Minicon is an annual gathering of science fiction and fantasy fans sponsored by the Minnesota Science Fiction Society (Minn-StF). These days the convention is held each year in or near Minneapolis, Minnesota over Easter weekend. Minicon is Minnesota's longest-running science fiction convention.
will be held April 18–20, 2025.
For further information go to the Minicon 58 website or contact us at:
Minicon
Lake Street Station
PO Box 8297
Minneapolis MN 55408-0297
And you can also probably find us on various social medias.
| Dates | Membership | Location (City) | Guests | Theme, slogan, etc. | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | January 6, 1968, 12:30–5pm | 60 total | Coffman Union (Men's Lounge), University of Minnesota (Mpls) | GoHs: Gordon R. Dickson, Charles De Vet & Clifford Simak | A Strange New World of Science Fiction | January Minicon — not over Easter (or Passover). Archival material updated in the last year |
| 2 | April 4–6, 1969 | 48 prereg, 115 total | Andrews Hotel (Mpls) | GoHs: Gordon R. Dickson, Charles De Vet & Clifford Simak | — | |
| 3 | April 3–5, 1970 | 130 total | Dyckman Hotel (Mpls) | GoHs: Poul Anderson, Gordon R. Dickson & Clifford Simak | The Minneapolis in '73 Convention! | Not over Easter (or Passover). |
| 4 | June 18–20, 1971 | 150 total | Curtis Hotel (Mpls) | GoH: Lin Carter | The Minneapolis in '73 Convention! | June Minicon — not over Easter (or Passover). H.M.S. Trek-a-star performed. Archival material updated in the last year |
| 5 | October 15–17, 1971 | 100 total | Andrews Hotel (Mpls) | GoH: Volsted Gridban (this is an oft-repeated joke; in fact, there was no guest) | The Genghiscon! | Second Minicon of 1971; the first MNSTF fallcon. |
| 6 | April 7–9, 1972 | 175 total | GoH: Ruth Berman | The Stereo-opticon! | Not over Easter (or Passover). Archival material updated in the last year | |
| 7 | April 20–22, 1973 | 220 total | Hyatt Lodge (Mpls) | Larry Niven, pro GoH Rusty Hevelin, fan GoH |
The Minneapolis in '73 Con! | Archival material updated in the last year |
| 8 | April 12–14, 1974 | 350 total | Dyckman Hotel (Mpls) | Kelly Freas, pro GoH Bob Tucker, fan GoH Ben Bova, toastmaster |
— | Archival material updated in the last year |
| 9 | October 11–13, 1974 | 190 total | Minneapolis Public Library/Dyckman Hotel (Mpls) | GoHs: Judy-Lynn del Rey & Lester del Rey | — | Second Minicon in 1974; the second Minnstf fallcon. |
| 10 | April 18–20, 1975 | 510 total | Holiday Inn (Mpls) | Poul Anderson, pro GoH Gordy Dickson, fan GoH Lester del Rey, toastmaster |
— | Not over Easter (or Passover). Archival material updated in the last year |
| 11 | April 16–18, 1976 | 325 prereg, 525 total | Leamington Hotel (Mpls) | Edmond Hamilton & Leigh Brackett, pro GoHs Leigh Couch & Norb Couch, fan GoHs Jackie Franke & Rusty Hevelin, toastmasters |
— | The Mimeo Man performed. Archival material updated in the last year |
| 12 | April 8–10, 1977 | 475 prereg, 625 total | Ben Bova, pro GoH Buck Coulson & Juanita Coulson, fan GoHs Joe Haldeman, toastmaster |
The Dododecacon | Midwestside Story performed. Archival material updated in the last year | |
| 13 | March 24–26, 1978 | 800 (total?) | Samuel R. Delany, pro GoH Spider Robinson, fan GoH Bob Tucker, artist GoH Krissy, toastmaster |
Nothing is as it seems | Did not overlap with Passover. Archival material updated in the last year | |
| 15 | April 13–15, 1979 | 830 prereg, 1019 total | Minneapolis Radisson (Mpls) | Theodore Sturgeon, pro GoH Tom Digby, fan GoH Rick Sternbach, artist GoH Bob Vardeman, honored guest |
