Shannon Watters from Boom! Studios

Q+A panel on Shannon Watter's latest publication, Hollow, with a raffle of signed copies of the NY Times Bestselling series Lumberjanes and Hollow.

Shannon Watters is the co-creator and co-writer of the award-winning hit comic book series Lumberjanes. Her latest publication is a graphic novel, Hollow, a queer coming-of-age romance. She is also a Former senior editor and The founder/head of BOOM! Box line at BOOM! Studios. Learn more about Shannon Watters at her website.

Screening of award winning web-television series "Young Dario" by Director Natalie Rodriguez

In this twelve-episode Groundhog Day style story, a young Hispanic boy, named Dario, encounters various life situations. He turns to his Grandmother ('Abuelita'), who guides him through the travails of childhood. Starring On My Block's Julio Macias as the voice of Adult Dario. Directed, Produced and Co-Written by Natalie Rodriguez. Watch the trailer here.

Excavating Earthseed: Honoring Octavia Butler through Golden Shovel Poetry with Author Camille Hernandez

Octavia Butler was a sci-fi and speculative fiction writer whose works reshaped the genre and allowed the stories and survival of unheard populations to be put at the center. Her works predicted the events of our current world while offering us a path to create better realities. In this workshop we will briefly discuss Butler's craft, artistic vision, and the themes of her works. It will end with a golden shovel poetry technique inspired by quotes from her works.

Camille Hernandez is a writer and public educator pursing an abolitionist world through creating content that centers the healing and restoration journeys of Black, Indigenous, and people of color who identify as women and gender expansive. 

Imaginative Verse: A Reading and Discussion of Speculative Poetry with Anaheim Poet Laureate Wendy Van Camp

Wendy Van Camp is the Poet Laureate for the City of Anaheim, California. Her work is influenced by cutting edge technology, astronomy, and daydreams. A graduate of the Ad Astra Speculative Fiction Workshop, Wendy has won Honorable Mention at the Writers of the Future Contest, is a twice nominated finalist for the Elgin Award, and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and Dwarf Stars Award. Her poems have appeared in: “Starlight Scifaiku Review”, “Quantum Visions”, “The Junction”, and “Far Horizons”. She is the poet and illustrator of “The Planets: a scifaiku poetry collection” and editor of the annual “Eccentric Orbits: An Anthology of Science Fiction Poetry” by Dimensionfold Publishing.

The Grandfather of American Science Fiction with Author Scott Tracy Griffin

Scott Tracy Griffin is the author of Tarzan on Film (Titan Books, 2016), a lavishly illustrated history of the renowned franchise, which began in 1918 with Tarzan of the Apes and continues through 2016’s The Legend of Tarzan. Griffin’s previous book, Tarzan: The Centennial Celebration (Titan Books, 2012), was a 2013 Locus Award finalist for Best Art Book. 

Special Performance by The Fallen Stars

We are The Fallen Stars, an Americana band from Anaheim.

But why are we at AnaCon?

In a word. Firefly. It started off as a challenge to ourselves to see if we could write a new original song based on the first episode of the tv show and we found the language, dialogue and themes of the show so unique and universal at the same time. 14 episodes and a movie.  And now "The Leaves on the Wind Music Project" has grown into its own album, its own fans and its own chapter of our performing lives. We have now performed at WhedonCon, HellmouthCon, WonderCon, ComicCon as well as "Can't Stop The Serenity" events from California to Germany and even the Browncoat Ball in Massachusetts and have been donating a portion of all our sales to Equality Now which fight violence against women around the world. Outside of our SciFi music we've released a number of non-Firefly albums. We've toured across the U.S. and Europe. We've been named "Best Live Band" by the OC Weekly, "Best Americana Band" and "Best Live Acoustic Band" by the Orange County Music Awards and "Best Live Rock Band" and "Best Live Acoustic Band" in the SoCal Live Competition and LA Music Critic Awards. 

Welcome Browncoats. Stay Shiny.