Boskone

A regional convention usually held in Boston, Massachusetts, named for the anti-Civilization culture of E. E. Smith’s Lensmen saga. It has also been held in Springfield, Framingham, and other locations within the state. Run by NESFA, it grew so much in the 1980s it came to be called the "Winter Worldcon", then it imploded. (See Rise and Fall of the Giant Boskones.)

There were actually two Boston conventions named "Boskone". The first, run by The Stranger Club ran 1941-1945. The current series of Boskones was started in 1965 by the Boston Science Fiction Society (BoSFS) as part of its bidding strategy for Boston in '67. BoSFS ran Boskone 1, Boskone 2, and Boskone 4. Boskone 3 was actually run by Erwin S. Strauss but, because of its venue, it was officially sponsored by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Science Fiction Club (MITSFS). The New England Science Fiction Association (NESFA) has run all Boskones starting with Boskone 5.

Historical notes

Journey Planet special issue on Boskones

From Fancyclopedia 1, ca. 1944

(Smith) - Originally, the anti-Civilization culture of the Lensman stories, which the Michelists insisted was superior to Smith's future capitalistic society -- hence the expression "Wollheim, speaking for Boskone". The word now means Boston Conference, the anniversary meetings of the Stranger Club, Boskone I being in 1941.

Life Members

Starting in the earliest years, NESFA sold life memberships in Boskone to raise capital to publish the NESFA Indexes.

A Life Membership is not transferable or refundable and entitles the Life Member to an automatic membership in all future Boskones. Additionally, NESFA gives a Life Membership to each of its Boskone Guests of Honor. At present, about 120 Life Memberships have been purchased.

The rate has varied over the years:.

   Boskone 1-14: Life Memberships unavailable
   Boskone 15-16: 10 x current prereg rate
   Boskone 17-19: unavailable
   Boskone 20-24: 20 x current prereg rate
   Boskone 25-present: 14 x lowest prereg rate

