Discworld is coming to Cork

Irish Examiner*
Thursday, 1 October 2015
Page:
15
Circulation:
Area of Clip:
Page 1 of 2
37009
50100mm²
Discworld is
coming to Cork
While the event is mainly about
reasons); and Jacqueline Simpson,
meeting fellow fans and having a
co-author of The Folklore of Discworld
cracking time, the social justice aspect
will be there. “And the guest of
of the convention, which is held honour will be Bernard Pearson,
every two years in a different location, whose amazing Discworld sculptures
would no doubt have appealed earned him the title of ‘The Cunning
to Pratchett who repeatedly covered Artificer’ from Sir Terry himself,”
the themes of equality (even of subspecies
she added.
such as zombies) and often
Fans who want to bring the Discworld
made heroes of characters who were
to life when they get home are
just scrabbling for a living.
expected to snap up Clacks — a new
In Feet of Clay an old woman and a board game being launched at the
baby boy die after a maid takes home Convention. This is Backspindle’s
some leftover food originally intended second Discworld-themed board
as part of an assassination attempt game — the first is Guards Guards.
at the palace. Not many characters in Clacks is inspired by the fiendishly
the city care about the death of some simple Discworld messaging system
YOU think the woman’s name, poor people who weren’t involved in based on semaphore and a network of
politics or high society.
communications towers. There will
Magrat, is a typo or if you can’t
be a special convention price for the
see the funny side of Death getting Vimes: “Mrs Easy’s dead!”
board game.
sick of it all and causing
Carrot: “Who, sir?”
As Pratchett himself said, no one is
havoc by taking a break, then
Vimes: “You’ve never heard of her?”
actually dead until the ripples they
steer well clear of the Discworld convention
Carrot: “Can’t say that I have, sir.
cause in the world die.
taking place in Cork this
What did she used to do?”
Well, there should be plenty Discworld-related
weekend.
Vimes: “Do? Nothing, I suppose. She
ripples in Cork this
A celebration of the fantastical
just brought up nine kids in a couple weekend.
world created by the late Terry Pratchett,
of rooms you couldn’t stretch out in
The Irish Discworld Convention 2015
the four-day convention will
and she sewed shirts for a tuppence
tomorrow at Cork International
feature everything from the launch of an hour, every hour the bloody gods starts
Hotel and rocks on until October 5.
a special boardgame — Clacks from sent, and all she did was work and
idwcon.org or @IDWCon or
Backspindle Games — to a Maskerade keep to herself and she is dead, Captain.
And so’s her grandson. Aged 14 [email protected]
Ball. This is the first convention
months. Because her granddaughter
since Terry Pratchett’s death in
took them some grub from the palace!
March, and is the first ever one in
A bit of a treat for them! And
Cork — fans are coming from Britain,
Belgium, Germany, America and d’you know what? Mildred thought I
even all the way from New Zealand. was going to arrest her for theft! At
Terry Pratchett wrote a Discworld the damn funeral for gods’ sake! It’s
series of 41 novels which are wild and murder now. Not assassination, not
witty rampages through a fantasy
politics. It’s murder.”
regalia
world populated by wizards, witches,
But of course any world populated full Discworld
trolls and vampires and Death himself. by bickering witches; a werewolf who
Despite, or perhaps because of, suffers badly with her ‘time of the
these characters, the Discworld
month’; and a troll who self-harms
bears an uncanny resemblance to
every time he salutes, is bound to
our own world — whether it’s a
have plenty whimsical and downright
bureaucrat’s
love of memos and
hilarious chapters too.
meetings or some people’s unwavering And it’s the light-hearted aspects
faith in the goodness of‘herbs’ to that will no doubt appeal to many at
cure anything at all. Politicians, socialites,
this weekend’s shindig which will involve
clock-watching workers, and
quizzes, crafting workshops
fast-food vendors invariably interact and games galore. It’s a given that
in a way that veers from laugh-outloud any ‘fantasy’ genre invariably involves
funny to tear-jerking in the
costumes and role-players and
space of a couple of pages.
Irish Discworld Convention 2015
Pratchett himself suffered earlyonsetmedia officer, Eoin Hurley says all
Alzheimer’s Disease and became fans are welcome whether they just
a patron for Alzheimer’s Researchwant to pop along or get all dressed
UK. This weekend’s convention up in their full Discworld regalia.
will feature an auction of an
There will be some special guests
eclectic mix of Discworld merchandise in attendance over the weekend too
and memorabilia to raise funds — Convention spokeswoman, Rachel
for Barnardos, the Simon Community Scanlon confirmed that Jack Cohen,
and the Alzheimer Society of Ireland. co-author of the Science of the Discworld
The last auction raised several thousand
books, will be available for a
euro for good causes and it is expected
skype chat (his original plans to attend
this will be topped this time.
have been changed for health
Terry Pratchett, the
fantasy author who
died this year, sold 75
million books
worldwide. His
Discworld is coming
to Ireland and
Caroline Delaney
can't wait.
IF
All fans are welcome
whether they just
want to pop along or
get all dressed up in
Irish Examiner*
Thursday, 1 October 2015
Page:
15
Left: a typical Discworld convention.
Right: Covers of Pratchett's novels which
are a bewildering romp thorough a world
of wizards, witches, trolls and vampires
and Death himself.
Circulation:
Area of Clip:
Page 2 of 2
37009
50100mm²