Bubonicon is New Mexico’s best and longest-running Sci-Fi & Fantasy literary and arts convention. Join us in Albuquerque for a great weekend of fun! We have panels and presentations (featuring top authors, artists, and scientists), a costume contest, art show, dealer’s room, Green Slime Awards, charity auctions, fan programming, and much more!

2024 Con Theme was: FANTASY WILDLIFE & ANIMAL COMPANIONS (Dragons and Unicorns and Griffins, Oh My)…

It’s not just Beastmaster who has furry friends. And talk about the popularity of dragons…  Some fantasy species are the creation of individual authors, but a great number come from longstanding folklore and may have appeared in fantasy stories for generations!  Here are examples:
BOOKS:  Smaug in The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien, Dragonbreath by Ursula Vernon, The Ice Dragon by George RR Martin, Beastmaster by Andre Norton, Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey, The Last Unicorn by Peter Beagle, Treecat Wars: Star Kingdom Book 3 by David Weber & Jane Lindskold, The Worm Ouroboros by E.R. Eddison, Gleep in MythAdventures by Robert Asprin, The Phoenix and the Carpet by E. Nesbit, Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede, The Black Gryphon by Mercedes Lackey, “Unicorn Variation” by Roger Zelazny, “The Reluctant Dragon” by Kenneth Grahame, Year of the Griffin by Diana Wynne Jones, Eragon by Christopher Paolini, His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik,The Dragon and the Unicorn by A.A. Attanasio,Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne, Tea with the Black Dragon by R.A. MacAvoy, Apprentice Adept by Piers Anthony, The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi, The Dragon and the George by Gordon R. Dickson, To Ride Pegasus by Anne McCaffrey, Inferno by Dante, The Book of Beasts by T.H. White, The Kraken Wakes by John Wyndham, “Jackalope Wives” by Ursula Vernon, and more…
MOVIES/TV SHOWS:  Dragonheart, Battlestar Galactica “The Young Lords,” The Last Unicorn, Pete’s Dragon, Dragonslayer, My Little Pony’s Twilight Sparkle & Rarity, Fantasia, Legend, Reign of Fire, Captain Marvel‘s Flerkens, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, How To Train Your Dragon, Chupacabra vs. the Alamo, Clash of the Titans, Q, Jason and the Argonauts, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Minotaur, The Golem, Stardust, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, King Kong vs. Godzilla, Charlie the Unicorn, and more…
MUSIC:  “Godzilla” by Blue Oyster Cult, “Werewolves of London” by Warren Zevon, “Bark at the Moon” by Ozzy Osbourne, “Circle of Cysquatch” by Mastodon, “Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)” by David Bowie, “Ogre Battle” by Queen, “The Thing That Should Not Be” by Metallica, “The Battle of Evermore” by Led Zeppelin, “The Monster is Loose” by Meatloaf, “The Purple People Eater” by Sheb Wooley, “Furry, Happy Monsters” by Darkfail (done for Sesame Street), “Direwolf” by The Grateful Dead, “Banshee Under My Bed” by The Fenians, “The Creature From The Black Lagoon” by Dave Edmunds, “Puff the Magic Dragon” by Peter, Paul and Mary, “The Unicorn” by The Irish Rovers, “Dragon Attack” by Queen, “Pet Semetary” by The Ramones, and probably more…

Announcements

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE who attended and/or participated at Bubonicon 55!  It seems to have been a successful convention, and we couldn’t have done it without all of you!

FUTURE B’CON DATES:  Bubonicon 56 will be August 22-24, 2025, as Seattle, WA, officially will host Worldcon 83 August 13-17.  Voting took place at the 2023 China Worldcon.  Confirmed Special Guests are co-GoH Joe Haldeman, Toastmaster Jeffe Kennedy, and Guest Artist John Sumrow!
         Bubonicon 57 will be August 21-23, 2026 (a week early), as Los Angeles, CA, is hosting Worldcon August 27-31 – our usual weekend.