Convention	Dates	Location	GoHs	Size
First Series of Boskones
Boskone I	late February 1941	R. D. Swisher home, Winchester, MA		25
Boskone II	February 22, 1942	Ritz Plaza, Boston, MA		25
Boskone III	February 28, 1943	Ritz Plaza, Boston, MA	Claude Degler	14
Boskone IV	February 3-4, 1945	R. D. Swisher home, Winchester, MA	Milt Rothman, Jack Riggs, Art Widner, N. F. Stanley, R. D. Swisher	5
Boskone V	September 2, 1945	Hotel Hawthorne, Salem, MA		9
Second Series of Boskones
Boskone 1	September 10-12, 1965	Statler-Hilton, Boston	Hal Clement, Dr. Robert Enzmann	66
Boskone 2	March 11-13, 1966	Statler-Hilton, Boston	Frederik Pohl, Dwight Wayne Batteau, Prof. Igor Paul, Prof. Oliver Selfridge	71
Boskone 3	October 1-3, 1966	MIT, Cambridge, MA	John W. Campbell, Oliver Selfridge	68
Boskone 4	April 1-2, 1967	Statler-Hilton, Boston	Damon Knight, Marvin Minsky	72
Boskone 5	March 23-24, 1968	Statler-Hilton, Boston	Larry Niven, Warren McCulloch	155
Boskone 6	March 22-23, 1969	Statler-Hilton, Boston	Jack Gaughan, Stephen Fabian, Louis Sutro	262
Boskone 7	March 27-29, 1970	Statler-Hilton, Boston	Gordon R. Dickson, George Barr, Donald Menzel	383
Boskone 8	March 12-14, 1971	Sheraton Rolling Green, Andover, MA	Larry Niven	211
Boskone 9	April 14-16, 1972	Statler-Hilton, Boston	L. Sprague de Camp, Don Simpson, Richard Rosa	403
Boskone 10	March, 9-11 1973	Sheraton Boston	Robert A. W. Lowndes, Frank Kelly Freas, Phyllis Brauner	405
Boskone 11	March 1-3, 1974	Sheraton Boston	Isaac Asimov, Eddie Jones, Isaac Asimov	701
Boskone 12	February 28-Mar 2, 1975	Sheraton Boston	Anne McCaffrey, Bonnie Dalzell, Robert Enzmann	935
Boskone 13	February 13-15, 1976	Sheraton Boston	Poul Anderson, Rick Sternbach	900
Boskone 14	February 18-20, 1977	Sheraton Boston	Ben Bova, John Schoenherr	1010
Boskone 15	February 17-19, 1978	Sheraton Boston	John Brunner, Arthur Thomson (ATom), Marvin Minsky	1454
Boskone 16	February 16-18, 1979	Sheraton Boston	Frank Herbert, Mike Symes, Marc C. Chartrand	1950
Boskone 17	February 15-17, 1980	Radisson Ferncroft, Danvers	Spider & Jeanne Robinson, Victoria Poyser	800
Boskone 18	February 13-15, 1981	Sheraton Boston	Tanith Lee, Don Maitz	1609
Boskone 19	February 12-14, 1982	Boston Park Plaza	Donald A. Wollheim, Michael Whelan	2270
Boskone 20	February 18-20, 1983	Boston Park Plaza	Mack Reynolds*, Wendy Pini, Jeff Hecht	2420
Boskone 21	February 17-19, 1984	Boston Park Plaza	Gene Wolfe, Vincent Di Fate, David Hartwell	2718
Boskone 22	February 15-17, 1985	Copley Marriott, Boston	Kate Wilhelm & Damon Knight, Carl Lundgren, Shawna McCarthy	3420
Boskone 23	February 14-16, 1986	Sheraton Boston	Robert Bloch, Bob Eggleton, Tom Doherty	3919
Boskone 24	February 13-15, 1987	Sheraton Boston	C. J. Cherryh, Barclay Shaw, Tom Clareson	4200
Boskone 25	January 29-31, 1988	Sheraton Tara Springfield, Springfield Marriott	Greg Bear, David Mattingly, Ellen Asher	1327
Boskone 26	January 27-29, 1989	Sheraton Tara Springfield, Springfield Marriott	Tim Powers, James Gurney, Tom Whitmore	1250
Boskone 27	February 16-18, 1990	Sheraton Tara Springfield, Springfield Marriott	Glen Cook, David A. Cherry, Charles Ryan	970
Boskone 28	February 15-17, 1991	Sheraton Tara Springfield, Springfield Marriott	Mike Resnick, Ed Emshwiller*, Brian Thomsen	888
Boskone 29	February 14-16, 1992	Sheraton Tara Springfield, Springfield Marriott	Jane Yolen, Jody Lee, Dave Langford	840
Boskone 30	February 19-21, 1993	Sheraton Tara, Framingham	Joe Haldeman, Tom Kidd, Beth Meacham	851
Boskone 31	February 18-20, 1994	Sheraton Tara, Framingham	Emma Bull & Will Shetterly, Nicholas Jainschigg, Patrick & Teresa Nielsen Hayden	875
Boskone 32	February 17-19, 1995	Sheraton Tara, Framingham	Diana Wynne Jones, Ruth Sanderson, Fred Lerner & Patricia Wrede	902/1037
Boskone 33	February 16-18, 1996	Sheraton Tara, Framingham	Lois McMaster Bujold, Gary Rudell, Bob Madle	829/983
Boskone 34	February 14-16, 1997	Sheraton Tara, Framingham	John M. Ford, Ron Walotsky, Jerry Kaufman & Suzanne Tompkins	~800/991
Boskone 35	February 13-15, 1998	Sheraton Tara, Framingham	Walter Jon Williams, Omar Rayyan, Stanley Schmidt	~800/991
Boskone 36	February 12-14, 1999	Sheraton Tara, Framingham	Connie Willis, Stephen Youll, Teddy Harvia & Diana Thayer	759/986
Boskone 37	February 18-20, 2000	Sheraton, Framingham	Michael Swanwick, Rick Berry, Peter Weston	790/960
Boskone 38	February 16-18, 2001	Sheraton, Framingham	George R. R. Martin, Charles Vess, Jack Cohen	933/1093
Boskone 39	February 15-17, 2002	Sheraton, Framingham	Neil Gaiman, Steve Hickman, Marv Wolfman	1108/1266
Boskone 40	February 14-16, 2003	Sheraton Boston	David Brin, Jim Burns, Charlie Brown	1154/1320
Boskone 41	February 13-15, 2004	Sheraton Boston	Stephen Baxter, Richard Hescox, Betsy Mitchell	982/1145
Boskone 42	February 18-20, 2005	Sheraton Boston	Orson Scott Card, Alan Pollack, Mike Glyer	1014/1186
Boskone 43	February 17-19, 2006	Sheraton Boston	Ken MacLeod, Donato Giancola, Cory Doctorow	1104/1284
Boskone 44	February 16-18, 2007	Westin Waterfront, Boston	David Gerrold, Gary A. Lippincott, Brother Guy Consolmagno, SJ	1057/1268
Boskone 45	February 15-17, 2008	Westin Waterfront, Boston	David Weber, Dean Morrissey, Bruce Coville	1056/1263
Boskone 46	February 13-15, 2009	Westin Waterfront, Boston	Jo Walton, Stephan Martiniere, Irene Gallo	959/1139
Boskone 47	February 12-14, 2010	Westin Waterfront, Boston	Alastair Reynolds, John Picacio, Tom Shippey	1065/1262
Boskone 48	February 18-20, 2011	Westin Waterfront, Boston	Charles Stross, Gregory Manchess, Charlaine Harris	1047/1247
Boskone 49	February 17-19, 2012	Westin Waterfront, Boston	John Scalzi, Daniel Dos Santos, Toni Weisskopf	1201/1384
Boskone 50	February 15-17, 2013	Westin Waterfront, Boston	Vernor Vinge, Lisa Snellings, John Hertz	1042/1262
Boskone 51	February 14-16, 2014	Westin Waterfront, Boston	Seanan McGuire, David Palumbo, Ginjer Buchanan
Boskone 52	February 13-15, 2015	Westin Waterfront, Boston	Steven Brust, Charles Lang, Wendy Snow Lang, Robert K. Wiener
Boskone 53	February 19-21, 2016	Westin Waterfront, Boston	Garth Nix, Richard Anderson, Arnie Fenner, Cathy Fenner
Boskone 54	February 17-19, 2017	Westin Waterfront, Boston	Brandon Sanderson, Maryelizabeth Yturralde, Dave Seeley
Boskone 55	February 16-18, 2018	Westin Waterfront, Boston	Mary Robinette Kowal, Craig Miller
Boskone 56	February 15-17, 2019	Westin Waterfront, Boston	Elizabeth Hand, Christopher Golden, Cindy Pon, Vandana Singh, Gardner Dozois, Jim Burns
Boskone 57	February 14-16, 2020	Westin Waterfront, Boston	Kim Stanley Robinson, Holly Black, Eric Wilkerson, Cheshire Moon
Boskone 58	February 12-14, 2021	(virtual)	Joe Abercrombie, Julie Dillon, Tamsyn Muir, Marc Gunn

• = Died before the convention.

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Convention
Website	1941—

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