We had a fantastic and quite hectic time in Bristol last weekend, with Siobhan on no less than four sessions (2 panels, 1 reading, 1 workshop) and Darragh manning the stall in the Dealer’s Room. So we’re splitting our review of the event in two: one from a Dealer’s perspective and the other from a panellist’s.
Among the Dealers
In honour of this weekend’s Bark & Bone elaunch, our table in the Dealer’s Room was packed with lots of Halloween decorations and treats. Surprisingly, no one batted an eyelid at the fact we had a Christmas tree up in October, though perhaps the spooky ornaments hanging from it had something to do with that…
Space Cat Press
BristolCon Dealer’s Table
The vibe in the Dealer’s Room was very laid-back and friendly, even more so than we’ve come to expect from meet-ups with the literary community. Despite (or perhaps because of) a lower than usual amount of foot traffic at the event, there was no shortage of chats to be had. So a huge thank you to everyone who popped by, it was lovely to meet you all. You made this dealer’s BristolCon experience a hugely positive one. Will definitely have to go back again next year!
Meeting a new Space Cat Star
Among the people we caught up in the Dealers Room was the absolutely lovely Max Turner, a Bark & Bone contributor who we introduced to our social media followers a few weeks ago.
In addition to being a self-described ‘parent, nerd, intersectional feminist and coffee addict’, Max is the publisher of A Coup of Owls, which publishes short fiction celebrating and supporting diversity. They are currently accepting submissions by creators from marginalised and under-represented communities for their next anthology, OTHER WORLDS, the details of which can be found here.
Other Worlds will be an exploration of places, situations, communities, etc, that are other. This can be actual other worlds in a science or speculative fiction genre or a community, or a situation in the historical or modern world that feels or is made to feel alien. Encompassing a variety of styles and genres, Other Worlds will feature stories focused on the theme of being part of those othered communities – however writers wish to interpret that.
Submission Open: 1st October – 15th November 2023.
Publication: July 2024.
(extract from A Coup Of Owls Submission Guidelines)
This anthology is a follow-up to their Other & Different anthology, which explored what it is to be othered. So right up the alley of anyone who loved Severed Souls…
A Coup of Owls is donating the first six months of sales to Rainbow Railroad (North American non-profit that helps at-risk LGBTQI+ individuals get to safety) and Rainbow Migration (UK charity that supports LGBTQI+ people through the asylum and migration system) so be sure to buy a copy directly from their website if you can.
While we were away…
In case anyone missed it, our extremely talented cover artist for Bark & Bone posted her initial sketches on Instagram / Twitter over the weekend, some of which were new even to us. In them, you can see how much thought Sally has put into representing the cross-over (and transformation between) body and forest, human and arboreal, that she identified as a key theme in the anthology. Very cool indeed!
Space Cat Press 