HAVE YOU WATCHED OUR VIDEO Conversation with TJ Klune and Mur Lafferty yet?  Recorded & edited by Mandy Self, it’s a nice way to get to know our 2024 Writer Guests of Honor!  You can watch it on YOUTUBE! (Or check out our Facebook page.)

2024 ART SHOW WINNERS:  Professional – Elizabeth Leggett, Amateur – Asa Rodriquez, Student – Lucy Steffen, and Beast of Show (Theme) – “Perry and Terri” by Jeremy Montoya & Jon Sanchez.

AT THE GUILD CINEMA:  We encourage everyone to support our local independent cinema by attending (masks welcome)!
    — Coming Up At The Guild Cinema:  The Professional September 13, Practical Magic Sept 14, Omni Loop Sept 20-23, Tetsuo: The Iron Man Sept 20, Final Destination 2 Sept 21, and Princess Mononoke Sept 29…

THE 2nd MORGUE & KRYPT HORROR FEST is coming!  September 27-29 at Isleta Resort & Casino, 11000 Broadway Blvd SE.  Guests and Details are being added to their website as they are known.  The first M&K, held July 7-9, 2023, was done very well with friendly vendors and horror celebrities.  Here’s hoping the 2nd effort is as well-run and fun!  Bubonicon supports the M&K Horror Fest, and wishes them all the best.  Volunteers are welcome!  www.MorgueandKryptABQ.com.

ALBUQUERQUE SF SOCIETY was featured in a May 5, 2021, UNM Daily Lobo article.  You can read it here: www.dailylobo.com/article/2021/05/abq.

AWARDS NEWS:  CONGRATS!
+ Congrats to 2024 Locus Award Winners with connections to New Mexico and/or Bubonicon: Science Fiction Novel: System Collapse by Martha Wells; Fantasy Novel: Witch King by Martha Wells; Horror Novel: A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher; Novella: Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher; and Artist: John Picacio.  Winners were announced Saturday, June 22, in a ceremony in Oakland, CA.
+ Congrats to 2024 Hugo Award Winners with connections to New Mexico and/or Bubonicon:  Novella: Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon).  Winners were announced Sunday, August 11, in a ceremony in Glasgow, Scotland.
+ Congrats to 2024 Nebula Award Winners!  Winners were announced June 8 at the 2024 Nebula Conference and Awards in Pasadena, CA.
+ Congrats to 2023 Hugo Award Winners with connections to New Mexico and/or Bubonicon:  Novel: Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon); and Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form: The Expanse: “Babylon’s Ashes” written by Daniel Abraham, Ty Franck & Naren Shankar.  The 2023 Hugo Awards were presented Saturday, October 21, 2023, at a formal ceremony at the Chengdu, China Worldcon.

OUR CONDOLENCES to the friends & family — of actor Donald Sutherland (President Snow in the Hunger Games films, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Puppet Masters, Space Cowboys, Moonfall, The Dirty Dozen, Hammer Horror films, M*A*S*H, TV’s The Saint, TV’s The Avengers, TV’s Salem’s Lot), who died June 20 at the age of 88 years old;  of artist & musician MaryAnn Harris (wife of Charles DeLint, co-author of “Humphrey’s Christmas” and “A Crow Girls Christmas”) who died June 3 in Ottawa, Ontario at the age of 71 years old, after a long struggle with rare tick-borne illness, the Powassan virus. She participated at Bubonicon 35 in 2003 when DeLint was Guest of Honor. Together they did a small concert at that year’s convention, and she was a total joy.  Harris was DeLint’s frequent collaborator as manager, editor, and illustrator; she sang and played mandolin, guitar, and bodhran;  of NM author John Maddox Roberts (SPQR series, Conan novels, the Cingulum series, the Space Angel duology, the Stormlands series, Dragonlance: Murder in Tarsis, Total Recall 2070: Machine Dreams, The Enigma Variations, Legacy of Prometheus), who died suddenly May 23 at the age of 76 years old – he was a frequent Bubonicon participant.  They all will be missed.