Wincon

Wincon is series of British science fiction conventions, initially envisaged as a one-off entry in the Unicon sequence (1980 onwards) but which subsequently took on a life of its own as an occasional event held at King Alfred's College, Winchester. The first was held in 1988 (aka Unicon 9), the most recent in 1999. Guests have included Robert Rankin, Algis Budrys, Diana Wynne Jones and Warren Ellis, although the last described the most recent as "probably the worst convention I ever attended". [http://warrenellis.com/?p=5780 Scan of Warren Ellis' notebook from the period]

Although not officially the fourth Wincon, the 1997 Eastercon (held in Liverpool) was organised by most of the core group, which includes Phil Plumbly, John Richards, Peter Wright, Steve Green, Andy Croft, Keith Cosslett and John Bark. The guests were Brian W Aldiss, David Langford, Octavia Butler and Jon Bing. The next instalment (back in St Alfred's College) [http://www.emcit.com/emcit048.shtml#Wessex "Emerald City #48", August 1999: report on Wincon V by editor Cheryl Morgan: "It all began in a pub. Well, this is British fandom after all."] recognised this relationship by its title, "Wincon V"; it completed the circle by also being part of the Unicon cycle [http://www.cix.co.uk/~magician/unicon2000/programme.htm Comments on Wincon V, published on the website of Lexicon, the 2000 Unicon: "Last year's Unicon (Wincon V) had various quizzes, a cake competition and a great atmosphere in the bar (with several real ales on tap)".] .

There are no current plans to revive the Wincon series, as many of the original organisers are now scattered across the UK, but it remains one of England's more significant regional science fiction conventions.

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