A 501(c)(3) organization: It is the mission of Parsec “to promote awareness of the richness of speculative fiction as literature, art and music; further general education in the sciences and arts, support contributions–both scientific and artistic–to society and to espouse the enjoyment of speculative fiction as literature, art and music with others.”
A 501(c)(3) organization: It is the mission of Parsec “to promote awareness of the richness of speculative fiction as literature, art and music; further general education in the sciences and arts, support contributions–both scientific and artistic–to society and to espouse the enjoyment of speculative fiction as literature, art and music with others.”
Saturday, July 15th, 2023 via ZOOM and IN PERSON at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh – Squirrel Hill, Meeting Room B.
Please note time change due to room availability! In-person meeting at Squirrel Hill Library: 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm. ZOOM will open at 1:30 pm. Register for the Zoom meeting: https://bit.ly/Parsec-Meeting
This month we’re going to talk about the Confluence Conference, which takes place July 21, 22, and 23, 2023 at the Sheraton Pittsburgh Airport Hotel.
Why is Confluence a great place to experience your first SciFi Con?
Location: Dormont Park Large Pavilion. 1801 Dormont Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15216. The large pavilion is Wheelchair accessible and has plenty of room for social distancing! This is a potluck event.
PARSEC, Pittsburgh’s premier Science Fiction & Fantasy Organization meets on Saturday, March18th via ZOOM. (The Squirrel Hill Library will not be available to us in the First Quarter of 2023.) Program begins 1:00 pm.
This month we’ll discuss and exchange ideas for programming for the 2023 Confluence Conference. The Conference takes place July 21, 22, and 23.
We’ll discuss, among other things, panel topics for the conference. Things like:
• A.I. in Art and Writing, the Controversy of These Emerging Technologies.
• The Drake Equation and the Fermi Paradox. If there are alien civilizations all around us, why are they invisible and silent?
• Speculative Fiction as a Literature of Hope or Despair? Should writers point out all the ways humanity is failing, or our opportunities to transcend?
These examples are just to generate ideas and discussion. We want to hear your ideas!
This year’s guest of honor is Ada Palmer. Ada’s Terra Ignota series (Tor Books) explores a future of borderless nations and globally commixing populations. The first volume Too Like the Lightning was a Best Novel Hugo finalist and won the Compton Crook Award. She composes close harmony folk music with mythological, science fiction and fantasy themes, and performs with the a cappella group Sassafrass.
Our featured music guest is Sassafrass. Sassafrass is a singing group performing original a cappella folk music, mostly with fantasy, mythology and science fiction themes.
Writing Workshops with Timons Esaias. Timons Esaias is a satirist, writer and poet living in Pittsburgh. His works, ranging from literary to genre, have been published in twenty-two languages. He taught writing in Seton Hill’s Writing Popular Fiction graduate program for twenty years. Workshops open March 15th.
Featured Artist is Susan Dexter.
Featured Entertainers are The Confused Greenies.
Rhiannon’s Lark will lead the singing of “Three Days Away from the Ratrace” at the Opening Ceremonies.
Robert E. Harpold Flybys, Launch Windows, and Selfies with the Earth and Moon: The Artemis I Flight from the Perspective of a Member of the Trajectory-Design Team
In April our guest speaker will be Robert E. Harpold.
Robert E. Harpold is an engineer working for ERC, Inc., a subcontractor for NASA, designing trajectories for the Artemis missions.
