Readercon 34 Program
July 17 – 20, 2025
Boston Marriott Burlington in Burlington, MA
Readercon 34's program will be available in June 2025.
If you have any difficulty accessing Readercon program information through these files, please email program@readercon.org for assistance.
All times are in Eastern Daylight Time (GMT -4).
Contributing to Readercon's program
We're accepting panelist applications and program suggestions for the next Readercon. Learn more about contributing to Readercon and help us make the next convention even more amazing!
What's Readercon like?
Readercon covers the whole of imaginative literature (or "speculative fiction"): science fiction, fantasy, horror, and the unclassifiable. We have a special emphasis on the most literary, ambitious, and cutting-edge work in the field, and embrace works for children, teens, and adults. Our regular program participants include writers, editors, publishers, critics, and other experts from across America and around the world.
Readercon weekend runs from Thursday evening to Sunday afternoon Eastern time, and boasts a massive selection of programming and activity tracks to choose from. (Readercon is all about the program. It's not just the heart of the convention, but also the lungs, liver, and kidneys.)
As is traditional, we’ll pause everything to showcase the Guest of Honor interviews on Saturday afternoon. This year's Shirley Jackson Awards will be held on Saturday night, followed by evening entertainment.
* A kaffeeklatsch is a low-key, wide-ranging conversation hosted by one or two program participants for up to 10 fans. It gives you an opportunity to interact directly with writers, editors, and other estimable personages you admire. Spaces are limited, so sign up early in the weekend.
How can I participate?
Recommend yourself or someone else as a program participant!
We are especially eager to recruit scientists, historians, librarians, artists and musicians, and others who work in fields of interest to genre fiction writers and readers. Readercon is committed to diversity in its program, and we strongly encourage members of minority and marginalized groups to apply.
Suggest a program item!
We welcome anything from vague concepts to full-fledged proposals complete with suggested panelists. Be adventuresome and creative; remember that Readercon's program starts where other conventions leave off.
Submit a proposal!
If you've been invited to be a program participant at the upcoming Readercon, we encourage you to submit a proposal to present a solo talk, performance, discussion, workshop, or group reading. We'd love to showcase you and your expertise.
To do any or all of those things, visit our page on contributing to Readercon's program.
Philosophy
To quote Theodore Sturgeon, Readercon likes to ask the next question. Imagine going to a typical convention, attending a panel, and having an interesting spin-off conversation in the hallway outside afterwards: That moment of extrapolation and exploration is what we take as our starting point. Our program items are usually quite focused and we encourage panelists and attendees to grapple with tricky ideas and dig deep into the genre's history. We don't shy away from the political, and the past several years have seen an emphasis on discussing topics relevant to minority and marginalized members of speculative fiction writing and reading communities. There are some items about the craft of writing, but we are readers first and foremost, and much of our program is devoted to looking at how we choose, approach, and interact with the things we read.
Schedule Outline
The convention begins Thursday at 8:00 PM with programming open to the public. Programming runs until 10:00 PM and consists of a relatively intimate, stripped-down version of what's to follow: a track or two of panels and two tracks of readings.
Friday we begin at 11:00 AM with a full slate of our multi-track programming. Special events start at 10:00 PM.
Saturday's full schedule runs from 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM. Special events begin at 8:00 PM.
Sunday programming once again begins at 10:00 AM and ends at 3:00 PM.
There are no lunch breaks at Readercon, but we do try to populate the lunchtime hours with some of our more specialized programming, and you can always grab a quick inter-panel snack in the consuite.
Special events
Recordings
Readercon records audio and video of many program items, and is in the process of making those recordings accessible to the public as part of our educational mandate. Anyone who would like to individually record a program item and make that recording public is welcome to do so with the prior consent of the program participants. Attendees should be aware that audience contributions are often captured on these recordings.
For recordings of past Readercon program items, see our media page and our YouTube channel.