The other 10% | Yes, 15 followed 13. See notes below, for Minicon 14, etc. Archival material updated in the last year |
| 16 | April 4–6, 1980 | 869 prereg, 1170 total | C.J. Cherryh, pro GoH Jon Singer, fan GoH Ken Fletcher, artist GoH Nate Bucklin, musician GoH Wilson (Bob) Tucker, toastmaster |
Déjà Vu | Archival material updated in the last year | |
| 17 | April 17–19, 1981 | 966 prereg, 1173 total | Jack Vance, pro GoH Jerry Boyajian, fan GoH Kathy Marschall, artist GoH Reed Waller, musician GoH |
— | Archival material updated in the last year | |
| 14 | April 9–11, 1982 | 874 prereg, 1065 total | St. Paul Radisson (St. Paul) | John Varley, pro GoH Cliff Simak, fan GoH Spider Robinson, musician GoH |
Forward, Into the Past | Archival material updated in the last year |
| 19 | April 1–3, 1983 | 881 prereg, 1185 total | Larry Niven, pro GoH Pamela Dean & David Dyer-Bennet, fan GoHs Dave Sim, artist GoH Spider John Koerner, musician GoH Steven K. Zoltan Brust, toastmaster Nostradamus, proxy GoH |
Backward, Into the Future | ||
| 18 | April 20–22, 1984 | 1052 prereg, 1450 total, 1385 warm | Leamington Hotel (Mpls) | Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, pro GoH Dave Wixon, fan GoH Steve Hickman, artist GoH Somtow Sucharitkul, musician GoH Rusty Hevelin, toastmaster Bob Tucker, smooth GoH |
We know what we're doing and you don't. Trust us. | Archival material updated in the last year |
| 20 | April 5–7, 1985 | 1072 prereg, 1434 total, 1378 warm | Radisson Hotel South (Bloomington), now commonly known in fannish circles as the RadishTree. Additionally there were overflow hotels for the largest Minicons (but all programming was in the Radisson): for Minicons 28–30 and 33 the Wyndham Garden, for Minicons 29–33 L'Hotel Sofitel, and for Minicons 31–33 the Holiday Inn Airport 2. | James P. Hogan, pro GoH Permanent Floating Riot Club, fan group GoH Stu Shiffman, artist GoH The White Women, musician GoHs Kara Dalkey & Jerry Stearns, toastmasters Somtow Sucharitkul, Sucker-It-Kul GoH (who didn't make it to the con) |
Let's you and I get normal for a change | |
| 21 | March 28–30, 1986 | 1109 prereg, 1533 total, 1475 warm | Damon Knight & Kate Wilhelm, pro GoHs Denny Lien, fan GoH Ken Fletcher, artist GoH Ann Passovoy, musician GoH Diane Duane, toastmaster special guests: Phyllis Eisenstein, Terri Windling, John M. Ford & P.C. Hodgell |
Now we're just immoral and fattening | Did not overlap with Passover. Archival material updated in the last year | |
| 22 | April 17–19, 1987 | 1566 prereg, 2042 total, 1950 warm | David Brin, pro GoH Fred Haskell, fan GoH Erin McKee, artist GoH Jerry Stearns, musician GoH Robert Bloch, toastmaster special guests: Diane Duane, Jane Yolen & Ellen Kushner |
Still Crazy After All These Years | Archival material updated in the last year | |
| 23 | April 1–3, 1988 | 1745 prereg (at least), 2350 total | Eleanor Arnason, author GoH Eric Heideman, fan GoH Frederik Pohl, editor GoH Crystal Marvig, artist GoH Richard Feynman, science GoH special guests: Jane Yolen, David Hartwell & Algis Budrys |
Spring Forward, Fall Over | ||
| 24 | March 24–26, 1989 | 2025 prereg, 2470 total | GoHs: Harry Harrison, George “Lan” Laskowski, Fritz Leiber & Barry Longyear special guests: Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Teresa Nielsen Hayden, P.C. Hodgell, Larry Niven & John Sladek |
Zen and the Art of Fan Maintenance | Did not overlap with Passover | |
| 25 | April 13–15, 1990 | 2425 prereg, 3000 total, 2800 warm | Jane Yolen, GoH Kim Stanley Robinson, author GoH Patrick Price, “Arthur” GoH David Thayer a.k.a. Teddy Harvia, artist GoH David E Romm, fan GoH Earl Joseph, science GoH special guests: Dave Clement, P.C. Hodgell, Dr. Joseph Romm & Art Widner |
