List of past Minicons

This list of past Minicons is in chronological order (which is not the same as numerical order). Location, dates, and guests of honor are noted when known.[1]

No. Date/Year Location Theme Guests of Honor Special Guest
1 January 6, 1968[a][b] Coffman Union at the University of Minnesota A Strange New World of Science Fiction Gordon R. Dickson, Charles De Vet, Clifford Simak
2 April 4-6, 1969 Andrews Hotel; Minneapolis, MN
3 April 3-5, 1970[a] Dyckman Hotel; Minneapolis, MN The Minneapolis in '73 Convention! Poul Anderson, Gordon R. Dickson, Clifford Simak
4 June 18-20, 1971[a] Curtis Hotel; Minneapolis, MN Lin Carter
5 October 15-17, 1971[c] Andrews Hotel; Minneapolis, MN The Genghiscon! —[d]
6 April 7-9, 1972[a] The Stereo-opticon! Ruth Berman
7 April 20-22, 1973 Hyatt Lodge; Minneapolis, MN The Minneapolis in '73 Con! Larry Niven (pro), Rusty Hevelin (fan)
8 April 12-14, 1974 Dyckman Hotel; Minneapolis, MN Kelly Freas (pro), Bob Tucker (fan)
9 October 11-13, 1974[c] Judy-Lynn del Rey and Lester del Rey
10 April 18-20, 1975[a] Holiday Inn; Minneapolis, MN Poul Anderson (pro), Gordon Dickson (fan), Lester del Rey (toastmaster)
11 April 16-18, 1976 Leamington Hotel; Minneapolis, MN Edmond Hamilton (pro), Leigh Brackett (pro), Leigh and Norb Couch (fans), Jackie Franke and Rusty Hevelin (toastmasters)
12 April 8-10, 1977 The Dododecacon Ben Bova (pro), Buck Coulson and Juanita Coulson (fans), Joe Haldeman (toastmaster)
13 March 24-26, 1978 Nothing is as it seems Samuel R. Delany (pro), Spider Robinson (fan), Bob Tucker (artist), Krissy (toastmaster)
15[e] April 13-15, 1979 Radisson; Minneapolis, MN The other 10% Theodore Sturgeon (pro), Tom Digby (fan), Rick Sternbach (artist), Robert E. Vardeman (toastmaster)
16 April 4-6, 1980 Déjà Vu C. J. Cherryh (pro), Jon Singer (fan), Ken Fletcher (artist), Nate Bucklin (musician), Bob Tucker (toastmaster)
17 April 17-19, 1981 Jack Vance (pro), Jerry Boyajian (fan), Reed Waller (musician), Kathy Marschall (artist)
14 April 9-11, 1982 Radisson; St. Paul, MN Forward, Into the Past John Varley (pro), Clifford D. Simak (fan), Spider Robinson (musician)
19 April 1-3, 1983 Backward, Into the Future Larry Niven (pro), Pamela Dean and David Dyer-Bennet (fans), Dave Sim (artist), Spider John Koerner (music), Steven Brust (toastmaster), Nostradamus (proxy)
18 April 20-22, 1984 Leamington Hotel; Minneapolis, MN We know what we're doing and you don't. Trust us. Chelsea Quinn Yarbro (pro), Dave Wixon (fan), Stephen Hickman (artist), S.P. Somtow (musician), Rusty Hevelin (toastmaster), Bob Tucker ("smooth")
20 April 5-7, 1985 Radisson South; Bloomington, MN[f][3] Let's you and I get normal for a change James P. Hogan (pro), The Permanent Floating Riot Club (fan group, the name is a tribute to Larry Niven), The White Women (musicians), Stu Shiffman (artist), Jerry Stearns and Kara Dalkey (toastmasters)
21 March 28-30, 1986 Now we're just immoral and fattening Damon Knight and Kate Wilhelm (pro), Denny Lien (fan), Ken Fletcher (artist), Anne Passovoy (musician), Diane Duane (toastmaster)
22 April 17-19, 1987 Still Crazy After All These Years David Brin (pro), Fred Haskell (fan), Erin McKee (artist), Jerry Stearns (music), Robert Bloch (toastmaster)
23 April 1-3, 1988 Spring Forward, Fall Over Eleanor Arnason (author), Eric Heideman (fan), Frederik Pohl (editor), Crystal Marvig (artist), Richard Feynman (science, posthumous)
24 March 24-26, 1989 Zen and the Art of Fan Maintenance Harry Harrison, George "Lan" Laskowski, Fritz Leiber, Barry B. Longyear
25 April 13-15, 1990 The Silver Edition Jane Yolen, Kim Stanley Robinson (author), Patrick Price ("arthur"), David Thayer a.k.a. Teddy Harvia (artist), DavE Romm (fan), Earl Joseph (science)
26 March 29-31, 1991 Think of it as Evolution in Action George Alec Effinger (author), David Cherry (artist), Al Kuhfeld, Ph.D. (science), Suzanne V. Tompkins and Jerry Kaufman (fans), Jon Singer (lunch)
27 April 17-19, 1992 Don't Ever Be A Dodo Lois McMaster Bujold (author), Ctein (artist), Dave Van Ronk (music)
