Registration and Welcome Coffee

08:30

Host: Karen Koh

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Welcome from Fritz Demopoulos, Founder, Melon Sci-Fi

08:45

"Stellar Sci-Fi for 2019: What can we expect?"

Jo Walton, Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author of Among Others and Tooth & Claw

and

Bao Shu, Nebula Award-winning author of Three Body X and Ruins of Time

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Moderated by Jo Lusby, ex-Penguin Random House

09:00

Our Greatest Endeavour - The Search For Extraterrestrial Intelligence?

Prof. Jean-Luc Margot, Professor of Astronomy and leading SETI researcher; the asteroid 9531 Jean-Luc is named after him.

09:30

The Best and Worst Star Ships - Maddeningly Dysfunctional or Stupidly Brilliant?

Antoine Blondeau, Founder of Sentient and Alpha Intelligence Capital

09:55

What Are the Brightest Stars in Sci-Fi Focused On?

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Speakers:

HK (Ho Kei) Chan, Writer (Ni Kuang Sci-fi Award, Soji Shimada Award winner; author of The Man Who Sold the World, The Borrowed, The Locked Room of Bluebeard)

Sean Wang (Mr Pets), Writer (Soji Shimada Award winner; author of Virtua Street)

Anna Wu, Film and TV Play Writer (Gold Medal of Originality for the Best Science Fiction Film, China Nebula Award winner; author of Twins and The Shape of Thoughts)

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Moderated by Karen Koh

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10:05

“I’m a cosmic hyper-being, wormholding through space.”

Rachel Armstrong, Professor of Experimental Architecture; author of Origamy

10:35

Chill and Chat

10:50

Top Trends in Sci-Fi with Rebecca Kuang, Writer (Goodreads Choice Awards finalist, Time's Best Books of 2018; author of The Poppy War)

11:20

Fantastic New Worlds and Wonderful Characters

Aliette de Bodard, Author (British Science Fiction, Campbell and Nebula Award winner, winner of Writers of Future contest; author of Immersion, The Shipmaker and House of Shattered Wings)

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Moderated by Siew Hoon Yeah

11:25

Media Industry Update

Scarlett Li, CEO and Founder, Zebra Media

Marcel Fenez, President, Fenez Media

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Moderated by James Ross, CEO, Lightning International

11:40

"Under the Pendulum Sun" with

Jeannette Ng, Writer (Sydney J. Bounds award winner, Best Newcomer at British Fantasy Awards; author of Under the Pendulum Sun)

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and Fritz Demopoulos, Founder, Melon Sci-Fi

12:00

Mega Cities of the future: How will we be living in 2500?

Conversation with Tang Fei, Author (Rich Horton’s The Year’s Best Science Fiction & Fantasy; author of Call Girl, Pepe, Universal Elegy; a connoisseur of dark chocolate, blue cheese and good wine)

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Moderated by Karen Koh

12:10

Darwin's aliens: Will they be the same as us?

Sam Levin, Fellow and Researcher, Oxford University

12:25

What do Cyborgs & Yaks have to do with brilliant science fiction?

A Conversation with Lisa (SL) Huang, Writer (Stuntwoman and firearms expert; author of Zero Sum Game)

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Moderated by Siew Hoon Yeoh

12:45

Enjoy Lunch on the Galactic Silk Road at our Individual Speakers' Corners

13:00

Top 5 Sci-Fi Movies with James Marsh, Film Critic

14:00

Marvin the Paranoid Android and the Future of Homo Sapiens

Robbie Stamp, Executive Producer, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and former collaborator with Douglas Adams; CEO of The Digital Village

14:05

How do we make a Smash Hit Asian Sci-Fi movie?

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Speakers:

Robbie Stamp, Executive Producer, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and former collaborator with Douglas Adams; CEO of The Digital Village

Stanley Qiufan Chen, Author and Creative Producer (China Nebula Award winner; author of Year of the Rat, The Mao Ghost and Waste Tide)

Roger Garcia, Film Consultant, and former Executive Director of the Hong Kong International Film Festival

Albert Tam, Novelist, Screenwriter and Author (China Nebula Award winner; author of Humanoid Software, Broken Pieces, Cat Whisperer)

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Moderated by James Marsh, Film Critic - RTHK, South China Morning Post, ScreenAnarchy; Conultant - Fantastic Fest and XYZ Films

14:20

New Observations for Sci-Fi with Regina Wang, Writer (China Nebula Award and SF Comet competition winner; author of Of Cloud & Mist, Back to Myan)

15:00

Aliens in the Classroom... from AI & AR to robot teachers

Andrew Kwan, CEO of Edore and education industry entrepreneur

15:05

All aboard the Mars Express!  Three weeks to the Red Planet?

Gary Li, Fellow and senior researcher at UCLA Plasma and Space Propulsion Laboratory

15:20

Reaching the next generation of Sci-Fi fans

Speakers:

Yun-Kong Chong (Chang Chao), Writer (Crown Publishing Award campion and winner; author of Ruin of Beijing)

Jo Lusby, Founder of Pixie B and ex-Penguin Random House

Phillipa Milne, Former Executive Director, Hong Kong Literary Festival

Jeremy Tse, Publisher of Starry Night Publications (Hong Kong Biennial Award and Hong Kong Golden Book

Award winner)

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Moderated by Chris Slaughter, Consultant, Journalist

15:35

Keynote: 40 years of Ridley Scott’s Alien

Alexandre Philippe, Sundance Film Festival presenter, Producer/Director of Memory: The Origins of Alien

Moderated by Karen Koh 

16:05

Closing with Fritz Demopoulos, Founder, Melon Sci-Fi

16:25

Chill and Chat

16:30

Private Cocktail (by invitation only)

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*  Please be advised, agenda and speakers may be subject to change due to the unpredictable nature of the universe

17:00