey reads from her stories

Stephen Baxter

Stephen Baxter was born in 1957. Han has degrees in mathematics and engineering. In 1991 he attempted to become kosmonaut, but didn't succeed. He has been a full time author since 1995.

Stephen Baxter has written several sf novels including Raft, Timelike Infinity, Anti-Ice, Flux, Ring, The Time Ships, Voyage, Titan, Moonseed, Manifold 1: Time, Manifold 2: Space.

He also wrote The Light Of Other Days with Arthur C. Clarke and has won several awards including the Philip K Dick Award, the John Campbell Memorial Award, the British Science Fiction Association Award, the Kurd Lasswitz Award (Germany) and the Seiun Award (Japan). He has been nominated for several awards including the Arthur C Clarke Award, Hugo Award and Locus awards. He has published over 100 sf short stories, several of which have won prizes.

More about Stephen Baxter

Programme with Baxter:

  • Friday 16.00-17.00 -The GoH Stephen Baxter interview, conducted by Ulrik Kristiansen
  • Saturday 14.00-15.00 - The Stephen Baxter GoH Speech
  • Saturday 16.00-17.00 - Baxter Booksigning
  • Saturday 17.00-18.00 - Baxter reads from his stories

Zoran Živković

Exciting and different science fiction author from Serbia. Zoran Živković (b. 1948) started out as SF author, but has since moved more in the direction of authors such as Jorge Luise Borges and Paul Auster.

Zoran Živković actually started writing academically about SF but began relatively quickly to write fiction himself. His litterary hallmark is the linked novella. Or a novel split into 4 or 5 novellas (often the same story told from different view points) - all coalesced around a single theme in the Grand History of Humankind, such as Death, Time, Woman, etc. Often the somber stories have been added a touch of humour and subtlety - not in the least in the 'emptiness' between the novellas which is for the reader to fill out. It is this humour and subtlety that provides the sugarcoating to an otherwise bitter pill in the substance and theme.

Živković publishes his books from his own publishing company, Polaris.  His books have also come out in English from Polaris. Individual novellas and parts of novels have been published in British SF-magazine InterZone.

Among his novels are The Fourth Circle (1993), Time-Gifts (1997), The Writer (1998), The Book (1999), Impossible Encounters (2000), Seven Touches of Music (2001), The Library (2002; which won the World Fantasy Award in 2003, and Steps Through the Mist (2003).

In 2003 came Hidden Camera, en anti-modernistic tale which received fine reviews in British papers. The book Compartments came out in 2004, followed by Four Stories to The End. In  2005 he collaborated on the production of a TV-series, The Collector, with Serbian TV station Studio B. The series will be screened during Eurocon 2007.

Later works include The Bridge (2006), Miss Tamara, The Reader (2006), Amarcord (2007), and The Last Book (2007).

He lives in Belgrade, Serbia & Montenegro, with his wife Mia, their two twin sons Uros and Andreja, and their four cats.

More about Zoran Živković

Programme with Zoran Živković :

  • Friday 14.00-15.00 - PANEL: Why do we go to a Convention? Anne McCaffrey, Zoran Živković , Harry Harrison.
  • Friday 15.00-17.00 - Zoran Živković : Collections. A Serbian TV-series built upon ZZs Book Twelve Collections and The Tea Cup (60 min). After the series Živković  talks about Working with TV
  • Friday 17.00-18.00 - PANEL: Translating this Genre (in english). Zoran Zivkovic, Nield Dalgaard, Cristina Pulido Ulvang
  • Friday 18.00-19.00 - Round table. 10 fans gets the opportunity to sit and talk with Živković . This event requires that you sign up to participate
  • Saturday 13.00-14.00 - GoH Speech and Zoran Zivkovic Interview conducted by Knud Larn
  • Saturday 15.00-16.00 - Zoran Živković  Booksigning
  • Saturday 16.00-17.00 - Round table. 10 fans gets the opportunity to sit and talk with Živković . This event requires that you sign up to participate
  • Sunday 13.00-14.00 - Zoran Živković  reads from his stories

David A. Hardy

David A. Hardy was born in 1936, the same year as Lindbergh and Carrel produced the first artificial heart, and "Things to Come" was in the movie theatres. Already at the age of 14, he created his first work of "space art" and ever since he has strived hard to present as accurate and realistic an image of space and astronomy as possible - of any science, in fact.

In 1954, at the age of 18, Hardy had his big break - with (later Sir) Patrick Moore's book Sun, Myths and Men, and they have often worked together since, among other things on the influential BBC documentary series The Sky at Night. Ever since, Hardy's star has only risen - his work includes illustrations for books (non- and fiction), SF mags (for example Fantasy & Science Fiction and Analog), factual mags (like New Scientist, Focus, Astronomy and Sky & Telescope) and covers for Pink Floyd and Hawkwind (known for the collaboration with Michael Moorcock). He has also worked on movies and tv (with The Neverending Story, Blake's Seven and Cosmos among others). As the years have gone by, he has become known internationally as one of the leading illustrators in astronomy and science fiction and is at the time being vice president of the International Association of Astronomical Artists (http://www.iaaa.org/) and has experienced the honour of having an asteroid named after him. Moreover he has also tried his hand at fiction the the SF novel Aurora.

