Science fiction always plays a part in recreating our world and directing civilization's progress. While much SF takes place in a hypothetical "future," the entire body of speculative literature influences and interacts with our world—suggesting potentialities, solutions, organizational methods, alternative cultures, and paths to follow or avoid. In that spirit, the 76th World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) in San José, California has chosen "Make the Future" for its overarching theme.

The Academic Track Committee welcomes proposals for scholarly presentations, especially those that study content tied to our "Make the Future" convention theme, such as the following examples:

• Any and all utopian or futurist novels, short stories, comic books, or other media
• Classic SF works that changed the direction of their era
• Dystopian novels, comic books, and other media that portray catastrophic scenarios to prevent them from happening in reality (1984, The Handmaid's Tale, The Water Knife, Bitch Planet, etc.)
• SF groups as progressive communities ("slan shacks," writers' colonies, online communities, etc.)
• Ties between SF literature and socio-political movements
• Ties between maker culture and science fiction, including DIY art and music, steampunk, deiselpunk, and any other design aesthetics 
• Major movements in the SF genre's history

An important reminder: if you wish to nominate works for the 2018 Hugo Awards, you must be a qualified member of the World Science Fiction Society by December 31, 2017.

(To clarify: this is just to qualify to *nominate* for the Hugos. To vote on the final ballot you must be a supporting or attending member of Worldcon 76. Nominations will not actually open until early 2018)

There are 3 ways you can qualify as a member to nominate works:

1. Have been a supporting or attending member of the most recent World Science Fiction Convention, Worldcon 75 (Helsinki, August 2017)
   
   
2. Register as a supporting or attending member of the 2018 World Science Fiction Convention, Worldcon 76 in San Jose. This happens to be our favorite.  (This also qualifies you to vote on the final ballot.)
   http://www.worldcon76.org/membership/how-to-register
   
   
3. Register as a supporting or attending member of the 2019 World Science Fiction Convention, Dublin 2019: An Irish Worldcon

On Saturday, December 2, Worldcon 76 in San Jose and Dublin 2019: An Irish Worldcon (the 76th and 77th World Science Fiction Conventions) issued the following joint announcement:

The Hugo Awards, presented first in 1953 and annually since 1955, are science fiction’s most prestigious award, and one of the World Science Fiction Convention’s unique and distinguished institutions.

Just this summer, the Hugo Awards were recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running science fiction award.

Since 1993,  Worldcon committees have had the option of awarding Retrospective Hugo Awards for past Worldcon years (1939 onwards) where they had not been presented a multiple of 25 years prior to the contemporary convention, with the exception of the hiatus during World War II when no Worldcon was convened.

This summer, however, a revision to the rules was ratified which gives Worldcon 76 in San Jose and Dublin 2019: An Irish Worldcon an opportunity which, if neglected, won’t return for another quarter century.

With that opportunity in mind, we are pleased to announce that Worldcon 76 will be presenting the 1943 and Dublin 2019 the 1944 Retrospective Hugo Awards during their respective conferences:

Worldcon 76 in San Jose invites you on the evening of August 16, 2018,  to walk the red carpet back through time to a 1943 Worldcon that never was, and celebrate with other fans the works of 1942.

Dublin 2019, An Irish Worldcon is planning a First Night extravaganza, combining Opening Ceremonies and the Retro Hugos, celebrating the past, present and future of both the genre and Worldcon.

During those tumultuous years, there was no shortage of speculative fiction, including the introductory versions of works destined to become classics. Live and animated cinematic works of all lengths provided escape to people around the world.

We invite you now to join us on a brief visual tour of those years, some of the marvelous, the strange, the terrifying and the wonderful works of genre, and help us select the Retro Hugos for works of 1942 and 1943.
As we make our future tomorrow, so too we can celebrate these Visions of Future Past.

View the 1942 retrospective video

 View the 1943 retrospective video

The Number One Question we've been asked since spring is "When will room reservations open?"

We have just sent out an email to all registered members informing them that hotel reservations for members open tomorrow, Nov 22, at 1PM PST.
Reservation information will be posted publicly here on the website at a later date, to ensure members get first crack at the hotels.

(Actually, we sent out 3, because yours truly typoed both the date and time, setting it two weeks in the past. Clearly I was undercaffeinated.)

If you are a member (attending or supporting) and did not receive a copy of that email, please write This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. so we can fix it.

And yes, we are aware there is a 4th typo in the email, our hotel information page is https://www.worldcon76.org/travel-lodging/hotels (that typo was inserted by the editor interface, not me)

Please spread the word!

And there was much rejoicing.

Find out what Worldcon San Jose has been planning since we made a splash in Helsinki.

Inside: A Message from the Chair, 2018 Site Selection Results, a preview of our Exhibit Hall, what you need to know about San Jose and why you should come, pictures of team WC76, and more!

Progress Report 1

Oops! We made a few errors in the print version of the Progress Report. Go here for Errata.