With the changing of the seasons, Dragon Press has escalated to a new level of activity at our Westport, New York bookstore. During the summer we opened every weekend, and during the fall, not only are we open weekends, but we have launched our events program, planned to be an ongoing series. See <www.dragonpress.com> for news and schedules as we develop the programs. During October, and already past by the time you read this, we began on Columbus Day weekend with readings and discussions with Michael Swanwick, Jeanne Beckwith, and F. Brett Cox.
The event had a very packed schedule:
Saturday Oct 8:
2 p.m.: Reception/meet the authors Michael Swanwick, Jeanne Beckwith, and F. Brett Cox, including a short but fascinating dramatic presentation of Michael Swanwick’s Cigar-Box Faust
3 p.m.: Introduction and Michael Swanwick reading
4 p.m.: Discussion with Brett Cox, Kathryn Cramer, Michael Swanwick
8 p.m.: Reception in honor of out of town guests (this means you)
Sunday October 9:
1 p.m.: Discussion with Michael Swanwick and David G. Hartwell, followed by Michael Swanwick signing
2 p.m.: Jeanne Beckwith reading from her prize-winning play Opportunity of a Lifetime (see Act I in this issue)
3 p.m.: F. Brett Cox reading
4 p.m.: Reception with authors
On the same weekend, at the height of fall foliage in the Adirondacks, the Arts Council for the Northern Adirondacks sponsored the Boquet Valley Studio Tour (made possible, in part, with a Developing Community Arts Grant with public funds from The New York State Council on the Arts Decentralization Program) Friday through Sunday, in which local artists opened their studios to visitors. You might still want to come up for the next event, or the one after.
If you decide to come up for a future event, by car or Amtrack, the directions and local contacts are listed on our Web site. And we will even throw a party. We will have events that are not directly related to sf and fantasy, sometimes tied into the local cultural scene in Essex County.
We traveled to Montreal in mid-September for Jo Walton’s Farthing Party (see pictures on page three). And the next week I paid an overdue visit to Arrowhead, home of the Virginia Kidd Agency (and formerly home of James Blish and Virginia Kidd and their family) in legendary Milford, Pennsylvania, recently reopened after the floods from Hurricane Claire. The picture here is of the living room/office, with agent Vaughne Hansen. *
—David G. Hartwell
& the editors
A PDF copy of the NYRSF issue in which this TOC first appeared is available for purchase at Weightless Books.