Sci-fi, fantasy, comics, games and all that stuff

OH!CON 2023

OH!CON 2023 was held on Saturday 14 October 2023 at the UHI North, West and Hebrides campus in Stornoway.

What went on

In the run up to OH!CON, both UHI and An Lanntair ran themed workshops.

On Friday evening before OH!CON, 14 teams pitted their geekiest knowledge against each other in The Big OH!CON Quiz, held in the Town Hall. It was a hard-fought contest, but the team of OH!CON special guests emerged victorious.

Saturday was a packed day – there were drawing workshops, writing workshops, talks on role-playing games, alien life and graphic novels, and more.

Both the art competition (such fabulous artwork!) and the cosplay competition (so many glorious costumes!) attracted twice as many entries as the previous year.

Drop-in activities included LEGO, animation, VR and video gaming, a pop-up comics library, and green-screen photography.

Gateway Nerds ran gaming sessions and displays all day long.

We launched a Gaelic version of the popular fantasy RPG rules, Cairn, translated by Fãnch Bihan-Gallic (who also provided the translation for the programme).

Publications

Guests

Ben Aaronovitch

Script writer and best-selling author of The Rivers of London series.

Ben's website

Catriona Lexy Campbell

Catriona Lexy Campbell has worked as a theatre artist, actor and writer for many years. She currently works as an Assistant Producer and Director at Mac TV.

Rik Carranza

Comedian, geek, and creator and host of Star Trek vs Star Wars, the hit comedy debate panel show.

Rik's website

Gary Erskine

Gary has worked for MARVEL, DC Comics, Vertigo, and Dark Horse Comics, with characters as diverse as Judge Dredd, Starman, Dan Dare and Captain America.

Gary's website

Tom Foster

Tom has been a regular artist in 2000AD for nearly a decade, best known for his extensive work on Judge Dredd and for co-creating the series 'Storm Warning' for the Judge Dredd Megazine.

Tom Humberstone

Tom Humberstone is an award-winning comic artist and illustrator based in Edinburgh

He is the author of Suzanne: The Jazz Age Goddess of Tennis and the editor and publisher of the critically acclaimed British comics anthology Solipsistic Pop.

Tom's website

G R Jordan

G R Jordan is the author of over fifty books.

G R Jordan's website

Dr Christopher MacLeod

Chris MacLeod has been a university lecturer for nearly 30 years. He teaches at the University of the Highlands and Islands in Stornoway.

Ken Macleod

Ken is the author of nineteen novels, from The Star Fraction (1995) to Beyond the Reach of Earth (2023) and many articles and short stories.

Sha Nazir

Sha is publisher at BHP Comics, the founder of Scotland's longest running comic con, Glasgow Comic Con, and co-owns and runs ACME Comic Con.

Hereward L.M. Proops

Hereward is a psychotherapist and lecturer with an encyclopaedic knowledge of old horror movies, nerd culture and retro video games. His writings have been published in various speculative fiction magazines and small press anthologies.

Irina Richards

Irina Richards is a comics and manga artist and illustrator. She has been shortlisted for the LDcomics Prize.

Charities

OH!CON 2023 raised money for:

Supported by

OH!CON 2023 was made possible with funding and support from:

and with donations and support from: