The Speculative Literature Foundation announced creation of its new convention grant a year ago, and awarded $10,000 over the course of 2021-2022 on a rolling basis to science fiction and fantasy conventions.

The SLF grant was designed to support conventions both in developing their online presences (through the purchase of tech, training costs, hosting costs, etc.) and making in-person gathering safer once it’s appropriate (through purchase of cleaning supplies, masks, renting additional rooms for better spacing, etc.).The first convention grant recipients were publicized in August. Now the organization has put out a list of all the events to which it distributed funds.

Astronomicon: Run by the Rochester Fantasy Fans non-profit, Astronomicon is looking to make a return after 8 years of not holding the con. Taking place in Rochester, New York, they claim that they will be the first science fiction con happening in New York since the pandemic began.

FIYAHCON: FIYAHCON is a virtual con dedicated to the members of the BIPOC community who’ve contributed to speculative fiction. Their first con was last year, with 1200 participants and a Hugo nomination for Best Related Work.

Loscon: This con is being run by The Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society (LASFS), “the world’s oldest continuously active science fiction and fantasy club (founded Oct. 27, 1934)”!

Estcon: Estcon will be taking place in Estonia, and it will be put on by the Estonian Science Fiction Association, which has been active since 1995 . “It’s about literature, comic books, LARP, films, animations and having a good time during a weekend in July with friends and barbecue.”

Flights of Foundry: Flights of Foundry is a free, online con created by the non profit org Dream Foundry. First put on in 2020, it received lots of praise for being free and accessible to many who wished to experience the con scene during the pandemic.

Capricon: Capricon is a four-day science fiction convention held annually by nonprofit org Phandemonium, Inc in the Chicagoland area since 1981.

CoastCon: CoastCon is Mississippi’s longest running and largest science fiction, fantasy and gaming convention, put on by the nonprofit org CoastCon, Inc. Its ten-member volunteer board develops events and gatherings to promote reading, education, fellowship, and science fiction, fantasy and gaming in all formats across the Southern United States, for over forty-four years.

WisCon: WisCon is a feminist science fiction and fantasy convention held annually in Madison, Wisconsin. Founded in 1976 as the world’s first feminist speculative fiction convention, it has since grown into a robust and dedicated community of fans, artists, and scholars.

The Outer Dark Symposium: The Outer Dark Symposium on the Greater Weird is a progressive speculative fiction conference that focuses on contemporary Weird fiction. The con actively seeks to create spaces that allow for the kinds of conversations and connections that chart the future of boundary-breaking speculative fiction, as well as being an inclusive, safe and welcoming place for women, LBGTQ+, and writers of color.

Founded in January 2004 to promote literary quality in speculative fiction, the all-volunteer Speculative Literature Foundation is led by Mary Anne Mohanraj and 30 other committed volunteers. The Foundation maintains a comprehensive website offering information for readers, writers, editors and publishers of speculative fiction, develops book lists and outreach materials for schools and libraries, and raises funds for redistribution to other organizations in the field, as well as five awards made annually to writers, including the A.C. Bose Grant. For more information, visit speculativeliterature.org.

The SLF is a 501(c)3 non-profit, entirely supported by community donations. If you’d like to be involved with our efforts, please consider joining us as a member for $2/month, at speculativeliterature.org/membership.

The Speculative Literature Foundation is partially funded by a grant from the Oak Park Area Arts Council, Village of Oak Park, Illinois Arts Council, National Endowment for the Arts and Oak Park River Forest Community Foundation.

[Based on a press release.]