Picocon is the name given to a series of British science fiction conventions run by the Imperial College Science Fiction and Fantasy Society (ICSF).[1] Taking place on a Saturday (occasionally extended to Sunday), in February or early March in Imperial College's Blackett Building since 1984.

T-shirts and other merchandise related to the convention are typically emblazoned with the Greek letters ΨΦ (psi, phi), which can be read as Sci-Fi. Roles in organising the convention include the Sofa ("like a chair, only comfier") and the Beanbag.

The reason for the event numbering (Picocon, Picocon Pi, Picocon 4, ⋯) of the first conventions is unclear. One suggestion is that there was a predecessor Picocon event watching videos and playing board games, and that the first formal event with a guest speaker is therefore Picocon 2.

List of Picocons

Year Date(s) Name Location Guest(s) of Honour
1984 2 February Picocon Imperial College David Langford
1985 9 March Picocon Pi Imperial College Dave Langford, Gerry Webb
1986 15 February Picocon 4 Imperial College Dave Langford, Brian Stableford
1987 21 February Picocon 5 Imperial College John Brunner, David Hardy
1988 6 February Picocon 6 Imperial College Terry Pratchett, Michael Scott Rohan, Dave Langford
1989 4 February Picocon 7 Imperial College Dave Langford, Terry Pratchett, Gerry Webb, Dave Lally
1990 3 March Picocon 8 Imperial College Bob Shaw
1991 2 March Picocon 9 Imperial College Dan Abnett, Alex Stewart
1992 7 March Picocon 10 Imperial College Dave Langford, Brian Stableford
1993 6 March Picocon 11 Imperial College Colin Greenland
1994 no Picocon in 1994
1995 12 March Picocon 12 Imperial College Iain M. Banks, Dr. Arley Anderson[GoH note 1]
1996 4 February Picocon 13 Imperial College Robert Holdstock, Stephen Baxter, Christopher Priest
1997 2 March Picocon 14 Imperial College Simon Ings, Nicholas Royle
1998 28 February Picocon 15 Imperial College
1999 6 February Picocon 16 Imperial College Stephen Lawhead, Jane Johnson, M John Harrison (who jointly write under the pseudonym Gabriel King)
2000 19 February Picocon 17 Imperial College Juliet McKenna, Brian Stableford, Garry Kilworth, Ian Watson
2001 10 February Picocon 18 Imperial College Christopher Priest, Geoff Ryman, Juliet E. McKenna, Jane Killick[GoH note 2]
2002 9 February Picocon 19 Imperial College Anne Gay,[GoH note 3] China Miéville, Stan Nicholls, Geoff Ryman
2003 22 February Picocon 20 Imperial College Jack Cohen, Gwyneth Jones
2004 7 February Picocon 21 Imperial College Peter F. Hamilton, Paul McAuley, Adam Roberts
2005 19 February Picocon 22 Imperial College Gwyneth Jones, Jon Courtenay Grimwood, Brian Stableford
2006 18 February Picocon 23 [2] Imperial College Ian Watson, Natasha Mostert, Mark Roberts
2007 17 February Picocon 24 Imperial College Charlie Stross, Ken MacLeod, Farah Mendlesohn
2008 23 February Picocon 25 Imperial College Paul Cornell, Cory Doctorow, Liz Williams
2009 28 February Picocon 26 Imperial College Pat Cadigan, Robert Rankin, Michael Marshall Smith
2010 27 February Picocon 27 3^3 Imperial College Alastair Reynolds, Amanda Hemingway, Jaine Fenn
2011 19 February Picocon 28 Imperial College Juliet McKenna, Kari Sperring, Paul McAuley
2012 18 February Picocon 29 Imperial College Adrian Czajkowski, Justina Robson, Tricia Sullivan
2013 16-17 February Picocon 30 [3] Imperial College Peter F. Hamilton, Kate Griffin, Steph Swainston, Richard K. Morgan
2014 22 February Picocon 31 Survival Imperial College Sarah Pinborough, Charles Stross, David Southwood
2015 14-15 February Picocon 32 Duality Imperial College Cory Doctorow, Frances Hardinge, Ian McDonald, Kari Sperring, Stuart Ashen
2016 20 February Picocon 33 [4][5] Imperial College Paul Cornell, Michelle Paver, Carrie Hope Fletcher
2017 18 February Picocon 34 Futurism: Oh, the humanity Imperial College Jaine Fenn, Paul McAuley, Al Robertson, Justina Robson, Stuart Ashen
2018 17 February Picocon 35 Harmony Imperial College Paul Stewart, Chris Riddell, Ben Aaronovitch, Emma Newman
2019 16 February Picocon 36 Imperial College Alexis Kennedy, Lottie Bevan, Simon Morden, Andrew Bannister, Gavin Smith
2020 22 February Picocon 37 Pride[6] Imperial College Juliet Kemp, Roz Kaveney, Tamsyn Muir
2021 20 February Picocon 38 <automata>[7] (online) Jeff Somers, Dan Moren, S.J. Kincaid, Brian David Johnson
2022 5 March Picocon 39 Apocalypse[8][9] Imperial College, online Bryony Pearce, Louise Mumford, A.J. Flowers, Brendan DuBois, Gareth L. Powell, Matthew Wraith
2023 11 March Picocon 40 Twisted Imperial College, online Alma Alexander, Gav Thorpe, Mark Lawrence, Jonathan Sims,[GoH note 4] Tim Klotz,[GoH note 5] Allan Henry[GoH note 6]

