Rabbit, rabbit. I want to write about several things today, but I don't think they all belong in the same post. First up, my Readercon schedule! It is very small this year, but promising.
Friday July 10
1:00 PM
Winter Is Coming: Feminist SF and the Frozen Tundra Buddy Trek.
Gwendolyn Clare, Malinda Lo, Caitlyn Paxson, Sarah Pinsker (leader), Sonya Taaffe.
During the Ancillary Justice book discussion at Readercon 25, it was brought up that many favorite feminist SF novels feature pairs of characters slogging through an inhospitable landscape: Nicola Griffith's Ammonite, Maureen McHugh's Mission Child, Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice, and of course Ursula K. Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness. Having a pair of characters traveling together generally leads to opportunities for trust and relationship building, but what is it about the tundra trek (or equivalent) that lends itself so well to feminist SF stories in particular?
2:00 PM
Where the Goblins Go: A Tour of Hells and Underworlds.
C.S.E. Cooney, Greer Gilman, Jack Haringa (moderator), Faye Ringel, Sonya Taaffe.
Many types of underworlds feature prominently in religion, folklore, horror, and fantasy. We will discuss the varied roles of hells and netherworlds in world mythology and how authors from Dante to Valente have explored (and exploited) these concepts in fiction.
6:30 PM
Reading: Sonya Taaffe.
Sonya Taaffe.
Sonya Taaffe reads poetry from her new collection (Ghost Signs) and an excerpt from a forthcoming novella.
Saturday July 11
9:00 AM
Strange Horizons.
Gillian Daniels, A. J. Odasso, Sonya Taaffe.
Group reading of Strange Horizons affiliates.
1:00 PM
Hero/Antihero.
Jeanne Cavelos, Daryl Gregory, Elaine Isaak, Scott Lynch, Sonya Taaffe.
The more well-rounded and realistic a character is, the less they seem like a traditional hero. Is it possible to have both heroism and realism, or does the introduction of multiple character flaws automatically make that character an antihero? How do shifting and competing definitions of heroism influence this discussion?
Sunday July 12
1:00 PM
A Visit from the Context Fairy.
Kythryne Aisling, Stacey Friedberg, Gwynne Garfinkle, Kate Nepveu, Sonya Taaffe.
In a blog post at Book View Café, Sherwood Smith writes about the opposite of visits from the "Suck Fairy": going back to a book you disliked and finding that the "Win Fairy" (to coin a term) improved it when you weren't looking. Are the Suck Fairy and the Win Fairy really two faces of a unified Context Fairy? If context is so crucial to loving or hating a work, how does acknowledging that affect the way a reader approaches reading, or a writer approaches writing? How does one's hope for or dread of the Context Fairy influence decisions to reread, rewrite, revise or otherwise revisit a written work?
I expect to participate as well in the Readercon Miscellany, about which I will announce more further when it's been decided. I have no programming on Thursday night, but I'll be around. Who should I look to meet up with this year?
Friday July 10
1:00 PM
Winter Is Coming: Feminist SF and the Frozen Tundra Buddy Trek.
Gwendolyn Clare, Malinda Lo, Caitlyn Paxson, Sarah Pinsker (leader), Sonya Taaffe.
During the Ancillary Justice book discussion at Readercon 25, it was brought up that many favorite feminist SF novels feature pairs of characters slogging through an inhospitable landscape: Nicola Griffith's Ammonite, Maureen McHugh's Mission Child, Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice, and of course Ursula K. Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness. Having a pair of characters traveling together generally leads to opportunities for trust and relationship building, but what is it about the tundra trek (or equivalent) that lends itself so well to feminist SF stories in particular?
2:00 PM
Where the Goblins Go: A Tour of Hells and Underworlds.
C.S.E. Cooney, Greer Gilman, Jack Haringa (moderator), Faye Ringel, Sonya Taaffe.
Many types of underworlds feature prominently in religion, folklore, horror, and fantasy. We will discuss the varied roles of hells and netherworlds in world mythology and how authors from Dante to Valente have explored (and exploited) these concepts in fiction.
6:30 PM
Reading: Sonya Taaffe.
Sonya Taaffe.
Sonya Taaffe reads poetry from her new collection (Ghost Signs) and an excerpt from a forthcoming novella.
Saturday July 11
9:00 AM
Strange Horizons.
Gillian Daniels, A. J. Odasso, Sonya Taaffe.
Group reading of Strange Horizons affiliates.
1:00 PM
Hero/Antihero.
Jeanne Cavelos, Daryl Gregory, Elaine Isaak, Scott Lynch, Sonya Taaffe.
The more well-rounded and realistic a character is, the less they seem like a traditional hero. Is it possible to have both heroism and realism, or does the introduction of multiple character flaws automatically make that character an antihero? How do shifting and competing definitions of heroism influence this discussion?
Sunday July 12
1:00 PM
A Visit from the Context Fairy.
Kythryne Aisling, Stacey Friedberg, Gwynne Garfinkle, Kate Nepveu, Sonya Taaffe.
In a blog post at Book View Café, Sherwood Smith writes about the opposite of visits from the "Suck Fairy": going back to a book you disliked and finding that the "Win Fairy" (to coin a term) improved it when you weren't looking. Are the Suck Fairy and the Win Fairy really two faces of a unified Context Fairy? If context is so crucial to loving or hating a work, how does acknowledging that affect the way a reader approaches reading, or a writer approaches writing? How does one's hope for or dread of the Context Fairy influence decisions to reread, rewrite, revise or otherwise revisit a written work?
I expect to participate as well in the Readercon Miscellany, about which I will announce more further when it's been decided. I have no programming on Thursday night, but I'll be around. Who should I look to meet up with this year?
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