First Cup of Coffee - October 19, 2020

I'm talking about Guardian (or Goblin): the Lonely and Great God, the fantasy romance K-drama that Kelly Robson turned me onto. Also about good omens, new opportunities, and why I withdrew from World Fantasy Con programming.

You can read up on Guardian (or Goblin): the Lonely and Great God (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5994364/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_3)

This is my WFC statement:

In the interests of transparency and being the best ally I can to marginalized authors, I've decided to withdraw from participation in panels at World Fantasy Con (WFC).

I've been listening to a lot of the conversations about the enduring and systemic problems with WFC programming. I know the con committee put effort into making fixes in the last week, but I've been convinced that in order for there to be real change, from the foundation, that white allies should pull back. Especially given SFWA's very public and committed stance on DEI, I feel can't participate in WFC this year. I'm disappointed because I was looking forward to my panels, but I'm also convinced this is the right thing to do.

Many people understand the issues far better than I do, but I can reiterate what other people have said. That a place to start is that there needs to be:

- a standing accessibility policy

- a standing harassment policy

- a standing programming policy

- an understanding that requirements that volunteers pay for entry will always be harshest on the marginalized voices needed to bring true diversity.

As an author of fantasy and lover of the genre, I really hope that we'll see a World Fantasy Convention in 2021 that we can all be proud to participate in.

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