No Discworld Convention is complete without special guests, and so we are proud to announce that the following wonderful people will be appearing in person or virtually at Nullus Anxietas X!
Disclaimer: Our guests will make every attempt to attend our convention, but sometimes life happens and cancellations as well.
In Person Guests
Karen J Carlisle
Karen J Carlisle is a writer of Victorian mysteries, Steampunk, Fantasy and Cosies with a twist, as well as an illustrator, gardener, chocoholic and tea lover. Her short stories have featured in the 2016 Adelaide Fringe exhibition, 'A Trail of Tales', 'Where's Holmes?' and 'Deadsteam' anthologies, and she was short-listed in Australian Literature Review's 2013 Murder/Mystery Short Story Competition. You can find Karen's books, news and events at her website.
Karen is a huge fan of our favourite author (you know, Terry Pratchett) and a regular guest at the Australian Discworld Conventions. Please say hi and make her feel welcome.
Tansy Rayner Roberts
Tansy Rayner Roberts writes stories. Gaslamp fantasy, space opera, murder mysteries... "My books contain such wonders as Roman festivals, disaster princes, weaponised teacups... and frocks. So many Frocks!"
In 2014, Tansy published Pratchett's Women: Unauthorised Essays on Female Characters of the Discworld and in 2024, she published Brutes, Villains and Bureaucrats - 7a Baddest Discworld Bad Guys in the online magazine Speculative Insight. Tansy is a regular guest at the Australian Discworld Convention. Please say hi and make her feel welcome.
Matt Falloon
Not just another balloon twister, Matt Falloon mixes a unique blend of Art, Comedy, Puppetry, Magic and a heap of fun! Matt is a popular regular at the Australian Discworld Conventions and is the creator of monumental balloon art.
Loren Tuxford
Loren Tuxford is the author of The Nightfall Series, an epic fantasy tale of magic, secrets, lies and love. She enjoys writing about characters with real issues in fantasy lands, where morals are grey, goals are lofty, and things don't always go to plan. Because dragons are complicated. In her stories, love is simply love, no matter what gender or species. And after making her own books as a small child, Loren decided it was time to share her stories with the world, much to the delight of her dark sense of humour. Along with stargazing, Loren enjoys birdwatching, strong coffee, overgrown cemeteries, reading and transcribing the conversations taking place in her imagination. Check out Loren Tuxford's books, events and other news at her website.
She is also a huge fan of Terry Pratchett. Say hello and welcome Loren into our realm.
M. A. Batten
M. A. Batten is a neuro-diverse writer of fantasy, science fiction, and dark fiction. A self-confessed nerd, he delves deep into extensive research, from historical folklore to quantum mechanics, from the chemistry of gunpowder to the birth of blackholes, all in the pursuit of better storytelling. For those with a similar bent for curious discovery, his stories are also peppered with innocuous easter eggs, hidden etymologies, codified numbers, and inconspicuous crossover references.
M. A. Batten met Terry Pratchett three times and has a collection of Discworld First Editions, most of them signed. A cool game is to be developed based on a game in his Dark books. Find out more details by visiting the Kickstarter project. Can't wait to hear more stories from Matt.
Virtual Guests
We'll be talking to the following guests via the magick Realm of Zoom!
Date and time of the long-distance call to be advised closer to the convention.
Rhianna Pratchett and Gabrielle Kent
Photo by booksellers.com
About Rhianna: Alongside helping to battle-harden Lara Croft, Rhianna has also authored comics for Dark Horse, DC, Marvel, Dynamite and Kodansha comics, working with both established characters and game tie-in ministries. There, she created an origin story for Red Sonja's chainmail bikini and had Lara fighting bad guys on the London Underground as one of the Bennett sisters, which she credits as one of her greatest achievements.
As well as writing several of her own short stories, Rhianna stepped into her father's Discworld in 2023, co-authoring the in-world guide Tiffany Aching's Guide to Being a Witch, which has become an Amazon bestseller. She also wrote the Fighting Fantasy novel, Crystal of Storms, crafted poo-jokes for Campaigns and Companions: the Complete Role Playing Guide for Pets, and dropped a little game narrative wisdom in Professional Techniques for Video Game Writing and Game Writing Narrative Skills for Videogames.
More about Rhianna can be found at her website.
About Gabrielle: Gabrielle is the author of Alfie Bloom, and the Knights and Bikes series, She collaborated on the Rani Report series with her husband Satish Sheworak, and is the co-author of the Discworld in-world guide: Tiffany Aching's Guide to Being a Witch alongside Rhianna Pratchett.
More about Gabrielle can be found at her website.
Richard Kurti and Bev Doyle
Photo by pilgrim2121.com
Kurti and Doyle are a British scriptwriting team, who broke into the business with a spec feature script, which led to 15 further movie commissions from US studios like Warner Bros., Universal, Laika, Fox Searchlight, and Intermedia; and UK companies such as Working Title, Pathé and BBC Films.
They're best known for their work BBC One's Robin Hood, ITVI's Primeval, and Sky's Sinbad. Their shows have earned numerous awards and nominations, including three BAFTA nominations, two Royal Television Society Awards, and two RTS nominations for Terry Pratchett's Going Postal, a nomination for Outstanding Motion Picture Made for TV at the US Satellite Award for Primeval, and four BAFTA nominations for Wolf Blood. Their radio adaptation of Martian Chronicles won Silver at the New York Festivals International Radio Awards.
Richard Kurti is also a novelist and has published a range of books, including Monkey Warts and Maladapted.
Copyright The Agency (London) Ltd
Vadim Jean
Image: smartfacts.ru
Vadim Jean is an award winning film director, producer and executive producer. He was the writer and director for the Pratchett movies, The Hogfather and The Colour of Magic and the executive producer of the movie Going Postal.
More about Vadim Jean and his many fine achievements can be found here.
Stephen Briggs
Stephen Briggs has collaborated with Terry Pratchett on many projects over several decades. He was the first person to adapt Discworld books for the stage, back in the 1990s. Stephen has co-authored Discworld maps, diaries, companions, cookbooks and more. He continues to act and direct with the Studio Theatre Club in Oxford, with a new dramatisation coming in November 2025: Terry Pratchett - A Trip on the Stage
Barry McCann
Barry McCann is an award-winning writer, editor, speaker and broadcaster. He has been editor of the art and literature journal, Parnassus, for MENSA International since 1998, and regularly appears on BBC Radio Cumbria as their "Folklore Correspondent", having previously enjoyed a writer-in-residence slot on sister station, BBC Radio Lancashire. He specialises mainly in features on history and reviews in the arena of popular culture, and as such is a regular contributor to This England magazine and its sister publication Evergreen.
Find out more about Now is the Night by Barry McCann.
Modiphius Entertainment
The blurb: "Whether it's visionary sci-fi, epic fantasy, chilling cosmic horror or family-friendly entertainment, we have a wealth of miniatures, RPGs, tabletop and board games to suit every taste."
The people at Modiphius Entertainment are responsible for developing the upcoming Terry Pratchett's Discworld Role Playing Game: Adventures in Ankh-Morpork, which had a mind-blowing Kickstarter campaign in 2024 and hopes to deliver later this year. Andy Douthwaite will join us via the realm of Zoom to chat about the process of making RPGs and what drew them to the Discworld. Find out more details about the game and late pledge now on Kickstarter.
