We have great news for those wondering what Cymera, Scotland’s festival of science fiction, fantasy and horror writing, is doing this year amid the ramifications of the Covid-19 pandemic: it’s going digital!
The festival organisers have said that they were originally going to offer a taster plate of the festival online, but thanks to the phenomenal positive response from the festival’s writers and season ticket holders, their 2020 programme is a full festival, featuring over 30 events.
“We were overwhelmed by the support from our authors,” said Festival Director Ann Landmann. “Almost everyone was up for running their events online instead. Our audience will be able to spend the whole weekend with us – we even factored in toilet and tea breaks.
“We’re excited about bringing our unique programme to a wider audience. While we will miss meeting our speakers and audiences in person, the move to digital opens up some fantastic opportunities.”
From 5-7 June 2020 Cymera will present a mix of live and pre-recorded events and workshops using video conferencing software Zoom. Events will remain on YouTube for one week, giving fans a second chance to catch up on anything they missed. All events are free, but the organisers have asked that anyone who can donate does.
The exciting line-up for the festival includes:
- 68 authors
- 32 events, with 13 Live and 19 pre-recorded
- 6 workshops for writers
- A quiz to test attendees’ SFFH knowledge
- SF cabaret Event Horizon with the award-winning Shoreline of Infinity magazine
- Live role-playing games (RPGs), including Dungeons on a Dime and Tabletop Tales
- Pre-recorded Open Mike sessions.
The festival will feature Adrian Tchaikovsky, Chris Beckett, Adrian J. Walker, Trudi Canavan, Paul McAuley, Una McCormack, Adam Christopher, Ramsey Campbell, Lisa Tuttle, M.R. Carey, Tim Lebbon, Chris Brookmyre, Tim Clare and Tasha Suri.
Its Young Adult programme features appearances by P.M. Freestone, Deidre Sullivan, Kiran Millwood Hargraves, Melinda Salisbury, Bex Hogan and Nicholas Bowling.
The festival will also feature exciting new voices, including: Kat Dunn, Katie Hale, Trudi Tweedie, Chris Baldie, Caroline Logan, Stephen Cox, Francesca Noto.
Cymera 2020 will run from 5-7 June. Sign up for your events here.
