If you are visiting Hispacon in Tui for epic fantasy, start with the talks devoted to Spanish anthologies and short fiction in Galician and Portuguese. Then make room for a session outside your usual reading interests. The most useful thing you can take home may be a question that changes how you read your next fantasy world.
Short answer: choose one session about epic fantasy itself, one about how imagined worlds are made, and one that introduces another language or format. The organiser’s programme places Hispacon in Tui on 16–18 October 2026 and says admission is free.
News about the gathering draws attention to the people coming to Tui. For a reader, the more interesting question is what to do with such a varied programme. Hispacon brings fantasy together with science fiction and horror; attending only the sessions whose titles already sound familiar could mean missing a useful way into epic fantasy.
Where does the programme address epic fantasy directly?
The official schedule offers two clear starting points. On Friday, Mariano Martín is scheduled to speak about three historical and critical anthologies of Spanish epic fantasy. On Saturday, another session of his addresses short epic fantasy in Galician and Portuguese.
The titles suggest different reading questions. An anthology can help you notice how varied the work gathered under “epic fantasy” may be. A session on short fiction invites you to ask how a story can suggest a larger world without spending a whole novel explaining it. These are questions to bring to the talks, not claims about what the speaker will conclude. The programme does not provide a complete list of works that will be discussed.
Which other sessions could change how you read a world?
A fantasy setting becomes more interesting when you notice more than its map. Friday’s programme includes a talk on castles, palaces and cathedrals in fantastic literature. Saturday lists sessions on historical context in sagas, religion and fantastic genres, and publishing speculative fiction in other languages. There is also a roundtable about storytelling across literature, role-playing games, board games and video games.
You cannot attend everything at once; parts of the programme run in parallel. Use this small route to decide what you want to investigate:
| Your reading question | A programme starting point | What to notice in your next book | |---|---|---| | What belongs in epic fantasy? | Spanish epic fantasy anthologies | Which different kinds of story share the label? | | How much world can a brief tale imply? | Short epic fantasy in Galician and Portuguese | What remains beyond the scene without being explained? | | How does a place feel inhabited? | Architecture in fantastic literature | What do buildings suggest about the people who use them? | | Why does a fictional past matter? | Historical context in sagas | Which earlier events shape a present choice? | | What changes across media? | Storytelling in books and games | What can the audience explore for themselves? |
The session names and scheduling come from the organiser’s programme. Check it again before travelling or choosing between simultaneous activities.
How can you keep exploring after Tui?
Try one of those questions on a world with both a story and reference material. The DRAKHTHAR official site presents an epic fantasy setting through thirteen regions, their dragons and their Named, alongside a book preview and a Codex. Pick a region and ask what you learn about its place in the wider world. Then read the opening of the story and notice which details the narrative reveals without asking you to consult a reference page.
You can do the same with any book you discover at Hispacon. Write down one title and one question from each session you attend. When you return home, choose a sample to read and see whether the question makes you notice something you would otherwise have passed over. That turns a busy convention programme into a reading route you can continue long after the event.