The SF Hub: an ode
Brian W. Aldiss
(On the Virgin trains Oxford-Lime Street
Tuesday 12 April)
Delivered at the launch of the SF Hub, University of Liverpool, 12th April 2005.
I wondered as my train wound north
What was the SF hub:
A something pedagogic
Or another fannish club?
Would Tubb & Vargo Statten be
On show at SF Hub
Or all of Lionel Fanthorpe’s works
Enshrined here. Crikey, there’s the rub!
Are Heinlein, Blish & Wells all there
With Wyndham, landmark of the Hub,
With Dick & Asimov & Stapledon
Down to the newest writing cub?
Farah might be there of course
While Andy owns the SF Hub –
Ramsey, who speaks, & Clute: maybe
Both God & Beelzebub!
The Queen might come with silver spade
Marking the founding of the Hub
By planting here an English oak
Or else a measly little shrub.
When we’ve got the speeches done with,
We Great Ones of the Hub,
Shall we, in ways traditional,
All clear off to the nearest pub?
No comments:
Post a Comment