28 April 9-11, 1993 Suite, Savage Minicon Susan Allison (editor), Diane Duane (author), Peter Morwood (author), Kathy Mar (music), Don Fitch (bless his sweet heart), John M. Ford (interesting person)
29 April 1-3, 1994 It seemed like a good idea at the time Tom Doherty (publisher), Jack Williamson (author), Rusty Hevelin (fan), Phil Foglio (artist)
30 April 13-16, 1995 Some Assembly Required or "Would You Like Fries With That?" Vernor Vinge (author), Robert L. Forward (science), Jody Lee (artist), The Bhigg House (fan group)
31 April 5–7, 1996 Coming to a Galaxy Near You Suzette Haden Elgin (author), Ed Emshwiller (artist, posthumous), Joe Siclari & Edie Stern (fans), David Ossman (audio)
32 March 28–30, 1997 Even Chaos has a Pattern Algis Budrys (author), C. J. Cherryh (author), Tom Doherty (publisher), Tom Lopez (audio), Patrick Nielsen Hayden (fan), Teresa Nielsen Hayden (fan), Michael Swanwick
33 April 10–12, 1998 Heisenberg Probably Slept Here Gardner Dozois (publishing), David Langford (fan), John M. Ford (toastmaster)
34 April 2–4, 1999 Hilton & Towers; Minneapolis, MN Octavia E. Butler (author), Mark & Priscilla Olson (fans), David Nee (bookseller)
35 April 21–23, 2000 Maureen F. McHugh (author), John Berkey (artist), Lenny Bailes (fan)
36 April 13–15, 2001 Ken MacLeod (author), Jo Walton (fan), Leslie Fish (musician)
37 March 29–31, 2002 Emma Bull (author), Will Shetterly (author), Arthur Hlavaty (fan), Rick Berry (artist)
38 April 18–20, 2003 Millennium Hotel; Minneapolis, MN Robert J. Sawyer (author), Carolyn Clink (poet), Sue Mason (fan), Steve Macdonald (musician)
39 April 9–11, 2004 Walter Jon Williams (author), Sharyn November (editor), Deb Geisler (fan)
40 March 25–27, 2005 Sheraton; Bloomington, MN[f] Minicon Fortean Terry Pratchett (author), Fastner & Larson (artists), James Young (fan)
41 April 14–16, 2006 XLi, Robot Harlan Ellison (author), John Picacio (artist), Doug Friauf (fan)
42 April 6–8, 2007 And the question was...? (in reference to the number 42) Charles de Lint (author), Charles Vess (artist)
43 March 21–23, 2008 Digging up the Future Alastair Reynolds (author), Wayne Barlowe (artist, in absentia), Shawna McCarthy (editor), Nate Bucklin (fan)
44 April 10–12, 2009 Karl Schroeder (author), Stephan Martinere (artist, in absentia), Seth Shostak (scientist)
45 April 2–4, 2010 Brandon Sanderson (author), Daniel Dos Santos (artist) Moshe Feder (editor)
46 April 22–24, 2011 Not yet dead from the neck up Charles Stross, (author in absentia), John Scalzi, (author), Chas Somdahl, (musician)
47 April 6–8, 2012 DoubleTree Minneapolis South; Bloomington, MN[f] The minions are coming... Ted Chiang (author), Christopher J Garcia (fanzine), Frank Wu (artist), Brianna "Spacekat" Wu (game developer)
48 March 29–31, 2013 The Game of Life Julie Czerneda (author), Richard Tatge (fan)
49 April 17–20, 2014 Pirates and Airships Catherynne Valente (author), Janny Wurts (author), Don Maitz (artist)
50 April 2–5, 2015[g] The Gold Edition Jane Yolen (author), Larry Niven author, Brandon Sanderson (author), Tom Doherty (publisher), Adam Stemple (musician), Michael Whelan (artist)
51 March 25–27, 2016 Zombies and Fairies and Mermaids, Oh My! Seanan McGuire (author), Sara Butcher Burrier (artist)
52 April 14–16, 2017 Brother Guy Consolmagno (scientist) Moshe Feder (editor)
53 March 30-April 1, 2018 Double Tree Park Place; St. Louis Park, MN The Pedantic One Rachel Swirsky (author), Lyda Morehouse (author) Jon Arfstrom (artist, posthumous)
54 April 19-21, 2019 Purple Naomi Kritzer (author), David de Vries (illustrator) Tom Fleming (artist)
55 April 15-17, 2022[h] Green Jo Walton (author), Elise Matthesen (artist)
56 April 7-9, 2023 Martha Wells (author), Sara Felix (artist), Greg Ketter (fan)
57 March 29-31, 2024 Ursula Vernon (author & illustrator), Jeremy Brett (archivist), Tim Griffin (music) Jeffery Angles (Japanese scholar)
58 April 18-20, 2025 DoubleTree Minneapolis South; Bloomington, MN[f] Wesley Chu (author), The Faithful Sidekicks (music) Michael Busch (astronomer)
59 April 3-5, 2026 Patricia Wrede (author), Matt Leacock (gaming)
60 March 25-28, 2027[g] Geri Sullivan (fan)

