Octothorpe

By John Coxon, Alison Scott, Liz BattyFiction Science Fiction

Octothorpe episodes

October 08170: Maybe We Should All Have Bells
John, Alison and Liz are live from Octocon!
An uncorrected transcript of this episode is available here. Please email your letters of comment to [email protected], join our Facebook group, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on X or on Mastodon or on Bluesky) when you post about the show on social media.
Content warnings this episode: It’s a live recording!
The Ultimate Gene Wolfe Library on Humble Bundle
Barry’s Tea and Lyons Tea
Conventions
Octocon: 3–4 October 2026 in Cork, Ireland
Shake, Battle and Roll: 10–11 October 2026 in Southampton, UK
Tyneside Games Expo: 17–18 October 2026 in Gateshead, UK
PictCon 2026: 17 October in Perth, UK
Stabcon 2027: 8–10 January in Stockport, UK
Airecon 2027: 11–14 March (the last one!) in Harrogate, UK
Picks
John: The Waiter by Kwan Ann Tan
The Emma Press
Alison: (is a bit short of a pick)
Liz: CONTROL Resonant
Credits
Cover art: “Live from Octothorpe” by Liz Batty
Alt text: Three crocheted Octos – one purple, one green, and one red – sit against a white background. The words “Octocon 170” appear at the top and “Live from Octothorpe” appear at the bottom. (Octo is the Octocon mascot and is an octopus, so these are made from the official Octo crochet pattern.)
Theme music: “Surf Shimmy” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)
54 min
September 24169: The Helsinki Problem
John parties, Alison queues, and Liz betrays.
An uncorrected transcript of this episode is available here. Please email your letters of comment to [email protected], join our Facebook group, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on Bluesky or on Mastodon) when you post about the show on social media.
Content warnings this episode:
Letters of comment
Andrew January (email)
Chris Garcia (emails)
DC (Bluesky)
Ed Morland (Bluesky)
Henry Balen (Facebook)
Kevin Anderson (Bluesky)
Malcolm Hutchison (Facebook)
Steve (email)
Trish Matson (email)
We also heard from Bridget Bradshaw, Farah Mendlesohn, Ivan Sinha, Jake Casella Brookins, Kev McVeigh, Kin-Ming Looi, Mike Scott, Paul Weimer, Roseanna Pendlebury, Scott Edelman, Shi Lala, and Tammy Coxen
Octocon 2026: Cork and online
Octocon Programme
Bristolcon 2026
Left Handed Giant
The University of Liverpool’s Science Fiction Collection has been awarded Designated status by Arts Council England
Special Collections & Archives: Science Fiction Hub
Cameron Kunzelman in the Ancillary Review of Books on Joanna Russ and archives
“Archiving the Future: Preserving African Speculative Fiction” at LAcon V
Worldcon 2026: LAcon V
4
Picks
John: Pandemic Legacy: Season 1
Alison: The Bayeux Tapestry
Alison writes about queues
The copy held at Reading Museum
Liz: Foreigner by CJ Cherryh
Humble Bundle
Swimcast
Credits
Cover art: SKULK! by Sabrina L. Nelson, used under a CC BY-ND licence (original here)
Alt text: A photograph of various fans at LAcon V cosplaying foxes to varying degrees, including John wearing some fox ears and his wife España Sheriff wearing a fox mask. Above, orange text on a white background reads “Octothorpe 169” and below it reads “Foxes skulk at LAcon V”. For some reason, Adobe Photoshop is convinced I’ve used an AI-generated image, but given it’s a photograph and some text Adobe Photoshop can get in the sea.
Theme music: “Surf Shimmy” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)
1 hr 30 min
September 10168: It’s a Very Little Cat
John is tired, Alison is listening to music, and Liz is catsitting.
An uncorrected transcript of this episode is available here. Please email your letters of comment to [email protected], join our Facebook group, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on Bluesky or on Mastodon) when you post about the show on social media.