The Silver Edition | ||
| 26 | March 29–31, 1991 | 2080 prereg, 2299 total, 2150 warm | George Alec Effinger, author GoH David Cherry, artist GoH Al Kuhfeld, Ph.D., science GoH Suzanne V. Tompkins & Jerry Kaufman, fan GoHs Jon Singer, lunch GoH |
Think of it as Evolution in Action | ||
| 27 | April 17–19, 1992 | 2491 prereg, 2648 total, 2502 warm | Lois McMaster Bujold, writer GoH Ctein, artist GoH Dave Van Ronk, musician GoH |
Don't Ever Be A Dodo | ||
| 28 | April 9–11, 1993 | 2860 prereg, 3100 total, 2846 warm | Susan Allison, editor GoH Diane Duane & Peter Morwood, author GoHs Kathy Mar, musician GoH Don Fitch, bless his sweet heart GoH John M. Ford, interesting person GoH |
Suite, Savage Minicon | ||
| 29 | April 1–3, 1994 | 3075 prereg, 3300 total, 3180±175 warm | Tom Doherty, publisher GoH Jack Williamson, author GoH Rusty Hevelin, fan GoH Phil Foglio, artist GoH |
It seemed like a good idea at the time | ||
| 30 | April 14–16, 1995 | 3100+ prereg, 3715 total, 3450 warm | Vernor Vinge, author GoH Dr. Robert Forward, science GoH Jody Lee, artist GoH The Bhigg House, fan group GoH Glen Cook, honored guest |
Some Assembly Required or “Would You Like Fries With That?” | First Minicon to have a web page. | |
| 31 | April 5–7, 1996 | 2957 prereg, 3619 total, 3564 warm | Suzette Haden Elgin, GoH Ed Emshwiller, memorial artist GoH Joe Siclari & Edie Stern, fan GoHs David Ossman, audio GoH James P. Hogan, science GoH L.A. Taylor, honored guest |
Coming to a Galaxy Near You | ||
| 32 | March 28–30, 1997 | 2957 prereg, 3500+ total | Algis Budrys, author GoH C.J. Cherryh, author GoH Tom Doherty, publisher GoH Tom Lopez, audio GoH Patrick Nielsen Hayden, editor GoH Teresa Nielsen Hayden, editor GoH Michael Swanwick, author GoH |
Even Chaos has a Pattern | Did not overlap with Passover | |
| 33 | April 10–12, 1998 | 3125 prereg, 3431 total, 3262 warm | Gardner Dozois, pro GoH Dave Langford, fan GoH John M. Ford, toastmaster Phil Proctor, Mark Time Award presenter |
Heisenberg Probably Slept Here | Last "big Minicon". See also concom meeting minutes, the accepted bid, and opening ceremonies radio shows photos & audio (WayBack version). Midwestside Story reprised. | |
| 34 | April 2–4, 1999 | ~1360 prereg, 1525 total | Hilton Minneapolis and Towers (Mpls) | Octavia E. Butler, writer GoH Mark Olson & Priscilla Olson, fan GoHs Dave Nee, bookseller GoH |
— | See also proposals for Minicon 34. |
| 35 | April 21–23, 2000 | 763 prereg, 844 total | Maureen F. McHugh, writer GoH Lenny Bailes, fan GoH John Berkey, artist GoH Orson & David Ossman, Mark Time Award presenters |
— | ||
| 36 | April 13–15, 2001 | 457 prereg, 548 total | Ken MacLeod, writer GoH Jo Walton, fan GoH Leslie Fish, musician GoH |
— | ||
| 37 | March 29–31, 2002 | 643 total, 565 warm | Will Shetterly, writer GoH Emma Bull, writer GoH Arthur Hlavaty, fan GoH Rick Berry, artist GoH |
— | ||
| 38 | April 18–20, 2003 | 526 total, ~480 warm | Millennium Hotel Minneapolis (Mpls) | Robert J. Sawyer, author GoH Carolyn Clink, poet GoH Sue Mason, fan GoH Steve Macdonald, musician GoH |
— | |
| 39 | April 9–11, 2004 | 417 prereg, 458 total, 396 warm | Walter Jon Williams, writer GoH Sharyn November, editor GoH Deb Geisler, fan GoH |
— | ||
| 40 | March 25–27, 2005 | 460 prereg, 630 total | The hotel in Bloomington fondly known as the RadishTree, formerly the Radisson South, calling itself the Sheraton for Minicons 40–46 and the DoubleTree for Minicons 47–52 | Terry Pratchett, writer GoH James Young, fan GoH Fastner & Larson, artist GoHs |
