Elstercon
The Elstercon is a festival for fantastic literature . It has taken place every two years in Leipzig since 1992 . Lectures, readings and discussions on the areas of science fiction , fantasy and horror are offered on three days each . There is also a book market and publishers' stands.
Due to its continuity and its top-class international authors and artists, the Elstercon has developed into one of the most important conventions for science fiction in Germany.
In recent years, Tim Powers , Vernor Vinge , Norman Spinrad , Brian Lumley , Mary Doria Russell and John Howe have been guests.
The German-speaking participants include Andreas Eschbach , Wolfgang Jeschke , Erik Simon , Kai Meyer and Michael Marrak .
The Elstercon is a regular venue for the two most important prizes for science fiction literature, the Kurd-Laßwitz Prize and the German Science Fiction Prize awarded by the SFCD .
Elstercon 2010
The 10th Elstercon in September 2010 was the venue for the annual meeting of the SFCD , the presentation of the Kurd-Laßwitz Prize 2010 and the German Science Fiction Prize 2010.
Guest authors included Greg Bear , Kristine Kathryn Rusch , Christian von Aster , Boris Koch , Thor Kunkel and Karlheinz Steinmüller ; also the two winners of the German Science Fiction Prize 2010, Karsten Kruschel and Matthias Falke .
Elstercon 2012
The 11th Elstercon took place in June 2012. Under the motto "Paths through steam and smoke", the festival's focus was on steampunk and military science fiction .
Guests included Peter F. Hamilton , Jack McDevitt , Myra Çakan , Uwe Post and Dirk van den Boom . The Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis was awarded .
Elstercon 2014
The 12th Elstercon took place in September 2014 under the motto "Tatort Zukunft".
Guests included Philip Kerr , Lavie Tidhar , Ian Tregillis , Edward Lee , Miriam Pharo , Christian von Ditfurth , Karlheinz Steinmüller and the artist Jean-Marc Rochette . The Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis was awarded .
Elstercon 2016
The motto of the 13th Elstercon was "The transparent human being - life in the brave new digital world". Guests of honor were Daniel Suarez , Ian McDonald , Graham Masterton , Andreas Brandhorst , Dietmar Dath , Ju Honisch , Boris Koch , Karl Olsberg , Karlheinz Steinmüller , and Christian von Aster .
Elstercon 2018
The 14th Elstercon in September 2018 under the motto "Distant Worlds" was again the venue for the annual meeting of the SFCD, the award of the Kurd-Laßwitz Prize and the German Science Fiction Prize.
Guests of honor were Alastair Reynolds , Aliette de Bodard , Nicholas Sansbury Smith , Jana Heidersdorf , Kai Meyer , Prof. Manfred Nagl , Niklas Peinecke , Arnulf Meifert , Boris Koch , Dr. Karlheinz Steinmüller , Christian von Aster , Bernhard Hennen and Robert Corvus .
organizer
The Elstercon is organized by the FKSFL - Freundeskreis Science Fiction Leipzig eV , which was founded in 1985.
Companion books
An anthology with biographies and texts by the authors present is published for each Elstercon .
In 2008, a writing competition was launched together with Projekt-Verlag . The best stories were published in the book Projekt Mensch .
In 2010 a chronicle of the organizing association was published in addition to the accompanying book . On 745 pages it describes the development of fandom in the GDR up to the first Elstercons in the mid-1990s, with many photos and original documents.
- 1998: Between Mars and Venus
- 2000: Of the horrors to come
- 2002: Tales of the Phoenix and the Sparrow
- 2004: City, where to?
- 2006: Art Worlds
- 2008: Project Mensch
- 2010: where from? Where?
- 2012: Paths through steam and smoke
- 2014: Tatort Zukunft
- 2016: The transparent person
- 2018: Distant Worlds