If the three readings I’ve shared so far from World Fantasy, designed to make you wish you’d made it to Columbus, weren’t enough for you, here are two more.

First up, Kij Johnson, reading two short shorts.

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I arrived at the Fairmont and immediately had a powerful sense of deja vu, as this was the same hotel I spent much of the San Jose Worldcon partying at back in 2002. I missed yesterday’s opening ceremonies, and showed up too late to register, but I was immediately in a boisterous maelstrom of friends. No name badge was needed with this crowd.

I ended up going to dinner almost immediately with John Kessel, Paul Park, Kij Johnson, Leslie Howle, and Neile Graham. We ended up at a joint called Don Pedro’s, where I had a big bowl of goat soup—but only because they were all out of the fried pork skin!

Here I am on one side of the table with John and Kij:

You can see the rest of my few initial World Fantasy photos here.

I partied much too late—at least for this East Coast body&#8212and so by the time I crashed my internal clock was telling me it was 3:00 a.m. I’m sure I missed most of the fun. I look forward to being a more well-adjusted partier tonight!

I began Friday by sneaking out of the hotel to once more absorb at little bit of Austin culture. I decided to hit the Austin Museum of Art, which turned out to be having an exhibit titled “New Art in Austin: 20 to Watch,” featuring original works by local artists.

You already know how I feel about much of what passes for modern art based on my February 20 visit to New York’s Museum of Modern Art, but there were actually a few people whose work I found intellectually stimulating, notably Jill Pangallo and the team of Jen Hirt and Scott Webel, who create as the collective the Museum of Natural and Artificial Ephemerata. Those latter two turn out to have their own gallery here in Austin, and I intend to make it over there Saturday after lunch.

I then returned to the hotel, where I found the following battle in progress between competing Nebula nominees Jennifer Pelland and Mary Turzillo.

We won’t learn until Saturday night whether Jennifer’s “Captive Girl” or Mary’s “Pride” will take the trophy in the short fiction category, or whether one of their talented competitors such as David Levine, Karen Joy Fowler, Andy Duncan, or Vera Nazarian will win, but since I think that literary competitions should always be resolved by fisticuffs in hotel hallways, I have to believe that Jennifer and Mary have the edge. (more…)