As usual, the Italian National Convention (Italcon 35, in this case) for professionals and fans who read fantascienza, as SF is known in Italy, linked up with media fandom (Deepcon 10), causing the presence of Star Trek, Voyager, DS9, FarScape celebrities such as the lively Marina Sirtis (who supports Tottenham Hotspur), and likewise Lolita Fatjo, as well as Janet and Larry Nemecek, Anthony Simcoe, Ka D’Argo, and Max Grodénchik; while the SF side weighed in with Sergey Lukyanenko who smokes two impressive curved pipes, sage Bruce Sterling who abides in Turin, amiable Mary Turzillo and Geoffrey Landis, Italian editorial luminary Giuseppe Lippi, and me. Plus surrealistic Roberto Quaglia, who launched, together with myself, what may be the first ever full-length fiction work by two authors with different mother tongues, The Beloved of My Beloved (Newcon Press), receiving its UK launch at the Bradford Eastercon (shameless plug!). In fact Roberto ended up being laureated by Eurocon 2009 as Best European Author, while Boris Sidyuk of Ukraine was hailed as Best Promoter (Boris ran the Eurocon in Kiev a couple of years ago); Best Translator being Flora Stagliano of Italy, Best Artist Franco Brambilla likewise of Italy, Best Publisher Metropolis Media of Hungary, and Best Magazine Nova SF of Sweden. The Swedes also won the bid to host the 2011 Eurocon in Stockholm. Actually, I’m not sure that anyone was bidding against them, so it’s a jolly good thing they were willing and eager, handing out Swedish delicacies at the Eatcon (not to be confused with Eastercon) following on the Gala Dinner on the Saturday night – the Eatcon is a traditional event at the Italian cons, where fans bring delectable regional salamis and cheeses and breads and vino from all over the country to hand out, just in case the four-course banquet preceding it left a few gaps in a stomach already well trained by the Ambasciadori Hotel’s three-course lunches and dinners with vino; and ooh the almond cake at breakfast was pretty delicious too, going nicely with the peaches and ham as succulent as sashimi and cheese and whatnot else, although some restraint was shown by not serving wine for breakfast too. Next year’s Eurocon is a tri-country event in a town straddling Poland and the Czech Republic, so that it has two mayors, who are both SF fans, and two currencies.

Since this was also an Italian national con, whereas this is a Eurocon report, I’m neglecting to mention the many charming Italian authors who were doing their thing in Italian, and undoubtedly neglecting much else and other noteworthies besides (constraints of word length!), although it should be recorded that Mr Lally was at times wearing a suit (hence my use of an honorific). A jolly good perfect-bound magazine, Next SF Magazine, all in English, profiled a lot of Italian authors, while Delos Books produced specially for the con a handsome perfect-bound 136-page complimentary book for all members, The Deep Space Traveler’s Guide, edited by the redoubtable Silvio Sosio and Flora Stagliono, with stories variously in English, Italian, and German, from Ruth Nestvold, me, Geoffrey Landis, Mary Turzillo, Frank Roger of Belgium (now available in 37 languages including Welsh), Elisabetta Vernier, Thomas Mielke, Lanfranco Fabriani, Vittorio Catani and Vittorio Curtoni (who avoid confusion by living far apart in Bari and Piacenza respectively).

A great time was had by all, as they say.