Sirens Conference: Programming Philosophy

Sirens is, at its heart, a series of conversations. And each year, the vanguard of those conversations are the brave and brilliant individuals—readers, scholars, librarians, educators, publishing professionals, authors, and more—who share their thoughts and wisdom as part of our programming.

Unlike many conferences, Sirens does not assemble its own programming. Instead, we invite our attendees—all of our attendees, regardless of vocation, level of experience, or years at Sirens—to propose the papers, lectures, panels, roundtable discussions, workshops, and afternoon classes that make up our programming. That means that every year our programming schedule reflects what the impressively accomplished Sirens community is working on, thinking through, interrogating—and finds important.

With a small number of exceptions, the programming that you’ll attend at Sirens was proposed by attendees and reviewed and selected by our independent vetting board, which represents experience and achievement in the various areas in which we receive a majority of our proposals. This is a rigorous process, demanding thoughtfulness, scholarship, relevance—and courage! We hope you’ll take the time to both attend programming this weekend and thank the presenters for their work.

We also hope you’ll remember that Sirens is deliberately interdisciplinary in its approach. At Sirens, readers present alongside librarians, educators and booksellers collaborate on course curricula, and authors learn from scholars. We think that our method of programming selection highlights the importance of this interdisciplinary discussion and helps ensure that our programming represents the true breadth of diverse perspectives, experiences, and identities of the Sirens community.

Sirens Conference: Types of Presentations

When we created Sirens, we did so with an active experience in mind. That means that, unlike many conferences you may know, our programming is not always a passive listening experience, perhaps with an opportunity to ask a question or two. Some of our programming takes that format, but other presentations will rely on audience discussion or engagement, and we’re sure you’ll want to know which is which before you attend.

You may notice that each presentation at Sirens is classified as a paper/lecture, panel discussion, roundtable discussion, workshop, or afternoon class. This gives you some idea of what the presentation format will be—and how involved you, the audience, will be expected to be. Here are the most common types of presentations, including what the presenter will be seeking in terms of audience participation.

Papers and Lectures

Presenters may read papers or deliver lectures or talks on a topic and may or may not take audience questions during or after the presentation. Occasionally, papers and lectures will be delivered as a pre-empaneled set of presentations on related topics. These presentations are meant to be largely informational and often have a rather passive audience experience.

Panel Discussions

Panels, led by a moderator, generally discuss and debate a topic before an audience and may or may not take audience questions during or after the discussion. While these presentations include a number of presenters discussing a topic, like papers and lectures, they tend to have a rather passive audience experience.

Roundtable Discussions

Roundtable discussions are limited to a smaller audience—typically, one that reflects the discussion section that would be paired with a college lecture course—and depend on audience participation. These sessions will be led by a moderator seeking to explore open-ended questions with the audience and who will encourage everyone attending to take part. Seating in these presentations is limited to allow for a discussion that includes all attendees.

Workshops

Workshop sessions are led by an instructor and focus on the application and practice of a skill. Generally, attendees should expect to get their hands dirty, at least figuratively. The opportunity for the audience to gain or expand upon a particular skill, including the opportunity for participation or leaving with material for later use, marks this style of presentation. Seating in these presentations is limited to allow for hands-on instruction.

Afternoon Classes

Afternoon classes are an opportunity for instruction or exploration of practical topics related to fantasy literature, such as historical dress or music, martial arts, weaponry, battle strategy, costume construction, and so forth. Afternoon classes may be less formal than other types of programming in their presentation. Afternoon classes may be similar to workshops or be more demonstration-based, depending on the topic.

Please note that we have not yet released a programming schedule for Sirens, as we would normally have done by now, due to the number of shifting pandemic issues. We will have that schedule available for you at the conference itself.

Nevertheless, we hope that you’ll attend many presentations at Sirens. This is the core of both the conference itself and the conference’s educational mission, and we think you’ll find that the opportunities to both learn from and engage with other Sirens attendees are extraordinary and not to be missed.

Sirens: Meeting New People

People, for many of us, are a source of stress. We don’t know who they are, we don’t know what to say, we worry if they’ll like us or think we’re smart. For many, the hardest part about Sirens, especially if you’re attending for the first time, is figuring out how to navigate all those strangers. We expect that this will be especially true this year, given the pandemic. People are a new source of stress for all of us, in ways they haven’t been before. You check to see if they’re wearing their masks properly, you’re hyper-conscious of your personal space, and every touch is an awkward, often unwelcome uncertainty. Even if you’re a Sirens veteran, this year may be different: fraught and uncertain in ways that perhaps it hasn’t been in the past.

But here’s the thing: No matter how expert, talented, or intimidating Sirens attendees might be—no matter if they are an accomplished scholar or experienced librarian or capable parent-of-five, a brand-new agent, a first-year teacher, a part-time bookseller, a newly published author, or a small-town farrier—every single person at Sirens has one thing in common: They love speculative literature. Especially speculative literature that interrogates societal marginal identities and oppressions.

There’s no easier place to meet people than at Sirens because at Sirens, all you need is a single question:

What are you reading?

There are follow-on questions, of course, if you like: What are some of your favorite fantasy works? What have you read this year that you loved? Have you tried [fill in your favorite book here]? Maybe they’ll have that in the bookstore? Let’s go find out!

While there are a lot of intersections at Sirens—vocations, experiences, interests—the common ground will always be our collective love of the revolutions, aspirations, and necessities that we find in speculative literature.

And we hope that that makes everyone at Sirens a lot less scary—and a lot more welcoming, even in this off-kilter year.

Sirens: Joining the Community

The possibly quite unhelpful answer to that question is, frankly, whatever you want. We deliberately create community spaces as part of Sirens, because while our programming forms the foundation of the conversations we have, those formal presentations and discussions are only a jumping off point for another thousand conversations that folks will have over the weekend. So, we’ve built in both time and physical space for those conversations to happen:

• In the welcoming lobby of the hotel, which features comfy chairs and outlets for our ever-present electronics
• Over a cup of tea as you arrive and check into Sirens
• In the bookstore, which will feature over 1,500 speculative titles by authors of marginalized genders
• As you browse our geektastic auction items
• In passing between programming sessions
• In the sun-filled community room that we’ve set aside this year just for social-distanced conversations
• Early in the morning over our Books and (Nope, Not This Year) Breakfast discussion
• At the Sirens Ball, where you’ll wear whatever you want—a ballgown, a costume, or your jeans because you should feel as casual or as fancy as you wish
• In the evening in or near one of the hotel’s many alcoves and fireplaces
• At the rollicking spectacle that is the Sirens live auction on Sunday morning

We hope that you’ll feel comfortable(ish) using these times and spaces to strike up these conversations, no matter how awkward they might feel at first. With a little bit of courage and books as your always-at-hand icebreaker, you’ll be a full-fledged member of the Sirens community in no time at all.

And the Sirens community wouldn’t have it any other way.