February Event – Approaches to Worldbuilding

Whatever subgenre of speculative fiction you’re working in, it’s likely to involve some worldbuilding, whether that’s creating a brand new word, or tweaking the one we have. We’ve invited four wonderful writers to talk to us about the ways they approach this element of their craft.

Stephen Aryan is the author of the critically acclaimed Quest for Heroes duology as well as the Age of Darkness and Age of Dread trilogies. His debut, Battlemage, was a finalist for the David Gemmell Morningstar Award, and won the inaugural Hellfest Inferno Award. He has previously written for Tor.com. His new trilogy is an imaginative and sprawling epic fantasy reimagining of the Mongol Empire’s invasion of Persia, following the lives and treacherous journeys of four key figures in the heart of war. 

Sunyi Dean is a biracial autistic author who was born in Hong Kong, and now resides in North England. She writes speculative fiction with a weird slant, and has both too many books and too many children. Her poetry and short fiction has been published in places like Tor Dot Com, Aurealis, Prole, FFO, and other magazines. Her debut novel, THE BOOK EATERS, launched Aug 2022 and was an instant Sunday Times Bestseller.

Neil Williamson’s varied genre work has seen him a finalist for British Science Fiction Association, British Fantasy and World Fantasy Awards. He has
published two fantasy novels, a novella, two collections and over seventy short stories, most recently including a sequence of dark tales about strange inheritances and bequests. Neil lives in Glasgow, Scotland.

Find out more at: https://linktr.ee/neilwilliamson

Writer of words, builder of worlds. J E Hannaford is powered by coffee, dragons and whisky. She teaches Biology in the real world and invents fantasy beasts to populate her own.  

J E Hannaford lives in Suffolk, UK, and pines for the coast and mountains of Wales.

Join us on the 18th of February at 10:15am GMT to find out what they have to say. Don’t forget we also have an interview with Adrian Tchaikovsky at 11:30am, along with two more panels, readings and open mic session, all over Zoom. Tickets are free for BFS members and £5 for everyone else and can be booked here: Buy tickets / Join the guestlist – Building Worlds – Zoom, Sat 18 Feb 2023 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM (tickettailor.com). Tickets get you access to the full day’s events. We plan to run four of these events over the course of the year, so if you’re not a member yet, now might be a good time to join us!

There’s also still time to express your interest in reading for us at the event by filling out the form here which will close on Friday.