Dear Necon 39 Campers,
Due to an unforeseen scheduling conflict, Megan Abbott will not be able to attend Necon 39 this summer. She sends her apologies, and she looks forward to joining us in the near future. On behalf of the entire Necon Family, we’d like to send Megan our very best. Because of this late change to the dais, Necon will honor any refund requests we receive from Campers who have already registered.
But sometimes, out of chaos comes opportunity. In discussing who should replace Megan on this year’s dais, a truly egregious error of omission was called to our attention and we jumped at the opportunity to right this long-overdue wrong. As such, Necon is thrilled to announce that LINDA ADDISON has accepted our invitation to attend Necon 39 as a Writer Guest of Honor!
Linda D. Addison grew up in Philadelphia and received a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Carnegie-Mellon University. She is the author of four collections: How To Recognize A Demon Has Become Your Friend (Crossroad Press), Being Full of Light, Insubstantial, Consumed, Reduced to Beautiful Grey Ashes and Animated Objects (Space & Time Books) and has published over 300 poems, stories and articles. Her work has also appeared in numerous publications, including Essence magazine, Asimov’s Science Fiction magazine, Genesis: An Anthology of Black Science Fiction and anthologies, Scary Out There (Simon Schuster), The Beauty of Death (Independent Legions Publishing) and Into Painfreak (Necro Publications). She co-edited Sycorax’s Daughters, an anthology of horror fiction & poetry by African-American women (publisher Cedar Grove Publishing, 2017) with Kinitra Brooks and Susana Morris, which was a HWA Bram Stoker finalist in the Anthology category.
In 2001, Addison was the first African-American to win the HWA’s Bram Stoker Award for superior achievement in poetry for Consumed, Reduced to Beautiful Grey Ashes (Space & Time Books). She has received three additional awards for collections: The Four Elements written with Marge Simon, Rain Graves and Charlee Jacob (2013 Bad Moon Books); How To Recognize A Demon Has Become Your Friend short stories and poetry collection (2011 Necon E-Books / Crossroad Press); and Being Full of Light, Insubstantial (2007 Space & Time Books). Dark Duet (Necon E-Books / Crossroad Press), a collaborative book of poetry written with Stephen M. Wilson was a 2012 HWA Bram Stoker finalist. Other prominent recipients of this distinguished award include authors, Alice Sebold (Lovely Bones) and J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter Series). In 2018 she received the HWA Lifetime Achievement Award.
She is the only author with fiction in three landmark anthologies that celebrate African-Americans speculative writers: the award-winning anthology Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction (Warner Aspect), Dark Dreams I and II (Kensington), and Dark Thirst (Pocket Book).
Her work has made frequent appearances over the years on the honorable mention list for Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror and Year’s Best Science-Fiction.
Our sincerest thanks to Linda for accepting our invitation on such short notice, to Megan for her continued support, and to all Campers for your understanding regarding this unexpected change. We look forward to seeing you all in July!