Renovation Invites Bill Willingham
as Special Guest

Bill Willingham, the Eisner Award winning comic book writer, has been added as a special guest of Renovation, the 2011 Worldcon.

The invitation symbolizes Renovation’s  plans for a program track dedicated to comics and graphic novels, with panels, talks and demonstrations. And it also will be the third successive Worldcon presenting a Best Graphic Story Hugo, a category first introduced in 2009. Bill Willingham has twice been nominated in this category for installments of his Fables, the story War and Pieces (2009) and Volume 12: The Dark Ages (2010).

The full press release follows the jump.

PRESS RELEASE #9

Renovation
The 69th World Science Fiction Convention
RCFI
PO Box 13278
Portland, OR 97213-0278

[email protected]
www.renovationsf.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Renovation Announces Special Guest Bill Willingham

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Reno, Nevada, USA

Renovation, the 69th World Science Fiction Convention being held in Reno, Nevada, USA on August 17-21 2011, proudly announces that Eisner Award winning comic book writer Bill Willingham will be a special guest.

Best known for his creation of Fables, the award-winning urban fantasy series about folkloric characters exiled from their homelands to the mundane world, Willingham’s current work includes writing the Angel series for IDW, working on the Justice Society series for DC Comics, Fables prose novel Peter and Max (Vertigo), and the short story “Fearless Space Pirates of the Outer Rings” in The New Space Opera 2, edited by Gardner Dozois and Jonathan Strahan.  Peter and Max was the first prose novel published by Vertigo.  Willingham has also created the Elementals series, the Ironwood series, the Coventry series, and Proposition Player, among other works.  Besides Vertigo/DC and IDW, he has worked for Marvel, Fantagraphics, Comico and TSR.  While he started work as an artist, he is better known for his writing.

Willingham’s participation at Renovation is part of a wider recognition of the graphic form as an important aspect of science fiction and fantasy storytelling. Renovation’s extension program of panels, talks and demonstrations will include a track dedicated to comics and graphic novels. Renovation will also be the third successive Worldcon to present a Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story, a new category introduced in 2009. Willingham’s Fables was nominated in this category in both 2009 (for the story War and Pieces) and 2010 (for Volume 12: The Dark Ages).

According to fellow Graphic Story Hugo nominee Paul Cornell, “It’s great to see comics being recognized with a Worldcon Special Guest, and Bill Willingham, being one of the great fantasy writers in any medium, is the ideal choice.”

Bill Willingham’s website can be found at http://www.billwillingham.com/.

END

Memberships for Renovation may be purchased at www.renovationsf.org. For more details on the convention, visit www.renovationsf.org. We encourage your input to help us create a memorable Worldcon.

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