{"id":26425,"date":"2021-12-02T06:23:44","date_gmt":"2021-12-02T14:23:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rachelswirsky.com\/?p=2840"},"modified":"2021-12-02T06:23:44","modified_gmt":"2021-12-02T14:23:44","slug":"help-save-wiscon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/?p=26425","title":{"rendered":"Help Save WisCon"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

As the pandemic batters our social lives and economies, it’s been particularly hard for conventions to stay afloat. WisCon, the feminist convention that happens annually in Madison WI, is making an <\/span>appeal<\/a><\/span>. In short:<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
We don\u2019t have enough funds to pay for what happens if we don\u2019t fill our contracted block of hotel rooms, and we can\u2019t afford to cancel the hotel contract.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\n
…<\/span><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\n
\n

We are in a volunteer shortage crisis. It takes a LOT of people to make WisCon happen, and we lack dozens of volunteers in key positions.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n
\n

–Kit Stubbs (they\/them), treasurer and 2022 co-chair<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I haven’t attended WisCon in a while, but it was the first convention I got attached to. For several years, Vylar Kaftan and I — along with some rotating folks like Jennifer Pelland — did a reading series called Taboo where we read stories with unexpected content. Here are a few of the stories we read:<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

“<\/span>Break the Vessel<\/a><\/strong><\/span>” by <\/span>Vylar Kaftan<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

“Even a god has human needs, if he resides in a living body.” Aki attends his incarnated god’s private functions, starting with the chamber pot.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\n

“<\/span>Defiled Imagination<\/a><\/span>” by <\/span>Rachel Swirsky<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

I wrote this story as an exercise at the Iowa Writers Workshop based on the prompt “use the words: kiss dead and dog.” I decided to go for it and put all three in the first sentence. “Would you kiss a dead dog?” The story doesn’t get less intense from there. Definitely rated R or X.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

“<\/span>Ghosts of New York<\/a><\/span>” by <\/span>Jennifer Pelland<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Pelland’s Nebula-nominated piece tells the stories of the ghostly victims from several different New York disasters, including 9\/11 and the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. I think this story may feel less like a hot button now than it did, but for a long time, even touching 9\/11 in the way this story does–empathetic and intelligent, but unflinching–was daring.<\/span><\/p>\n

In their call for assistance, Stubbs lists a few things people can do to help get the convention back on track, including:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n