About the Conference
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Held annually (after 1978, often at the University of Kansas, except for the special joint event in 2007
with SFRA, the Heinlein Centennial,
the 2016 academic-programming track for MidAmeriCon II,
and at this coming ConQuesT) until
2019, the Conference provided
a setting for intelligent discussion about SF centered around the presentation
of these science-fiction honors:
- Since 1978, the
John W. Campbell Memorial Award
for the best science-fiction novel of the year.
- Since 1987, the
Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award
for the best short science fiction of the year.
- From 1996–2004, the induction of honorees into the
Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame.
- In 2013, the "Lifeboat to the Stars"
Award.
- Due to COVID-19, the 2019 Conference was the final live event.
- After the KU English Department takeover of the Center in
2021-2022, the Conference was officially put to rest.
What follows is the final event posting; we have also
archived every past Conference back to 1996, linked from the bottom
of this page.
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We invite winners of the Campbell and Sturgeon awards (and often their
editors) to the event. These Guests of Honor take home
lucite trophies,
and their
names are also engraved on the permanent
trophies
that remain with the juries.
When McKitterick and Johnson headed Jim's Center, the Conference unofficially
began on either Thursday evening with a guest
talk, or Friday afternoon with an informal discussion about the profession of SF writing as the
concluding event of their
Writing Workshops
and the kickoff of McKitterick's Intensive Institute in Science Fiction.
After a break, we gathered for the Awards Ceremony and Banquet on Friday evening,
followed by a reception to congratulate the winners.
Saturday morning was devoted to a discussion (often round-table) centered on our
theme. The afternoon often offers more discussion, readings,
presentations, or other events, a group book-signing event, and an evening
reception to gather and talk more intimately about what was said (or left
unsaid) in the large groups. When we held Sunday events, it usually opened with a morning discussion
between the
Campbell Award and Sturgeon Award
winners and the other special guests, and then we often wrapped up with an informal afternoon get-together.
With this coming transition, this and future years' events are TBA.
Conference book signing from 2008
Kij Johnson, James Gunn, Chris McKitterick, and Frederik Pohl.
This Year's Speakers and Special Guests
In addition to regional authors and other guest authors and editors, the Conference usually
brought the winners of the
Campbell Award and Sturgeon
Award as Guests of Honor. Founding Director
James Gunn was our permanent Special Guest of Honor
until his death in 2020.
When we held an autograph session, the bookstore had available many works
from these fine folks for you to purchase and get signed.
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In Memoriam.
James Gunn
was a science
fiction author and historian, KU professor emeritus of English,
SFWA Grand Master,
and Founder of the
J Wayne and Elsie M Gunn
Center for the Study of Science Fiction.
He served as a past president of
both SFRA and
SFWA, chaired the Campbell Award jury from 1978-2018 to select the best science-fiction novel of
the year, and served on the advisory board of the SF Hall of Famefor a number of years. See
his page for
a bibliography and a fuller bio,
and this memorial tribute for some photos and several stories
honoring his life.
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Ruth Lichtwardt has worked with Jim's Center since its earliest days, and
currently serves as Events Coordinator for the
Conference
and related events. As a KU student, Ruth took several of Gunn's writing classes and later
initiated the tradition of the annual Conference book-signing while
working as a trade-book buyer in the KU Union bookstore. She is active in Kansas
City and Lawrence-area SF clubs and conventions, including
ConQuesT, where she
runs the benefit auction with AboutSF as the recipient. She
has also held various positions at several WorldCons including Hugo Awards
administrator, and served as Chair of MidAmeriCon II, the 74th Worldcon,
in Kansas City. Her day job has nothing
to do with science fiction but helps feed the habit.
Contact Ruth for all your
Conference needs:
campbellconference@gmail.com
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Chris McKitterick
is an author, editor, and faculty at the University of Kansas,
where he teaches, serves as juror and chair on the
Campbell Memorial
Award jury, and directs the new
Ad Astra Institute
for Science Fiction and the Speculative Imagination (launch
announcement here) and the
J Wayne and Elsie M Gunn
Center for the Study of Science Fiction (1995-2022). His short fiction, nonfiction,
and essays have been published in a number of magazines and anthologies,
and his debut novel,
Transcendence,
was published by Hadley Rille Books.
Chris teaches SF and
creative writing at KU and elsewhere, and offers
workshops and masterclasses
around the world.
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Michael Page co-chairs Academic Programming for the
Conference and is a
Research Fellow working with the Center. Mike teaches science
fiction and holds an administrative position in the English
Department at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Mike just
published
Saving the World Through Science Fiction: James
Gunn, Writer, Teacher, Scholar, the first critical study of James Gunn. His
previous book,
Frederik Pohl, was also released from the University of
Illinois Press in the Modern Masters of Science Fiction
series. He's the editor of a collection of stories,
The Man with the Strange Head, by Miles J. Breuer, an
early science fiction pioneer. His critical study,
The Literary Imagination from Erasmus Darwin to H.G. Wells:
Science, Evolution, and Ecology, explores the
intersections between literature and science in the nineteenth
century. His latest essay on Golden Age science fiction and
ecology appears in
Green Planets: Ecology and Science Fiction, edited by
Gerry Canavan and Kim Stanley Robinson.
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The Campbell Award
and Sturgeon Award winners are always invited to be present
to receive their awards, and their editors
often attend, as well.
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More guests TBA!
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Keep your eye out for talks and readings by and about these special guests!
We will continue to update the guest list until shortly before the Conference
begins.
Special Guests from 2004
George Zebrowski (Campbell Award
1999
winner and Sturgeon Award juror), Frederik Pohl (the only two-time
Campbell winner, 1978 and 1985), Gregory Benford (Campbell 1981), Jack McDevitt (Campbell
2004), Brian Aldiss (1983 Campbell winner, SF&F Hall of Fame inductee,
and First Fandom Hall of Fame inductee), and Hall of Fame inductee
Harry Harrison.
Aldiss and Harrison created the Campbell Award in 1972. Photo courtesy Karen Gunn.
Schedule of Events
Stay tuned!
Registration and Costs
Stay tuned for costs to attend this year's special event. If COVID is still
raging, We hope to offer both traditional live gathering and streaming Zoom event.
Contact Ruth
Lichtwardt for all your conference questions or needs, or
to make a last-minute Awards Banquet reservation:
campbellconference@gmail.com
Campbell and Sturgeon winners from 2007
James Gunn,
Campbell Award winner
Ben Bova, and Sturgeon Award winner Robert Charles
Wilson.
Photo courtesy
Keith Stokes.
Questions?
Feel free to drop
Ruth Lichtwardt a line with any Conference questions or needs.
Award winners at the 2009 Campbell Conference Awards Banquet
Cory Doctorow, Ian MacLeod, James Alan Gardner (James Gunn in
background). Photo by
Keith Stokes.
The conference is the central feature of the local summer SF
program, and it often concludes Chris
McKitterick's Speculative Fiction Writing Workshop and
Kij Johnson's Novel Writing Workshop,
and kicks off an
Intensive Institute on Science Fiction
Literature, a Young
Adult Writing Workshop, and two advanced "Repeat Offenders" writing workshops
that follow.
2021 Event
We hope to offer the Conference
at the ConQuesT SF
convention in Kansas City.
Photos from Past Conferences
Click the links below to see Keith Stokes'
MidAmerican Fan photo-archives of
previous years' activities.
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