Life, the Universe, & Everything
Life, the Universe, & Everything: The Marion K. "Doc" Smith Symposium on Science Fiction and Fantasy is an academic conference held annually since 1983 in Provo, Utah. It is the longest-running science fiction and fantasy convention in Utah, and one of the largest and longest-running academic science fiction conferences. An annual proceedings volume, Deep Thoughts, publishes the academic papers and main addresses given at the event. The symposium was named, jokingly, after the Douglas Adams novel Life, the Universe and Everything.
History
The roots of the Life, the Universe, & Everything and other science fiction efforts at Brigham Young University began with a one-day symposium on science fiction held on January 20, 1976. Four years later, Orson Scott Card gave a speech in 1980 at the university about morality in writing, which showed some of the students and faculty that a serious, academic forum for discussion of science fiction writing was a possibility at BYU, but there weren't enough students interested in trying to make things work at that time.This changed in February 1982 when Ben Bova was invited to speak at a university forum event. The English Department assigned Marion Smith, the professor whose name is now part of the title of the symposium, to take care of Bova while he wasn't speaking. He and a handful of his writing students got together and held a discussion with Bova. This inspired those students to try to create something like that the following year, when they invited Card back to be the first guest of honor. The first official symposium was held in 1983.
From 1982 through 2012, the symposium was held at BYU. In 2013, it was held at Utah Valley University, and in 2014, it moved to the Provo Marriott Hotel and Conference Center in downtown Provo.
The Leading Edge science fiction and fantasy magazine was started by these same students, all members of a 1980 creative writing class at BYU.
Guests
This is a list of guests of honor and notable special guests.| Year | # | Dates | Guests | References |
| 1983 | 1 | February 7–12 | Orson Scott Card | |
| 1984 | 2 | February 16-18 | James C. Christensen | |
| 1985 | 3 | February 6–9 | Elizabeth Boyer, C. J. Cherryh, Frederik Pohl | |
| 1986 | 4 | February 5–8 | Orson Scott Card, Alan Dean Foster, Madeleine L'Engle | |
| 1987 | 5 | February 4–7 | Orson Scott Card, Stephen R. Donaldson, Jack Williamson, Julius Schwartz | |
| 1988 | 6 | February 3–6 | Algis Budrys, Tim Powers, Ray Bradbury, Michael R. Collings, Michael Whelan | |
| 1989 | 7 | February 1–4 | Karen Anderson, Poul Anderson, David Brin, Octavia Butler | |
| 1990 | 8 | February 7–10 | Hal Clement, Robin McKinley, Mike Resnick, Tracy Hickman | |
| 1991 | 9 | February 6–9 | Forrest J. Ackerman, Connie Willis | |
| 1992 | 10 | February 5–8 | Jane Yolen | |
| 1993 | 11 | February 10–13 | Kevin J. Anderson, Orson Scott Card, Barbara Hambly, Chris Heimerdinger, Rebecca Moesta | |
| 1994 | 12 | February 16–19 | Robert L. Forward, Katherine Kurtz, Roger Zelazny | |
| 1995 | 13 | February 1–4 | Lois McMaster Bujold, Patricia McKillip, Richard Garfield, Sam Longoria, Néné Thomas | |
| 1996 | 14 | January 31 - February 3 | Tracy Hickman, Dave Wolverton, Patricia C. Wrede, M. Shayne Bell, Michael R. Collings, Steve Jackson, Michaelene Pendleton, W. R. Thompson, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Dean Wesley Smith, | |
| 1997 | 15 | February 27 - March 1 | Orson Scott Card, Judith Moffett | |
| 1998 | 16 | March 12–14 | Elizabeth Moon, Sherwood Smith, Dave Wolverton | |
| 1999 | 17 | Kevin J. Anderson, Marty Brenneis, Michael Liebman, Rebecca Moesta | ||
| 2000 | 18 | March 23–25 | David Howard, L.E. Modesitt, Jr., Margaret Weis, M.K. Wren | |
| 2001 | 19 | Jeanne Cavelos, Tracy Hickman, Sam Longoria, Harry Turtledove | ||
| 2002 | 20 | February 21–23 | Marty Brenneis, Michael R. Collings, Larry Niven, Christian Ready | |
| 2003 | 21 | February 13–15 | Esther M. Friesner, Patricia C. Wrede, Orson Scott Card | |
| 2004 | 22 | February 19–21 | Matthew Candelaria, Michael R. Collings, Jim Conley, Robert J Defendi, Brian C. Hailes, Sam Longoria, Norman R. Peercy, William J. Widder | |
| 2005 | 23 | February 17–19 | Michael R. Collings, David Howard, L. E. Modesitt, Jr., Jerry Pournelle | |
| 2006 | 24 | February 16–18 | Kevin J. Anderson, Michael R. Collings, Rebecca Moesta, Theresa Mather, Norman Peercy | |
| 2007 | 25 | February 15–17 | Julie E. Czerneda, Gloria Skurzynski, Howard Tayler, Stacy Whitman | |
| 2008 | 26 | Orson Scott Card, Gail Carson Levine, Kevin Wasden | ||
| 2009 | 27 | Laura Hickman, Tracy Hickman | ||
| 2010 | 28 | February 11–13 | Marty Brenneis, Nathan Hale, Brandon Sanderson | |
| 2011 | 29 | February 17–19 | James Dashner, Steven Keele | |
| 2012 | 30 | Mary Robinette Kowal, James A. Owen, Brandon Sanderson, Howard Tayler, Dan Wells | ||
| 2013 | 31 | February 14–16 | Megan Whalen Turner, James A. Owen | |
| 2014 | 32 | February 13–15 | Orson Scott Card, Michael R. Collings, Michaelbrent Collings, David Farland, Brian C. Hailes, L.E. Modesitt, Jr., James A. Owen, Brandon Sanderson, Anne Sowards | |
| 2015 | 33 | February 12–14 | Toni Weisskopf, Steven L. Peck, Eric G. Swedin | |
| 2016 | 34 | February 11–13 | Kevin J. Anderson, Shannon Hale | |
| 2017 | 35 | Beth Meacham, Dan Wells | ||
| 2018 | 36 | February 15–17 | Todd McCaffrey, Jo Walton | |
| 2019 | 37 | February 14–16 | Kelly Barnhill, Brett Helquist |