Note that SLurls provided in this article will not be available to the public until Fantasy Faire officially opens at noon SLT on Thursday, April 23rd, 2020.
On Thursday, April 23rd, Fantasy Faire will open for 2020, and will remain so through until Sunday, May 10th, 2020, raising money for Relay for Life and the American Cancer Society’s global efforts to eradicate cancer. Throughout the entire course of the Faire, the Fairelands will once again be host to the Fantasy Faire Literary Festival (LitFest).
Centred on the desert sands of Drifts of Anamnesis, the Litfest is a special place where the magic of the spoken word will weave tales of wonder, relate stories of great adventure and daring; where talks by authors, discussions, creative writing sessions and performances will all take place. In addition, literary hawks and writers will be encouraged to join daily LitFest tours of the Fairelands and afterwards compose pieces related to their travels.
The full LitFest schedule is now available, but here are some preview highlights to whet appetites!
Guest Of Honour
The special guest for this year’s festival is American science fiction and fantasy writer and blogger. Fran Wilde.
Fran’s first novel, Updraft (2015), was nominated for the 2016 Nebula Award, and won the 2016 Andre Norton Award and the 2016 Compton Crook Award. Within it she established the first volume of her Bone Cycle, with two further works – Cloudbound (2016) and Horizon (2017), set within the same cycle. Her latest novel, Riverland, was published in 2019.
She has also published numerous short stories and poems, and here non-fiction work has appeared in publications such as The Washington Post, The New York Times, and Tor.com. She will be appearing at Fantasy Faire as follows:
- Tuesday April 28th at 15:00 SLT, : in an interview with Saffia Widdershins.
- Friday May 1st at 13:00 SLT, when she will be reading from her work.
LitFest highlights
- Friday, April 24th – Saturday, May 9th, 08:00-09:00 SLT – NaPoWriMo Fantasy Writing Prompts: April is National Poetry Writing Month, and participating poets are asked to write a poem a day for the month of April – so why not do so in-world with like-minded poets?
- Fiday April 24th – Saturday, May 9th* – Inksters Poetry Prompt: This group meets daily on weekdays throughout the year to compose poems based on a daily word prompt – so sharpen your pencils, and be prepared to get writing! During LitFest, they’ll meet in the Hall of Ras Tarshayn on Drifts of Anamnesis. (* except Sunday, May 3rd.)
- Monday, April 27th, 10:00-11:00 SLT – The True Story of Scheherazade: celebrating the teller of the 1,001 Nights. In fact,there are many tellers of these Tales, and this session explores the genesis of the Tales, drawn from Arabia, Persia, India and China. There will also be tales of some of the fascinating history of translation (and translators – such as the fascinating Sir Richard Burton).
- Wednesday, April 29th, 06:30-07:30 SLT – Readings from the Novel Writing Workshop: Wolfgang Glinka, Keykey Underwood, Singh Albatros and Adele/Jilly Kidd have been workshopping novels for seven years in Second Life and will share extracts from their works in progress, followed by a Q&A.
- Friday May 1st, 10:00-11:00 SLT – Beyond the Seven Kingdoms: A World of Ice and Fire Special: In Real Life, Freyja Nemeth is the co-founder of Westeros.org and co-author of “The World of Ice and Fire”. She will be talking about how George RR Martin has constructed the cultures that are less inspired by Medieval Europe, such as Dorne and the many cultures of Essos.
LitFest Tours
The popular Fantasy Faire LitFest Tours will once again be taking place, leaving daily from the LitFest home base in the Drifts of Anamnesis to explore the Fairelands and seeking the stories they have to tell as well as their special secret places and details. Each tour will be guided and accompanied by music, as some of the Faire’s best loved DJs offer selections especially chosen for each of the regions visited. Stories can also be submitted for publication on the Fantasy Faire website, provided they are submitted within two days of each tour.
The Tours for 2020 depart daily at 17:00 SLT (unless otherwise indicated) from the Al-Ma’ala Gathering Place on the Drifts of Anamnesis, and the tour schedule is as follows:
| Friday, April 24th |
Elemaria |
| Saturday, April 25th |
Autumnium |
| Sunday, April 26th |
Lunafae |
| Monday, April 27th |
Agra Adara |
| Tuesday, April 28th |
Lamented Fens |
| Wednesday, April 29th |
Melusina’s Depths |
| Thursday, April 30th |
Spirit Valley of Kuruk |
| Friday, May 1st |
15:00: Heliodor |
| Saturday, May 2nd |
Zodiac |
| Sunday, May 3rd |
Mistakes Were Made! |
| Monday, May 4th |
Sirens Lore |
| Tuesday, May 5th |
Auxentios’ Pass |
| Wednesday, May 6th |
14:00: Ambigula; 17:00: Cassiopeia |
| Thursday, May 7th |
Queensgarden |
| Friday, May 8th |
Isle of Shadows |
| Saturday, May 9th |
Fairelands Junction and Drifts of Anamnesis |
Keep up with all the news and information on the LitFest and Fantasy Faire through the Fantasy Faire website.
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