{{Citation style|date=February 2023}} '''Picocon''' is the name given to a series of British science fiction conventions run by the Imperial College Science Fiction and Fantasy Society (ICSF).<ref>{{cite web | url=http://boingboing.net/2011/02/03/picocon-londons-love.html | title=Picocon: London's lovely little sf convention | date=3 February 2011 }}</ref> Taking place on a Saturday (occasionally extended to Sunday), in February or early March in Imperial College's Blackett Building since 1984.
T-shirts and other merchandise related to the convention are typically emblazoned with the Greek letters '''{{lang|el|ΨΦ}}''' (psi, phi), which can be read as Sci-Fi. Roles in organising the convention include the Sofa (''"like a chair, only comfier"'') and the Beanbag.
The reason for the event numbering (Picocon, Picocon Pi, Picocon 4, ⋯) of the first conventions is unclear. One suggestion is that there was a predecessor Picocon event watching videos and playing board games, and that the first formal event with a guest speaker is therefore Picocon 2.
== List of Picocons == {| class="wikitable" !Year !Date(s) !Name !Location !Guest(s) of Honour |- |1984 |2 February |Picocon |Imperial College |David Langford |- |1985 |9 March |Picocon Pi |Imperial College |Dave Langford, Gerry Webb |- |1986 |15 February |Picocon 4 |Imperial College |Dave Langford, Brian Stableford |- |1987 |21 February |Picocon 5 |Imperial College |John Brunner, David Hardy |- |1988 |6 February |Picocon 6 |Imperial College |Terry Pratchett, Michael Scott Rohan, Dave Langford |- |1989 |4 February |Picocon 7 |Imperial College |Dave Langford, Terry Pratchett, Gerry Webb, Dave Lally |- |1990 |3 March |Picocon 8 |Imperial College |Bob Shaw |- |1991 |2 March |Picocon 9 |Imperial College |Dan Abnett, Alex Stewart |- |1992 |7 March |Picocon 10 |Imperial College |Dave Langford, Brian Stableford |- |1993 |6 March |Picocon 11 |Imperial College |Colin Greenland |- |1994 |colspan="4"|No Picocon was held in 1994. |- |1995 |12 March |Picocon 12 |Imperial College |Iain M. Banks, Dr. Arley Anderson<ref group="GoH note">Dr Arley Anderson is a physics researcher who gave a talk about space travel through wormholes https://www.union.ic.ac.uk/scc/icsf/history/picocon/picocon12.html</ref> |- |1996 |4 February |Picocon 13 |Imperial College |Robert Holdstock, Stephen Baxter, Christopher Priest |- |1997 |2 March |Picocon 14 |Imperial College |Simon Ings, Nicholas Royle |- |1998 |28 February |Picocon 15 |Imperial College | |- |1999 |6 February |Picocon 16 |Imperial College |Stephen Lawhead, Jane Johnson, M John Harrison (who jointly write under the pseudonym Gabriel King) |- |2000 |19 February |Picocon 17 |Imperial College |Juliet McKenna, Brian Stableford, Garry Kilworth, Ian Watson |- |2001 |10 February |Picocon 18 |Imperial College |Christopher Priest, Geoff Ryman, Juliet E. McKenna, Jane Killick<ref group="GoH note">Jane Killick is a radio broadcaster, SF novelist and author of behind the scenes books for popular SF tv series such as Babylon 5 and Red Dwarf</ref> |- |2002 |9 February |Picocon 19 |Imperial College |Anne Gay,<ref group="GoH note">Anne Gay is an author of SF novels, see the SF Encyclopedia for a bibliography https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/gay_anne</ref> China Miéville, Stan Nicholls, Geoff Ryman |- |2003 |22 February |Picocon 20 |Imperial College |Jack Cohen, Gwyneth Jones |- |2004 |7 February |Picocon 21 |Imperial College |Peter F. Hamilton, Paul McAuley, Adam Roberts |- |2005 |19 February |Picocon 22 |Imperial College |Gwyneth Jones, Jon Courtenay Grimwood, Brian Stableford |- |2006 |18 February |Picocon 23 <ref>Picocon 2006 The Internet Book Database of fiction http://www.ibdof.com/viewtopic.php?t=112494</ref> |Imperial College |Ian Watson, Natasha Mostert, Mark Roberts |- |2007 |17 February |Picocon 24 |Imperial College |Charlie Stross, Ken MacLeod, Farah Mendlesohn |- |2008 |23 February |Picocon 25 |Imperial College |Paul Cornell, Cory Doctorow, Liz Williams |- |2009 |28 February |Picocon 26 |Imperial College |Pat Cadigan, Robert Rankin, Michael Marshall Smith |- |2010 |27 February |Picocon 27 ''3^3'' |Imperial