Content warnings this episode: Clowns (Chapter 1), Hugo Award statistics (Chapter 3)
Worldcon 2026: LAcon V
Hugo Awards
Results
Full Statistics
Administrator’s Report
Hugo Awards Ceremony on YouTube
Southside Symphony
Robert Jackson Bennett on the award speeches
Hugo, Girl!
Program guide
Worldcon Photos on Flickr
Worldcon 2028: Aussiecon 5
Picks
John:
The Prestige by Christopher Priest
The Recollections by Christopher Priest
Alison: Little, Big by John Crowley
Liz: Sublimation by Isabel J Kim
Credits
Cover art: “Love Is In the Air” by IHOP Photographer
Alt text: A photograph of John and Duncan MacGregor taken at an IHOP near the Hilton Anaheim. They are turned to look at each other in a booth. Their facial expressions are difficult to read, but hearts overlay the picture and so we surmise they are in love. Faces of bystanders are pixellated for privacy purposes. Words above the photo read “Octothorpe 168” and below read “Love is in the air at LAcon V”.
Theme music: “Surf Shimmy” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)
53 min
August 27167: Way More Fun Than the Actual Hugos
John, Alison, and Liz fix the Hugo Awards once and for all.
An uncorrected transcript of this episode is available here. Please email your letters of comment to [email protected], join our Facebook group, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on Bluesky or on Mastodon) when you post about the show on social media.
Content warnings this episode:
Letters of comment
Alison: Mike Scott (Facebook)
“How is Inventing the Renaissance an SFF-Related Work?” by Ada Palmer
Liz: Tammy Coxen (Bluesky 1, Bluesky 2)
John: Heather Rose Jones (Facebook)
The Brand-New, Definitely-WSFS-Approved Hugo Award® Rosters!
Alison
Novel: Redefined to be 60,000+ words, awards to author and editor
Dramatic Presentation (Short Form): Redefined to standalone works
Vibes: Best thing that seems like it should be genre but isn’t
New Writer: Redefined as a debut in the last three years, has never won a Hugo Award (!)
Fan: No previous winners, no professionals (with some caveats)
Original Artwork: Flat art and sculpture
John
Game or Interactive Work
Dramatic Presentation (Television): Nominating series, no standalone episodes
Novella: Refined to be up to 60,000 words, awards to author and editor
Related Work: Redefined to render conventions and things that exclusively happen at conventions ineligible
Fancast: It’s perfect just the way it is
Fan Artist: Defined “properly”
Liz
Dramatic Presentation (Moving Picture): Redefined to exclude TV series somehow
Publisher
Neon Hemlock
Haikasoru
Series: Redefined to let series of above a number of volumes on, even under the 240,000 word count (the Nghi Vo amendment)
[I SAID IT AND I MEANT IT—John]
Short Story/Novelette: Redefined to be shorter than 15,000 words, award to author only
Community Benefit: Works by the community which exist to benefit the community
Hugo Spreadsheet of Doom
AO3
Con or Bust
Video Essay: Non-fiction works in video format
Credits
Cover art: “Summer of Fungi” by España Sheriff
Alt text: An watercolour of three pink mushrooms growing on the trunk of a tree. The words “Octothorpe 167” appear at the top, and “summer of fungi” appear at the bottom. The listener is left to discern which mushroom represents which co-host.
Theme music: “Surf Shimmy” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)
1 hr 15 min
August 14166: Writings of Greeks and Romans
John, Alison, and Liz have stopped talking about it now.
An uncorrected transcript of this episode is available here. Please email your letters of comment to [email protected], join our Facebook group, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on Bluesky or on Mastodon) when you post about the show on social media.
Letters of comment
Andrew January (email)
Chris Garcia (email)
Dave Langford (email)
Reginald’s Rubaiyat by Saki
Doug Faunt (email)
Nando’s menu
Perrianne Lurie (email)
Simon Bubb (email)
21Moon
Railway Rivals
Trains
Zara Baxter (email)
We also heard from Jesi Lipp, Nicholas Whyte, and Paul Weimer
Worldcon 2026: LAcon V
WSFS Business Meeting recaps
Chris Garcia is running WOOF
John’s programme items
Octocon 2026: 3–4 October
We are online guests! (Blog, Bluesky)
Picks
John: A Thousand Blues by Cheon Seon-ran, translated by Chi-Young Kim
Alison: Spain
Liz: Notes from a Regicide by Isaac Fellman
Credits
Cover art: “Summer of Sun” by Alison Scott
Alt text: A photograph of a total solar eclipse above a beach in Northern Spain. Text reads “Octothorpe 166” in purple at the top and “SUMMER of SUN” in white at the bottom.
Theme music: “Surf Shimmy” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)
Incidental music: “Local Forecast – Elevator” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)
44 min
July 30165: E Ese Efe Ese
John is big-headed, Alison has a right of reply, and Liz explains how voting should work.
An uncorrected transcript of this episode is available here. Please email your letters of comment to [email protected], join our Facebook group, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on Bluesky or on Mastodon) when you post about the show on social media.
Letters of comment
Brian Nisbet (Facebook)
Chris Garcia (email)
Eurocon 2029: Bid for Warsaw, Poland
Constanze Hofmann (email)
ESFS
ESFS statues
Gareth Kavanagh (Facebook)
Ivaylo Alekseev (email)
Leigh Edmonds (email)
Digger by Ursula Vernon
Neil Ottenstein (Facebook)
Renay (Bluesky)
Shi Lala (Facebook)
Alison: Scott Edelman (Bluesky)
We also heard from Constanze Hofmann, Farah Mendlesohn, Ivan Sinha, Jonathan Cowie, Kev McVeigh, Lilian Edwards, and Paul Weimer
Worldcon 2026: LAcon V
The WSFS Business Meeting Agenda
WSFS Business Meeting Recaps from LAcon V
F.7 Limitation on Listed Contributors for Hugo Award Finalists
This was withdrawn by Olav Rokne at the Preliminary Business Meeting
“Role Creep in the Hugo Awards Semiprozine Category” by Tammy Coxen on File 770
“Role Creep and the Numbers Game: A Measured Response” by Kat Kourbeti on File 770
F.8 Purposeful Proportionality
[Alison told me that we should link a CGP Grey video here but then didn’t put it in the show notes, so good luck finding it, listeners—John]
History of Hugo Category Definitions by Tammy Coxen
Unofficial WSFS Business Meeting Browser by Andrew January
Locus
Locus Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year: Volume 1 on Kickstarter
Picks
John: Mothership Companion
Alison: Strange Horticulture
Liz: Moderation by Elaine Castillo
Credits
Cover art: “Stand Up and Be Counted”, found art détourned by Alison Scott
Alt text: 72 assorted LEGO minifigs in a 6x12 grid. Words above read “Octothorpe 165” and below read “WSFS Business Meeting Register: Stand up and be Counted”. The title case on the part of the sentence after the colon is, frankly, bananas, and it certainly isn’t aligned with the Octothorpe style guide.
Theme music: “Surf Shimmy” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)
1 hr
July 16164: WSFS and ESFS and All Sorts of SFSes
John is not quite awake, Alison’s off to the cricket, and Liz is doing it in an unusual order.
An uncorrected transcript of this episode is available here. Please email your letters of comment to [email protected], join our Facebook group, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on Bluesky or on Mastodon) when you post about the show on social media.