Minicon Fortean | Did not overlap with Passover |
| 41 | April 14–16, 2006 | 381 prereg, 527±10 total | Harlan Ellison, writer GoH John Picacio, artist GoH Doug Friauf, fan GoH |
XLi, Robot | ||
| 42 | April 6–8, 2007 | 310 prereg, 430 total, 402 warm | Charles de Lint, writer GoH Charles Vess, artist GoH |
And the question was...? | ||
| 43 | March 21–23, 2008 | 321 prereg, 432±3 total, 385±3 warm | Alastair Reynolds, author GoH Shawna McCarthy, editor GoH Nate Bucklin, fan GoH Wayne Barlowe, artist GoH (who didn't make it to the con) |
Digging up the future | Did not overlap with Passover | |
| 44 | April 10–12, 2009 | 317 prereg, 422 total, 395 warm | Karl Schroeder, author GoH Seth Shostak, scientist GoH Stephen Martiniere, artist GoH (who didn't make it to the con) |
— | ||
| 45 | April 2–4, 2010 | 366 prereg, 450 total, 434 warm | Brandon Sanderson, author GoH Dan Dos Santos, artist GoH Moshe Feder, special guest |
— | ||
| 46 | April 22–24, 2011 | 372 prereg, 448 total, 425 warm | John Scalzi, author GoH Chas Somdahl, musician GoH |
Not yet dead from the neck up | ||
| 47 | April 6–8, 2012 | 363 prereg, 463 total, 452 warm | Ted Chiang, author GoH Christopher J Garcia, fanzine GoH Frank Wu, artist GoH Brianna "Spacekat" Wu, special guest |
The minions are coming... | ||
| 48 | March 29–31, 2013 | 382 prereg, 515 total, 503 warm | Julie Czerneda, author GoH Richard Tatge, fan GoH |
The Game of Life | ||
| 49 | April 17½–20, 2014 | 418 prereg, 561 total, 538 warm | Catherynne Valente, author GoH Janny Wurts, author GoH Don Maitz, artist GoH |
Pirates and Airships* | ||
| 50 | April 2–5, 2015 | 826 prereg, 1135 total, 1114 warm | Jane Yolen, author GoH Larry Niven, author GoH Brandon Sanderson, author GoH Tom Doherty, publisher GoH Adam Stemple, music GoH Michael Whelan, artist GoH |
The Gold Edition | ||
| 51 | March 25–27, 2016 | 492 prereg, 647 total, 622 warm | Seanan McGuire, author GoH Sara Butcher Burrier, artist GoH Lojo Russo, musician GoH |
Zombies and Fairies and Mermaids, Oh My! | Did not overlap with Passover | |
| 52 | April 14–16, 2017 | 510 prereg, 601 total, 574 warm | Jim C. Hines, author GoH Brother Guy Consolmagno, science GoH Mark Oshiro, fan GoH Jeff Lee Johnson, featured artist GoH |
— | ||
| 53 | March 30–April 1, 2018 | 502 prereg, 568 total, 547 warm | DoubleTree (St Louis Park) | Rachel Swirsky, GoH Lyda Morehouse, GoH Jon Arfstrom, featured artist (posthumous) |
The Pedantic One | |
| 54 | April 19–21, 2019 | 424 prereg, 507 total, 483 warm | Naomi Kritzer, GoH Dave DeVries, GoH Tom Fleming, featured artist |
Purple | ||
| 55 | April 15–17, 2022 | 432 prereg, 487 total, 375 warm | Jo Walton, GoH Elise Matthesen, GoH (who didn't make it to the con) |
Green | Originally scheduled for Easter weekend 2020, but postponed twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic. | |
| 56 | April 7–9, 2023 | 441 prereg, 507 total, 474 warm | Martha Wells, author GoH Sara Felix, artist GoH Greg Ketter, fan GoH |
— | ||
| 57 | March 29–31, 2024 | 477 prereg, 557 total, 518 warm | Ursula Vernon, author and illustrator GoH Jeremy Brett, archivist GoH Tim Griffin, music GoH Jeffery Angles, featured Japanese scholar |
— | Did not overlap with Passover | |
| 58 | April 18–20, 2025 | DoubleTree (Bloomington), now commonly known in fannish circles as the RadishTree | Wesley Chu, author GoH The Faithful Sidekicks, music GoHs |
— | ||
| 59 | April 2½–5, 2026 | Patricia C. Wrede, author GoH Matt Leacock, gaming GoH |
— | |||
| 60 | March 25–28, 2027 | Geri Sullivan, fan GoH |
