Mayor Andy Berke will launch the TVIW Fourth Symposium's program on March 1 at 7 p.m. at The Edney, 1100 Market St., 5th Floor. The event is free to the public.
Schedule of events:
7 p.m. - Welcome by Chattanooga Mayor Berke
7:15 p.m. - "Interstellar Travel: Is it Possible?" – A talk presented by Les Johnson. Les is a science and science fiction author and a NASA scientist. He was the featured Interstellar Explorer in National Geographic magazine, a technical consultant for the movie, ‘Europa Report’ and is leading an asteroid rendezvous mission for NASA.
His "Going Interstellar" anthology describes future interstellar journeys and he serves as the Chair of the Tennessee Valley Interstellar Workshop.
7:45 p.m. - "Science Fiction / Science Fact: Science Fiction Authors Discuss Interstellar Travel" - A panel with New York Times best selling science fiction authors whose works highlight possible futures in which humans roam the space between the stars.
8:30 p.m. - Book Signing – All the authors participating will be available to sign copies of their books. Also, representatives from the Hamilton Place Barnes & Noble will be on site to sell copies of the author’s books and other interstellar related titles.
Authors who will be participating in the night’s events are:
Dr. Gregory Benford - a science fiction author and astrophysicist on the faculty of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Irvine. He is the author of over twenty novels, including "Bowl of Heaven" and "Shipstar." He is a two-time winner of the Nebula Award and a four-time Hugo Award nominee.
Dr. Charles E. Gannon - Prior to becoming a full time author, Dr. Gannon was a Distinguished Professor of English at St. Bonaventure University and a Fulbright Senior Specialist. His is the author of the "Fire With Fire" series and collaborates on the New York Times Best Selling series: the Starfire military sf series ("Extremis") and Eric Flint's Ring of Fire series.
Sarah A. Hoyt - has over 23 published novels, in science fiction, fantasy, mystery, historical mystery, historical fantasy and historical biography. Her short stories have been published in Analog, Asimov's, Amazing Stories, Weird tales, and a number of anthologies from DAW and Baen. Her space-opera novel Darkship Thieves was the 2011 Prometheus Award Winner.
Geoffrey Landis - is a NASA scientist working on planetary exploration, interstellar propulsion, solar power and photovoltaics. Supported by his scientific background Landis also writes hard science fiction, and has won a Nebula Award, two Hugo Awards, and a Locus Award.
Jack McDevitt - is science fiction author whose novels frequently deal with attempts to make contact with alien races, and with archaeology or xenoarchaeology. His two main series are the Alex Benedict series and the Priscilla Hutchins series. He won the 2006 Nebula Award for Best Novel and has been nominated an additional sixteen times.
Toni Weisskopf - is a science fiction editor and the publisher of Baen Books. She edited a number of anthologies and won the Phoenix Award in 1994 for excellence in science fiction and was a Hugo Award nominee. She is an alumna of Oberlin College.