Content warnings this episode:
Letters of comment
Ali Baker Brooks (Facebook)
Chris Garcia (email)
Farah Mendlesohn (Bluesky)
Jake Casella Brookins (Bluesky)
Paul Weimer (email)
Kevin Anderson (Bluesky)
Roseanna Pendlebury (Bluesky)
GeForce NOW
We also heard from Doug Faunt, Jonathan Baddeley, Kev McVeigh, Kin-Ming Looi, Lilian Edwards, and Scott Edelman
Eurocon 2026: Metropol Con in Berlin, Germany
Thanks to James Bacon for some fantastic reporting on File 770: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4
Eurocon
Eurocon 2027: Forum Fantástico in Lisbon, Portugal (23–26 September)
Eurocon 2028: SFeraKon 50 in Zagreb, Croatia (probably the second weekend in May)
Eurocon 2029: Bids for Warsaw, Poland and Sofia, Bulgaria
Eurocon 2030: Bids for Birmingham, England and Fuiggi, Italy
Eurocon 2031: Bid for Belgrade, Serbia
Eurocon 2032: Bid for Copenhagen, Denmark
The Andreas Kuschke Prize was awarded to Constanze Hofmann
Berlin
Ehl-i Kebap
FABELEI
Wombats
Worldcon 2026: LAcon V
The WSFS Business Meeting Agenda
Picks
John: On the Calculation of Volume by Solvej Balle, translated by Barbara Haveland (I and II) and Jennifer Russell & Sophia Hersi Smith (III)
Alison: Abstract Play
BoardGameArena
Gerrymandle
Tabletopia
Yucata
18xx.Games
Rollway Station
Liz: Cinder House by Freya Marske
Credits
Cover art: “Summer of Fun” by Alison Scott
Alt text: John and Liz are behind two large stacks of paper with text reading “WSFS Agenda… D… E… E… F… F7… more F7… secret squirrel” whilst Alison sits in the stands of Lord’s. Words above say “Octothorpe 164” and “It’s the summer of fun!”.
Theme music: “Surf Shimmy” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)
1 hr 18 min
July 02163: Board Games 💋
John couldn’t check, Alison was wrong, and Liz is accurate.
An uncorrected transcript of this episode is available here. Please email your letters of comment to [email protected], join our Facebook group, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on Bluesky or on Mastodon) when you post about the show on social media.
Content warnings this episode: None
Letters of comment
Ali Baker (Facebook)
One-day Frances Hardinge symposium
Chris Garcia (email)
Frederik Coulter (Facebook)
Jake Casella Brookins (email)
“Hugo Overlaps: Some Comparisons” on Ancillary Review of Books
Casella’s SFF Award Comparator
Kate Macdonald (email)
Kin-Ming Looi (Facebook)
Mike Scott (Facebook)
Neil Ottenstein (Facebook)
Niall Harrison
Paul Weimer (email)
Raj (Mastodon)
The World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops
European Coffee Trip
Scott Edelman (Facebook)
Broken Clock Café (Facebook, Instagram)
Tantrum Doughnuts
Pastéis Lisboa
Tammy Coxen (Bluesky and Facebook)
Meg MacDonald’s offer on Bluesky
Trish Matson (Bluesky)
We also heard from: DC, Farah Mendlesohn, Ivan Sinha, Karen Schaffer
Worldcon 2026: LAcon V in Los Angeles
It’s that special time of year again, the WSFS Business Meeting Agenda is out!
Business Meetings at LAcon V
17 July, 26 July, 1 August, 9 August, 30 August
Eating the Fantastic
Tammy Coxen wrote about TGI Fridays being American and how Alison “couldn’t be more wrong”
Eurocon 2026: Metropol Con in Berlin, Germany
Eurocon 2027: Fórum Fantástico in Lisbon, Portugal
Fantasycon/World Fantasy Con
Eurocon 2028: Bid for Croatia
Eurocon 2029: Bid for Warsaw, Poland
Eurocon 2030:
Bid for Birmingham, England
Bid for Copenhagen, Denmark
Other things Liz thinks are neat:
Eddie Clark has finished the Queersar not-an-award blog series
Picks
John: Widow’s Bay
Katie Dippold as the Babadook
Hugo, Girl!’s episode on Widow’s Bay
Alison: Portmeirion
Liz: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Credits
Cover art: “Alison the Goldfish” by Sue Mason
Alt text: A goldfish with the head of Alison wearing goggles and swim headphones. The words “Moist Ear Tunes*” appear at the top and the words “SF Fandom’s Premier Swim Headphone Podcast”, “Fun Fact: Moist Ear Tunes is a nonogram of Octothorpe 163” and “Sue Mason art appears courtesy of Plokta (thanks guys)” appear at the bottom. I know that Alison has forgotten to include the asterisk on the footnote, but since she also has the memory of a goldfish maybe it’s a delightful and multilayered joke.
Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)
1 hr 4 min
June 18162: Do You Have Stirrups on Your Bicycle?
John wasn’t overcrowded, Alison likes it small, and Liz has never been.
An uncorrected transcript of this episode is available here. Please email your letters of comment to [email protected], join our Facebook group, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on Bluesky or on Mastodon) when you post about the show on social media.
Content warnings this episode: Drug use, war (John’s pick)
Letters of comment
Christopher J Garcia (email)
DC (Bluesky)
Els (Bluesky)
Ivan Sinha (Facebook)
Premier Inns in Llandudno
Jonathan Harden (Bluesky)
Nicholas Whyte (email)
“Best Related Work eligibility for the Hugo Awards”
Scott Edelman (Bluesky)
Eating the Fantastic
Tommy Ferguson (email)
Trish Matson (Bluesky)
Shokz OpenSwim Pro
Alison: Raj (Mastodon)
We also heard from Ali Baker Brooks, aoanla, Jonathan Baddeley, Neil Ottenstein
Satellite 9
Ottoman Coffeehouse
Blood on the Clocktower
Bristol 1350
Codex Naturalis
Farah Mendlesohn is running a one-day event about Frances Hardinge
Worldcon 2028: Former bid for Nuremberg, Germany
Worldcon 2028: Bid for Brisbane, Australia
Paul Weimer (email)
Clouds and stuff
UK Games Expo 2026
“UK Games Expo 2026 breaks NEC attendance records as infrastructure buckles under massive crowds” at GeekNative by Andrew Girdwood
“Stupid Games, Stupid Prizes” by Tim Clare
Some discourse on Bluesky
Picks
John: Starship Salvager by Jarrom Strong
Alison: Hades II
Liz: Play Nice: The Rise, Fall and Future of Blizzard Entertainment by Jason Schreier
Game Over by David Sheff
Credits
Cover art: “Scenes of the Village” by Alison Scott
Alt text: A photograph of Portmeirion made to look like a stamp or a postcard, with words overlaid saying “Holiday greetings from Portmeirion, be seeing you…”. Above reads “Octothorpe 162” and below reads “Alison has gone on holiday again”.
Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)
1 hr 11 min
June 04161: You Pay Your Money, You Send Your Books
John, Alison and Liz read the Clarke Award shortlist.
An uncorrected transcript of this episode is available here. Please email your letters of comment to [email protected], join our Facebook group, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on Bluesky or on Mastodon) when you post about the show on social media.
Content warnings this episode: Gun control and dystopian government (The Dream Hotel), body dysmorphia (Luminous), child abuse (The Salt Oracle)
The Arthur C Clarke Award
Medium
Substack
Website
This year’s shortlist
Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami
Luminous by Sylvia Park
There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm
When There Are Wolves Again by EJ Swift
The Salt Oracle by Lorraine Wilson
This year’s submission list
Credits
Cover art: “Judge Coxon’s Last Stand” by Alison Scott
Alt text: John, wearing a Judge Dredd-style helmet with the Clarke Award logo on it and holding a lightsaber, dispenses judgement from behind a wall of books. The words “Octothorpe 161” appear above him, whilst words below say “Arthur C. Clarke Award 2026: Judge Coxon’s Last Stand”.
Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)
49 min