Con-Fusion 2023: Five Days of Fun

In just under two weeks, Con-Fusion 2023 will kick off. What is Con-Fusion? It is a multi day, multi genre convention that is based at five different City of Phoenix libraries. Created by author Jenn Czep along with several others such as Deborah Dwyer and KellyAnn Bonnell, Con-Fusion was created to promote and support local authors, particularly our independent authors. Each day will promote a different genre and have fun activities for both adults and children.  It will be five days of fun for lovers of reading and books and the whole family!

The first date is April 22nd from 10:00am-4:00pm and is The Hero’s Journey, focusing on Adventure and Fantasy. It is held at Cesar Chavez Public Library. Our local authors will speak on interesting panel topics such as Monsters and Mythology, Location in Fantasy, and Found Family. Children can make pirate crafts and teens can make Enchanted Tea Lights. D & D and table top gaming will be ongoing throughout the day. Featured author’s books will be available for purchase, and you may be able to have your books signed by the authors hanging out in the “Author Lounge”. In the Park: Local artists and artisans will have Fantasy and Adventure merchandise for sale. Wandering minstrels add ambience as you shop or get your face painted. Mermaids, pirates, fairies and a giant kraken will be available for photo ops. The stage area will feature performances by belly dancers, sword fighters, fire breathers and more! And when you get tired, you can take a rest and get food at our food trucks. While there, grab a Con-Fusion passport that you can get stamped at all the dates. 

Our next date is April 29th same time and is A Dark and Stormy Night, Horror and Mystery. Held at Agave Public Library, kids can enjoy spooky storytime by the campfire and make their own ciphers and secret messages. Teens and tweens can sign up for a Strang(er) Escape Room. Featured author panels are at 10:00am, 1:00pm and 3:00pm with the following panel titles, The Butler Didn’t Do It: Solving the mystery of mystery Writing, and avoiding cliches to create a completing mystery, The Horror and How-to of Monsters: Visualize the monster within, and Ghostbusting: Finding the Paranormal. In addition to merchants selling horror and mystery type products, we also will have Escape rooms available.

Next up is May 6th, The Final Frontier featuring Science Fiction at Mesquite Public Library. On this date, our authors will present on panels Space Tech: How do characters survive in the vacuum?, Envisioning Extraterrestrials: creation and design of aliens in books, on screen, and in gaming, and To Infinity and Beyond: Mapping the stars where astronomy and wormholes meet. Kids will be able to make sabers and teens can learn about astrology charts. All projects available while supplies last. Featured performers and booths will be Star Trek United Federation of Phoenix (UFP), Dragon & Wolf Designs, DCompany, Duncan’s Books & More. As with our other dates, there will be food and books available for purchase.

On May 13th, we will have our Spring Fling highlighting Romance and Poetry at Cholla Library. At 10:00am we will have our author present at the panel Getting Your Dates Right: doing the historical research. At 1pm, the panel is Marrying Genres: romance blooms in all genres and at 3pm we will be hosting a poetry slam.  Kids can make book page flowers and teens can make art inspired poetry. Our merchants will be there with all the romantic merchandise to take home or give to your loved ones. There will be photo booths, secret gardens, and whimsical crafts that bring the romance alive at this sweet and spicy event. 

Our last date will be May 20th, Weird and Wild West giving you Steampunk and Westerns at Ironwood Public Library. Our author panels will be at 10:00am Reach For the Sky: How to find success in various publishing markets, 1:00pm Mining the Past: How to properly punk the past, and 3:00pm Space, Steam & Spaghetti: the takes on traditional “Western” tropes. Kids can learn about Native American art and use the same artistic techniques to make their own craft provided with partnership with the Heard Museum . Teens can make book page mobiles. Local artists and artisans will have Western and Steampunk inspired merchandise for sale. The whole gang can help bring in the bad guys in a scavenger hunt for Ironwood Library’s fictional Most Wanted.  All of the event dates encourage cosplay but be sure to leave your prop weapons at home. 

All dates and further information will be available on the Phoenix Public Library website with links included here:

https://calendar.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/event/10303016?fbclid=IwAR3q2eb1LQ_RGBYSD6jSuQs9Yoa-hc6iK3y9chAntIHbdDJVrDsutTskX3w

https://calendar.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/event/10289406?fbclid=IwAR1yzSz8lpjnRaLIwSDQ418rDuRbY07m1Pe8Qlqf9KBKVClSvT3Zx7i_shA

https://calendar.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/event/10303655?fbclid=IwAR0ZJx75b-u3L2L1MRMHwhkQsv4yLaRiUK-WSK7j0jtiuYtraxw57a6TFLQ

https://calendar.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/event/10303683?fbclid=IwAR2_Cno-E6xXB31rqmp_7sbKqD_VXmDtFQNRUTtxlbEV5bv47e66pI60OX8

https://calendar.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/event/10304377?fbclid=IwAR2UP1YuJIdzYUz9bULMw3_18dvKvXl59NafNHboehg2ucpbDHxExx5WEX8

Not only will Duncan’s Book and More be the featured author bookseller but we will have books for any others who reached out to us to have their books included. And on May 13th, Rhea’s Designs will be open for business separate from Duncan’s Books, featuring metaphysical bead sets, unique one of a kind bead designs, and abstract watercolor bookmarks. Come support both Duncan and I at our newest event, five days of fun, adventure, and wonder!

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