— | Does not overlap with Passover. |
Supposing we continue to strictly hold 3-day Minicons annually on Easter weekend, following Minicons will be April 14–16, 2028; March 30–April 1, 2029; April 19–21, 2030; April 11–13, 2031; March 26–28, 2032; April 15–17, 2033; April 7–9, 2034; March 23–25, 2035 (does not overlap with Passover).
Finding publications: There's an index page for web-era Minicon publication which might help you finding pocket programs and such which are sometimes a bit hidden in crannies of various years' sites.
Dates: Yes, there were two years we had two Minicons — 1971 and 1974. Even on years with only one Minicon, it hasn't always been on Easter. Minicons 2, 7 and 8 were on Easter, then all of them starting with 11 (well, as of this writing, up to 59, at least). So there were 5 Minicons that, you might say, could have been on Easter, but weren't, plus the two that were in the fall. As of Minicon 59, out of the 52 Easter Minicons, 8 have not overlapped with Passover (15%). It is left as an exercise for the reader to determine if this is typical.
Minicon Numbering: Yes, we know the numbering was just a tiny, wee-bit non-sequential between 1978 and 1985. It's a long story, and really not that shaggy. Relatedly (really), because of COVID, the first Minicon is now in the year you would expect using ordinary subtraction.
Credits: This list originally by Fred A Levy Haskell, Official Happy Deadwood, Minn-StF. Last time we remembered to update this sentence, 2024, it was being kept up by the Minnstf archivist, Matt Strait. Additions or corrections will be warmly welcomed. Send to [archivist at mnstf dot org].
Audio from some radio plays from various Minicon Opening Ceremonies over the years. CDs also used to be available which included audio plays from Minicons past. Possibly copies are still floating around somewhere.
Many of the documents from the Long Range Convention Task-Force are online. It was chartered in 1991 to consider the problems and concerns we had about Minicon and consider what we should do for the next 5 years.
Here's a volunteer t-shirt made for use at several Minicons. We're not sure what year it was first produced.
We are working on building as complete a digital archive of Minicon's history as we can!
For all these items, please contact: [archivist at# mnstf dot org]
Physical materials wanted: If you have badges, program books, pocket programs, photos, progress reports, convention reports, or other stuff from or relating to past Minicons we're interested in putting that sort of thing online. Photos and audio or video recordings too. If it's something we don't have in our own archives, we might be interested in borrowing items from you or making other arrangements to scan stuff for use on the website.
Digital materials wanted: If you have items in digital format or are willing to put things in digital format, you can send that stuff to us. Please check with us before sending any large files (over 50MB) as email attachments. If you know where we can find stuff about Minicon or Minn-StF online that we haven't yet linked to, please pass those links along to us.
Transcriptions wanted: We would like our archives to be searchable and accessible. This means that we'd like to make plain text versions of everything that's just an image now. Would you like to help? Find something that needs transcription and let us know you're going to work on it.
Requests wanted: If you're looking for something that isn't here, please let us know. We may already have it on paper and can prioritize it for scanning.