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e This Minicon did not take place over Easter weekend
  2. ^ The only Minicon to be only one day long
  3. ^ a b Minicon 5 and 9 took place in the fall. After Minicon 9 fall conventions ran by MNStF would go by different names than Minicon, collectively referred to as "fallcons".[2]
  4. ^ Volsted Gridban was listed, but it did not refer to one of the authors who had used that pseudonym being the guest; there was no guest of honor at this Minicon.
  5. ^ From Minicon 15 to 18 the numbers get a bit shuffled. The fallcon "Anokon 1" was originally going to be named Minicon 14, causing it to be skipped in planning for Minicon 15.[2]
  6. ^ a b c d The "Radisson South", "Sheraton Bloomington", and "DoubleTree Minneapolis South" are all the same hotel. It is currently operated as a DoubleTree by Hilton, but is commonly referred to as the "RadishTree" in reference to the history Minicon has with the hotel.
  7. ^ a b A four day long convention, instead of the usual three days.
  8. ^ Originally scheduled for Easter weekend 2020, this convention was postponed twice because of the COVID-19 pandemic. As there were previously two years with two Minicons, the number is now actually the years the convention has been running for.

References

  1. ^ "Minicon". mnstf.org. MNStF. Retrieved December 30, 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Minn-stf cons other than Minicon". mnstf.org. MNStF. Retrieved December 30, 2024.
  3. ^ Aiken, Wayne (March 1993). "Upcoming Conventions". Holy Temple of Mass Consumption. No. 16.