Nisi Shawl Panels Day Start End Title Description Location Panelists Friday 7:00 PM 7:50 PM Opening Ceremonies Welcome to ConFusion Through the Looking Glass! Please join our ConChair and our Guests of Honor, Kate Elliott, Luke Ski, Nisi Shawl, Annalee Newitz, and James Breakwell, along with our Special Guest, courtesy of Subterranean Press, Jim Butcher! Hear about all the exciting stuff you can expect from them, and us, this weekend! Dessert Reception to follow shortly after Opening Ceremonies conclude! BIG TOP Amy Sexsmith, Annalee Newitz, James Breakwell, Jim Butcher, Kate Elliott, Gail Cross, Luke Ski, Nisi Shawl Saturday 11:00 AM 11:50 AM Animal Sidekicks In Science Fiction and Fantasy From Cinderella’s birds to Poe Dameron’s faithful droid, adorable animal(ish) sidekicks have a long history in genre fiction. From a writing perspective, what do cute animals bring to a story? How do they help us reveal character and worldbuilding? How do we balance their utility in generating empathy and lightening the tone against their potential to annoy the living heck out of the audience? SAUGATUCK Addie J. King, Cassandra Morgan, Izzy Wasserstein, Jon David, Nisi Shawl Saturday 12:00 PM 12:50 PM Guest of Honor Interview: Nisi Shawl Join us for an interview of Guest of Honor Nisi Shawl, conducted by Jim Hines. BIG TOP Jim C. Hines, Nisi Shawl Saturday 3:00 PM 3:50 PM Fan GOH Induction The Fan Guest of Honour Introduction and Induction is a traditional ConFusion event, wherein any attending Fan GoHs of years past welcome the new Fan GoH to the club. ST. CLAIR Nisi Shawl Saturday 4:00 PM 4:50 PM Autograph Session (4 PM) Come meet your favorite authors, artists and musicians and have them sign things! (Please limit your signing requests to 3 items per person.) ST. CLAIR Amal El-Mohtar, Annalee Flower Horne, Annalee Newitz, Carl Engle-Laird, David Anthony Durham, Delilah S. Dawson, Diana Rowland, Dominik Parisien, Dyrk Ashton, Ferrett Steinmetz, James Breakwell, James L. Sutter, Jason Sanford, Jason Sizemore, Jim Butcher, Jim C. Hines, Julia Rios, Mark Oshiro, Michael J. DeLuca, Michael R. Underwood, Monica Valentinelli, Mur Lafferty, Nisi Shawl, Patrick S. Tomlinson, Sara Dobie Bauer, Sarah Gailey, Scott H. Andrews, Seleste deLaney / Julie Particka, Stacey Filak, Suzanne Church, Tracy Townsend Saturday 5:00 PM 5:50 PM Star Wars: The Last Jedi as a Cast Study in Storytelling Our panel of writers discusses the structure, pacing, characters, themes, and world-building in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Also the swords, floaty rocks, and tiny fluffbeasts. ISLE ROYALE Amal El-Mohtar, Annalee Flower Horne, Annalee Newitz, Delilah S. Dawson, Julia Rios, Nisi Shawl Sunday 10:00 AM 10:50 AM Kaffeeklatsch with Fan GOH Nisi Shawl Join our Fan Guest of Honor for coffee, tea, and conversation. Limited to 10 participants. Sign up at OPS. CLUB LOUNGE Nisi Shawl Sunday 1:00 PM 1:50 PM Hopepunk in the Age Of Resistance Author Alexandra Rowland defines hopepunk as the opposite of grimdark: “Hopepunk says that kindness and softness doesn’t equal weakness, and that in this world of brutal cynicism and nihilism, being kind is a political act. An act of rebellion. Hopepunk says that genuinely and sincerely caring about something, anything, requires bravery and strength.” What are the stories that inspire us to reject cynicism and fight for the good in this broken world? INTERLOCHEN Izzy Wasserstein, Michael J. DeLuca, Nisi Shawl, Stacey Filak Sunday 3:00 PM 3:50 PM Closing Ceremonies Come say goodbye to our Guests of Honor and Special Guests, and learn what we might have in store for you for next year! BIG TOP Amy Sexsmith, Annalee Newitz, Gail Cross, James Breakwell, Jim Butcher, Kate Elliott, Luke Ski, Nisi Shawl