FenCon, which describes itself as “a literary science fiction and fantasy convention with quite a lot of filk programming, some science programming, an outstanding collection of guests, an art show, a charity auction, a short story contest, a writers workshop, our signature FenCon Cabaret, costuming and maker programming, and members like you,” stood by their decision to have Monster Hunter novelist Larry Correia as their guest of honor.
On March 29th, FenCon Convention, a production of the Dallas Future Society that takes place between September 16th and 18th in Irving, Texas, announced on Facebook that their Guest of Honor for the show would be Larry Correia.
They wrote, “Larry Correia is the New York Times bestselling, award winning, author of twenty-five novels and three collections worth of short fiction. Born and raised in the San Joaquin Valley of California, Larry comes from a long line of Portuguese dairy farmers. He studied accounting at Utah State University and worked as a corporate auditor.”
“Before becoming a writer Larry was a firearms instructor, machinegun dealer, and defense contract accountant. His first book, Monster Hunter International, was self-published, but then picked up by Baen Books, where he has been ever since. Married to the lovely Mrs. Correia, he has four children, and lives in Yard Moose Mountain, Utah,” their post concluded.
Following the announcement, a number of individuals albeit it appeared to be a minority expressed their disgust at Correia being invited as the Guest of Honor.
Michael Conley wrote, “Needed someone to represent the I’m a whiny little b**** victim democratic did ya?”
Amy Sisson wrote, “Oh Fencon WTactualF?”
Jeremy Brett responded, “I guess they think whiny right wingers needs love, too?”
In response to these detractors FenCon Convention issued a statement on March 31st confirming that Correia would be their Guest of Honor.
They wrote, “FenCon has always selected our guests based upon their body of work. We know that there may be writers, artists, or creators that some fans disagree with for reasons other than their published works. We have always worked hard to be accepting of all fans and guests.”
“Our goal is for FenCon to be a place free of politicized opinions and discriminations. Anyone is free to not attend if they don’t like a guests views – however we feel that would be passing up a chance to actually get to know a person and see past your differences,” FenCon continued.
“Diversity of thought and opinion is just as important as any other kind of diversity and can bring new understanding when it is allowed to happen,” they concluded.
Correia would also address their response on his blog, where he stated, “This one is cheating, because it was the day after my ban was over, but FenCon announced that I am their writer Guest of Honor.”
“Immediately a bunch of Caring Leftists threw a temper tantrum and demanded that I get kicked out because of my evil badthink. But FenCon issued a statement and stuck to their guns. So that was refreshing!”
“I’ve found it’s about 50/50 when SJWs throw a tantrum if the event caves and kicks me out or not,” Correia concluded.
Fellow novelist Jon Del Arroz reacted to FenCon’s statement saying, “It’s very nice to hear this. It is refreshing. I’ve never heard of anybody fighting back like this. This a new era. I really think that 2022 enough normal people are fed up with it and they’re not scared of the SJWs anymore.”
“They see that these guys can make a mob and throw a fit and cause maybe two, three weeks of disturbance online, but in reality the SJWs have no power,” he said.
He then addressed other convention organizers, “I gotta say to anybody who watches this who’s a convention organizer, a person who schedules guests for programming or anything like that, don’t worry. These people don’t have power. All they can do it amplify the signal of what’s going on and it makes it so normal people want to attend.”
He later noted, “[FenCon’s] going to get rewarded for having a guest like Larry, who writes books that are fun that people enjoy and the SJWs can buzz off. They don’t have any money anyway.”
Del Arroz concluded, “I’m happy about this. I love watching this. I hope that we start to turn the tide in culture even further.”
What do you make of FenCon’s stance to double down on their decision to have Larry Correia as Guest of Honor? Do you plan on attending FenCon now?