Dave has also written or co-written (and illustrated) 10 books himself, with Sir Patrick Moore, Bob Shaw and Chris Morgan. The latest of these, Futures: 50 Years In Space was nominated for a Hugo this year for Best Related Book, and won the Sir Arthur Clarke Award.

More information on David A. Hardy - Artist Guest of Honour

Programme with David A. Hardy:

  • Friday  15.00-16.00 - SFX in Space. (in english) Imaginations of "Out There". A DVD introduced by Artist GoH David A Hardy. Clips from Apollo, Destination Moon, Rocketship XM and Conquest of Mars, among others)
  • Friday 17.00-18.00 - The Artist GoH David A. Hardy interview, conducted by Ulrik Kristiansen
  • Friday 20.00-21.00 - Round table. 10 fans gets the opportunity to sit and talk with Hardy. This event requires that you sign up to participate
  • Saturday 12.00-13.00 - The GoH David A Hardy Video Art Show. (in english) Our Artist GoH present his work in this visual GoH Speech.
  • Saturday 13.00-14.00 - Round table. 10 fans gets the opportunity to sit and talk with Hardy. This event requires that you sign up to participate
  • Sunday 18.00-19.00 - Art Auction. This is where we sell Hardy´s works and other art items at the convention. Led by Ulrik Kristiansen, our art exhibition coordinator

Niels Dalgaard - Fan Guest of Honour

Niels Dalgaard (born 1956) is, undisputedly, the most knowledgeable sf enthusiast in Denmark, with a Ph.D. in Nordic literature specialising in sf, to prove it. Since the early 1970s he has been active in Danish and international fandom and written countless books and articles on sf and related topics.

In the late1970s Dalgaard himself was a publisher (in 1978-1980 with Ellen Miriam Pedersen). Tohubohu Press published short story collections, author presentations, conreps and satires, and much more. Given the times, very professionally too, although printed on duplicator.

Dalgaard has been editor of Proxima, the flagship of Science Fiction Cirklen - the oldest sf society in Denmark - and Scandinavia's longest living sf periodical, founded in 1974 and still in print; No 85 was the Spring 2007 issue. Of all these, ND has edited more than half.

1999 saw Dalgaard's Fanmarkshistorien, which in words and graphs narrates the history of Danish SF fandom from its humble, although enthusiastic, beginnings in the early '70s.

Among Dalgaard's most recent publications are Fra Platon til Cyberpunk, sf history and themes in a Danish perspective, and Rumvandringer ('Space Trekking'), articles on topics ranging from 'Magazine sf' to 'Danish poets and sf' and 'Juvenile sf'.

Programme with Niels Dalgaard:

  • Friday 15.00-16.00 - A conversation between Svend Åge Madsen and Niels Dalgaard
  • Friday 17.00-18.00 - PANEL: Translating this Genre (in english). Zoran Zivkovic, Nield Dalgaard, Cristina Pulido Ulvang
  • Saturday 15.00-16.00 - Round table. Round table. 10 fans gets the opportunity to sit and talk with Dalgaard. This event requires that you sign up to participate
  • Saturday 17.00-18.00 - GoH speach (in English)
  • Sunday 12.00-13.00 - Collecting this genre (panel) with Jean-Pierre Laigle, Niels Dalgaard, and others
  • Sunday 16.00-17.00 - Fans of this genre (panel) (in english) Niels Dalgaard and other fans from the conventionsite will discuss Fandom

Stanislaw Lem - Ghost of Honour

Stanislaw Lem, who passed away last year, was one of the great european science fiction writers. He is the Eurocon 2007 "Ghost of Honour", and a number of lectures and panels are dedicated to Lem and his work.

The best-known Lem novel is probably Solaris. Two films have been made from it. Andrei Tarkovskys version from the 1970ies featured Tarkovskys own favourite theme of life as both beautiful and impossible. Steven Soderberghs more recent film featured the Hollywood theme of eternal love. Both of these films use themes actually present in the book, but not the main theme, which is the human quest for knowledge and how it often fails, but is necessary to give life meaning. As with other great works of literature, many interpretations are possible.

Stanislaw Lem was born in Poland and lived there most of his life. His father was a medical doctor, and he was also studying to become one, but decided to become a writer instead. Lem was still very interested in science though, and most of his fictional work is science fiction. The scope of his books spans from humoristic stories from the far future, over deeply philosopical novels like Solaris, to hard science based adventures in space. Almost all of Lems work has an interesting original idea as basis, and he very rarely reused any of his own material, except for a few characters. Lems best work is arguably the aforementioned Solaris, and The Cyberiad, a collection of stories featuring two robot designers from the far future, and their very funny adventures, based on themes from philosophy and science.

www.lem.pl

Programme about Stanislaw Lem:

  • Saturday 11.00-12.00 - Vores Æresspøgelse: Stanislaw Lem – introduktion til forfatterskabet. Af Flemming R P Rasch. (in Danish)
  • Sunday 11.00-12.00 - Our Ghost of Honour: About Stanislaw Lem, a talk by Erik Simon (In English)
  • Sunday 12.00-13.00 - PANEL: Stanislaw Lem (the author, the translations, the impact) (in english) Ellen M Pedersen, Erik Simon, Mark von Schlegell, and H H Løyche. Moderated by Flemming R P Rasch.
  • Sunday 13.00-15.00 - Piotr W. Cholewa: Stanislaw Lem on the screen. Some clips from the polish/russian films made with inspiration from Lem´s work