AF con report

[ankaret.livejournal.com]

antisoppist and I travelled down on trains, both very hot, and one enlivened by me exclaiming 'That's where my brother went to sixth-form - that's where I went to sixth-form, it honestly isn't as ugly as it looks' as the train chugged through the New Forest. We had made a pact to read and not talk, but we didn't end up keeping it.

Was hailed by several people who I'd only previously met over the internet almost the moment I set foot in the hotel, and went and sat in the bar and tried to make some kind of joint effort at the quiz, which was cryptic crossword-style clues leading to books mentioned in AF's books.

The first night speech, on Antonia Forest and Shakespeare was not really my kind of thing, as whilst I have a basic grasp of the events of Shakespeare's life I haven't read the historicals (I do have a copy of The Players' Boy now but haven't yet been in the mood to start it) and also I am afraid I am unfamiliar with the other series of children's books the lecturer was referencing. It certainly seemed to be very thorough. I also missed 'Marlows, past present and future' as I'd missed the beginning and didn't want to disrupt things by walking in late. I found the remainder of the lectures compelling, particularly Victor Watson's keynote speech, and coughingbear's lecture on Nelson, which even included a mention of hurt/comfort fanfic! I was sorry it was necessary to choose between some of the lectures, but having done my share of organising events I appreciate that you can't please everyone.

The hotel was very similar to the one from Diana Wynne Jones' Deep Secret. I could just about find my way to my room by Sunday, but the meeting rooms were a continuing source of confusion - I eventually mentally mapped them as 'the one past the loos' and 'the one past the open door with all the bicycles' but was still constantly going in the wrong direction.

People seemed to fragment into groups pretty quickly - I kept failing to find antisoppist who was off with other people she knew and, she claimed, with some of the trennels lurkers, though how one lurker ever finds another lurker is beyond me. It must be even worse than the courtship of Pratchett dwarves. Still, it was pretty easy to fall into conversation with people, particularly at meals.

I'm very sorry I missed the informal discussion groups - something came up and I had to leave early rather than disrupt the session. It sounds as if there was some interesting debate.

The display of Antonia Forest's books and possessions was fascinating, particularly the folders containing photocopies of some of her school essays. It seems that Nicola's exclusion from the netball team had a parallel in AF's life. I don't think I ever worked out quite what was going on with the display of mini boats as it always seemed to be mobbed - was it something to do with her war work?

I was rather thrown that everyone else seemed to have known via some kind of bush telegraph, or possibly being veteran conference-attendees, to bring something formal in order to dress for the Conference Dinner - had to make do with sundress I'd been wearing all day dressed up with a necklace. Ah well.

antisoppist and I skipped the final lunch in order to make the early train, and were rewarded for our diligence by the early train being air-conditioned. Ah, bliss in that hot weather!

The conference was great - I don't know whether it'll get me going to bigger / more general cons, but I'll certainly feel less intimidated if I do.