College |Alastair Reynolds, Amanda Hemingway, Jaine Fenn |- |2011 |19 February |Picocon 28 |Imperial College |Juliet McKenna, Kari Sperring, Paul McAuley |- |2012 |18 February |Picocon 29 |Imperial College |Adrian Czajkowski, Justina Robson, Tricia Sullivan |- |2013 |16-17 February |Picocon 30 <ref>"Picocon-30-an-imperial-sf-and-fantasy-convention-245" https://thetab.com/uk/imperial/2013/01/26/picocon-30-an-imperial-sf-and-fantasy-convention-245</ref> |Imperial College |Peter F. Hamilton, Kate Griffin, Steph Swainston, Richard K. Morgan |- |2014 |22 February |Picocon 31 ''Survival'' |Imperial College |Sarah Pinborough, Charles Stross, David Southwood |- |2015 |14-15 February |Picocon 32 ''Duality'' |Imperial College |Cory Doctorow, Frances Hardinge, Ian McDonald, Kari Sperring, Stuart Ashen |- |2016 |20 February |Picocon 33 <ref>Appearances picocon-33 https://www.paulcornell.com/appearances/picocon-33/</ref><ref>SFrevu "Picocon" http://www.sfrevu.com/php/Column.php?Search=201602&ColumnType=CONVENTION</ref> |Imperial College |Paul Cornell, Michelle Paver, Carrie Hope Fletcher |- |2017 |18 February |Picocon 34 ''Futurism: Oh, the humanity'' |Imperial College |Jaine Fenn, Paul McAuley, Al Robertson, Justina Robson, Stuart Ashen |- |2018 |17 February |Picocon 35 ''Harmony'' |Imperial College |Paul Stewart, Chris Riddell, Ben Aaronovitch, Emma Newman |- |2019 |16 February |Picocon 36 |Imperial College |Alexis Kennedy, Lottie Bevan, Simon Morden, Andrew Bannister, Gavin Smith |- |2020 |22 February |Picocon 37 ''Pride''<ref>Picocon 37 https://www.union.ic.ac.uk/scc/icsf/history/picocon/picocon37.html</ref> |Imperial College |Juliet Kemp, Roz Kaveney, Tamsyn Muir |- |2021 |20 February |Picocon 38 ''<automata>''<ref>Picocon 38 https://www.union.ic.ac.uk/scc/icsf/history/picocon/picocon38.html</ref> |(online) |Jeff Somers, Dan Moren, S.J. Kincaid, Brian David Johnson |- |2022 |5 March |Picocon 39 ''Apocalypse''<ref>Picocon 39 -Apocalypse – announced for March 2022 https://www.starburstmagazine.com/picocon-39-announced-march-2022</ref><ref>Picocon 39 timetable of streamed talks https://twitter.com/picocon/status/1500021113421811714</ref> |Imperial College, online |Bryony Pearce, Louise Mumford, A.J. Flowers, Brendan DuBois, Gareth L. Powell, Matthew Wraith |- |2023 |11 March |Picocon 40 ''Twisted'' |Imperial College, online |Alma Alexander, Gav Thorpe, Mark Lawrence, Jonathan Sims, Tim Klotz,<ref group="GoH note">Tim Klotz is an actor & fight director for film, theatre, games etc. IMDb has a filmography https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1238088/</ref> Allan Henry<ref group="GoH note">Allan Henry is an actor, fight director, stunt performer and the motion capture artist for the title character in the 2023 movie Cocaine Bear</ref> |- |2024 |23 March |Picocon 41 ''Menagerie''<ref>https://www.instagram.com/p/C40av_iolI2</ref> |Imperial College, online |Christopher Paolini, Jonathan Sims, Gita Ralleigh<ref group="GoH note">Gita Ralleigh is a poet, writer, and doctor who teaches creative writing to science undergraduates at Imperial</ref> |- |2025 |1 March |Picocon 42 ''Sentience''<ref>https://www.instagram.com/imperial_scifi/p/DGLWMjCs6qG</ref> |Imperial College |qntm, Kevin Jon Davies, James Flanagan<ref group="GoH note">James Flanagan is an author of speculative fiction and a Professor of Cancer Informatics at the Imperial College Department of Surgery & Cancer</ref> |}
==GoH Notes== One line introductions for a Guests of Honour who don't (yet) have a Wikipedia biography page, e.g. linking a creator to a bibliography, filmography or an example book (series), podcast, piece/series of art, etc. {{char|…}} {{reflist|group="GoH note"}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [https://www.union.ic.ac.uk/scc/icsf/picocon/ Convention home page] * Review of Picocon from 2000 [http://ansible.uk/cc/cc103.html] * text of a talk given at Picocon in 1996 by author Stephen Baxter [http://erkelzaar.tsudao.com/books/Baxter2.htm]
Category:Science fiction conventions in the United Kingdom Category:1984 establishments in England
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