Author Guest of Honor: Chris McKitterick
Chris McKitterick's work has appeared in many publications (his newest Analog novella won the AnLab Award). His debut novel was Transcendence, and current projects include The Galactic Adventures of Jack & Stella, Empire Ship, Stories from a Perilous Youth, and much more. He's done speaking gigs around the world, operated carbon-arc movie projectors, chaired the Campbell and Sturgeon Award juries, directed James Gunn's original for decades, and runs the nonprofit Ad Astra Institute for Science Fiction & the Speculative Imagination. He's lived in seven states and two countries, but calls Lawrence (Kansas) home, where he writes, teaches, watches the stars, and raises a future SF fan (Harvey) with his wife, Lauren, amid a multitude of critters. He sees surviving his youth as evidence of quantum realities.
Artist Guest of Honor: Theresa Mather
A professional artist since 1989, Theresa Mather creates fantasy works featuring a variety of unusual creatures. Best known for her pieces painted on feathers and stone, integrating her paintings with the natural colors and textures of the surface, Theresa draws much of her inspiration from the world around her.
“When I need inspiration, I go hiking somewhere,” is how Theresa answers that frequently asked question. Theresa and her husband Barry Short reside in Cedar City, Utah, where the many nearby national parks – Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capital Reef, Arches, Canyonlands, and Grand Canyon - give her plenty of opportunity to find inspiration.
Theresa is an artist who chooses to work outside of gaming and publication, exhibiting and selling her work at science fiction convention art shows across the country. She enjoys the freedom this gives her to paint whatever she desires, allowing her paintings to be truly her creations. In addition to this, she was active in the field of antique carousel restoration from 1989 through 1999, painting suites of large scale paintings for the crestings of 5 antique carousels and decorative paintwork for a sixth.
While Theresa does have some formal art training, she'll tell you that one art professor gave her the best advice: “You don't need to be here. Just go paint. Paint and paint and paint.” And she did.
Theresa Mather's artwork explores a wide range of the fantasy bestiary, from traditional fauna like dragons, gryphons and unicorns to unusual versions of the pets lurking within our own homes, keeping their true nature hidden from us.
In addition to her fantasy art, she has also created full sets of replacement scenery paintings for several antique carousels. Best known for her pieces painted on feathers and stone, integrating her paintings with the natural colors and textures of the surface, Theresa draws much of her inspiration from the world around her.
Theresa resides in the red rock country of southern Utah, where she enjoys hiking, cooking, gardening, cat herding, and exploring - when she isn't painting or drawing.
Toastmaster Guest of Honor: Dr. Michael Page
Dr. Michael Page teaches science fiction in the English Department at UNL. Dr. Page’s new book is a study of the life and works of James Gunn, Saving the World Through Science Fiction: James Gunn, Writer, Teacher and Scholar (McFarland, 2017). He has also written the definitive study on science fiction master Frederik Pohl, Frederik Pohl (University of Illinois, 2015) and edited an edition of the stories of pioneering SF writer and Lincoln native Miles J. Breuer, The Man with the Strange Head (Bison Books, 2008).