All Guests

CONvergence Guests of Honor are chosen very carefully. Of course we want our guests to attend panels and share their knowledge and experience with us, but we also try to invite guests whom we genuinely think will enjoy CONvergence and have fun themselves! It’s not at all uncommon to see current and past Guests of Honor hanging out with convention attendees in room parties, mingling with the crowd, and actively participating in CONvergence culture!

Here you can find out all about the CONvergence 2026 Guests of Honor!

Arif S. Kinchen

Arif S. Kinchen is an acclaimed actor, musician, voice actor, and charity streamer on Twitch. Arif voices Jazz in Transformers: Robots in Disguise, multiple characters in The Mandalorian, Season 3 and Star vs. the Forces of Evil, and The Concrete Foreman in Pixar’s Elemental. Notable AAA games include Pierce Washington in the Saints Row franchise, multiple roles including Finn (FN-2187) in Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, as well as Deathloop and Starfield.

Christine D. Galey

Christine D. Galey is an accomplished actress and puppeteer known for her work in the Star Wars universe. Her most notable and fan-favorite role came in The Book of Boba Fett (Season 1, Episode 6), where she made history as the first female puppeteer to portray the beloved droid R2-D2. Christine also portrayed Off-World Jawas in the same series, showcasing her versatility in both character performance and creature work.

J.R. Dawson

J.R. Dawson is a queer speculative fiction author who the Washington Post called “both sharp and wistful, reminiscent of V.E. Schwab at her best.” Her novel, The First Bright Thing, follows a time-traveling circus of magical misfits. Her newest book, The Lighthouse at the Edge of the World, is a sapphic Orpheus retelling that has been named a JLG Gold Standard and won the 2026 Society of Midland Authors award for Adult Fiction.

John Kovalic

John Kovalic is an award-winning cartoonist, game designer and writer. His work has appeared everywhere from the New York Times to Rolling Stone and Dragon magazine. John is best known for his Dork Tower comic book, comic strip, and webcomic, and other humorous work set in and about the fantasy role-playing game genre, such as The Unspeakable Oaf. His world of geeky goodies also includes Apples to Apples and the hit card game Munchkin.

Nur-D

One of the fastest rising stars in Minnesota’s music scene, Nur-D is a hip hop artist burst onto the stage in 2018. Designated Best New MN Artist in 2019 (Citypages), headlined The 2020 “Best New Bands” show at First Avenue, honoree for the 2021 National Philanthropy Day (University of Minnesota), awarded 2021 Best Live Concert (Citypages), voted the 2022 Best Musician/Local Artist (Twin Cities Collective), Nur-D brings an explosion of energy every time he hits the stage!