GoH Notes

One line introductions for a Guests of Honour who don't (yet) have a Wikipedia biography page, e.g. linking a creator to a bibliography, filmography or an example book (series), podcast, piece/series of art, etc. …

  1. ↑ Dr Arley Anderson is a physics researcher who gave a talk about space travel through wormholes https://www.union.ic.ac.uk/scc/icsf/history/picocon/picocon12.html
  2. ↑ Jane Killick is a radio broadcaster, SF novelist and author of behind the scenes books for popular SF tv series such as Babylon 5 and Red Dwarf
  3. ↑ Anne Gay is an author of SF novels, see the SF Encyclopedia for a bibliography https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/gay_anne
  4. ↑ Jonathan Sims is the writer and narrator of the horror fiction podcast The Magnus Archives
  5. ↑ Tim Klotz is an actor & fight director for film, theatre, games etc. IMDb has a filmography https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1238088/
  6. ↑ Allan Henry is an actor, fight director, stunt performer and the motion capture artist for the title character in the 2023 movie Cocaine Bear

References

  1. ↑ "Picocon: London's lovely little sf convention". 3 February 2011.
  2. ↑ Picocon 2006 The Internet Book Database of fiction http://www.ibdof.com/viewtopic.php?t=112494
  3. ↑ "Picocon-30-an-imperial-sf-and-fantasy-convention-245" https://thetab.com/uk/imperial/2013/01/26/picocon-30-an-imperial-sf-and-fantasy-convention-245
  4. ↑ Appearances picocon-33 https://www.paulcornell.com/appearances/picocon-33/
  5. ↑ SFrevu "Picocon" http://www.sfrevu.com/php/Column.php?Search=201602&ColumnType=CONVENTION
  6. ↑ Picocon 37 https://www.union.ic.ac.uk/scc/icsf/history/picocon/picocon37.html
  7. ↑ Picocon 38 https://www.union.ic.ac.uk/scc/icsf/history/picocon/picocon38.html
  8. ↑ Picocon 39 -Apocalypse – announced for March 2022 https://www.starburstmagazine.com/picocon-39-announced-march-2022
  9. ↑ Picocon 39 timetable of streamed talks https://twitter.com/picocon/status/1500021113421811714


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