Many Happy Returns – TWF

There is always a degree of uncertainty before an organised event. Will people come? Will the sun shine? Are there enough chairs? These are questions that disturb the sleep of any organiser and the truth is that you never know until the day.

Well, the Write Fantastic needn’t have worried. Well, except for the sun, that is. Otherwise, the Write Fantastic 5th Anniversary event went very well indeed. I don’t know the exact numbers, but about sixty people turned up to listen to panels and mingle with authors. There was a very friendly informal atmosphere and plenty of opportunity to catch up with old friends and make new ones.

The panels went well, with the right balance of information, comment and humour, and the audience asked some excellent questions.  The venue also helped; the combination of space to gather looking out over the lawns of St Hilda’s College with a dedicated auditorium worked well.

One suggestion for next year – If people have Twitter names (mine is @shevdon) it would be nice to have room for them on name badges.  It would save me squinting at people and wondering if I know them by some other nom-de-tweet. Or maybe I should get a separate tweet-badge, just for that purpose?

The day rounded off with the launch of the Anniversaries Anthology (copies still available from The Write Fantastic, I believe) and a few celebratory remarks from Juliet E McKenna to mark the occasion.  So, it was a very good day – I certainly enjoyed myself.  There was much talk and a degree of arm twisting that this should become an annual event, which as Oxford doesn’t really have a speculative fiction event, could definitely work.  Watch TWF’s website for news on that.

Thanks to all involved in the organisation and staging of the event, and may I take this opportunity to wish the Write Fantastic a very happy 5th birthday, and many happy returns of the day.