NUCLEAR: Art and radioactivity

I've copied below information I've had from Simon Hollington, part of the team that created the Wyndhamesque "Invisible Force Field Experiments" installation a couple of years ago.

Simon says:

"This one is almost Sci Fi as it is based on the BBC 'Edge of Darkness'
series of the 80's-so we have jumped a couple of decades.
Its rather IFFE as we have done the same kind of thing but created a nuclear facility in the heart of the city-and yes obviously it is in melt down.
And yes, Lucas Parkes will be making a minor appearance again, but only for the keen observer.
And no, B.A.N.G. does not exist-well not quite with that name anyway."

I liked the IFFE installations (or rather the CD that I had of it), so this might be worth a visit.

The Arts Catalyst with SCAN
in association with RSA Arts & Ecology

present

NUCLEAR: Art & Radioactivity
New commissions by Chris Oakley and Simon Hollington & Kypros Kyprianou

Opens Thu 13 November (private view 6 – 8.30pm, open to press from 4pm)
Runs: 14 - 16, 20 - 23, 27 - 30 November 2008, 12 – 6.30pm Admission free Nicholls and Clarke Building, 3-10 Shoreditch High Street, Spitalfields, London E1

Nuclear Talkaoke with The People Speak - Friday 14 November Nuclear Forum at the RSA - Friday 28 November

Nuclear power is re-emerging as a concern for our times, both as a generator of energy and as part of a defence strategy. Today it seems to stand for the failed utopian promises of modernism and a fresh hope for a carbon-free future. The contradictions that lie at its core have provided a rich source of questioning for artists, scientists, ecologists and activists for many years. The exhibition NUCLEAR: Art & Radioactivity explores these intricacies through two new commissioned works by Chris Oakley and Simon Hollington & Kypros Kyprianou.

Last year, high court judge Jeremy Sullivan caused an apparent setback to the government's nuclear energy ambitions by ruling that public consultation into the creation of a new fleet of nuclear power stations was "misleading", "seriously flawed" and "procedurally unfair". The content presented to the public was so without substance that the judge ruled it would be "wholly insufficient for them to make an intelligent response". Soon after these events, Simon Hollington & Kypros Kyprianou started a residency at The British Atomic Nuclear Group as part of a public perceptions program initiated in response to the 2007 ruling.
Hollington & Kyprianou’s work in NUCLEAR: Art & Radioactivity is the outcome from this residency, particularly their work within B.A.N.G’s wide-ranging public consultation process into the possibility of siting a nuclear power facility in the heart of London. Their new installation, 'The Nightwatchman’ takes the changing perceptions of the nuclear power industry over its 50 year history into a single immersive narrative environment. Combining the concerns of two different eras (that of the mid-80’s and that of the present day), ‘ The Nightwatchman’ blends fact and fiction into a darkly humorous journey from hard-nosed PR to a logical hysteria.

Chris Oakley's new film 'Half-life' looks at the histories of Harwell, birthplace of the UK nuclear industry, and the new development of fusion energy technology at the Culham facility in Oxfordshire. Oakley has gained the cooperation of both these organisations in his research and filming. The film examines nuclear science research through a historical and cultural filter. It includes live action material alongside archive sources and animated sections drawn from scientific diagrams. With the recent widespread acceptance of the reality of climate change driven by carbon dioxide emissions, the work explores the realities and myths surrounding the nuclear sciences.

Two discussion events accompany the exhibition.

A Nuclear Talkaoke is being hosted by The People Speak at time, Fri 14 November within the exhibition in the Nicholls & Clarke building. A mobile chat-show, the format allows all visitors to comment on the work and the issues around it in an informal and entertaining way. Admission is free and there's no need to book, however,if you would like to bring a group of people to the exhibition and Talkaoke, or if you have special access needs, please contact The Arts Catalyst on 020 7375 3690.

In partnership with the RSA Arts & Ecology, The Arts Catalyst and SCAN present a nuclear forum at the RSA on Friday 28 November (10am to 6pm) exploring the impact of nuclear power in art and culture. Prominent artists, writers and experts will discuss their work and engagement with the issues around nuclear energy, from Hiroshima through the 50s’
‘white heat of technology’ and the Cold War nuclear tensions to present day energy debates. Speakers include the controversial American ‘nuclear sculptor’ James Acord, whose work caused huge public and media attention as the highlight of The Arts Catalyst’s ATOMIC exhibition in London ten years ago. The RSA is at 8 John Adam Street, WC2. Nearest tube Temple/Embankment. Free. Please register at art@rsa.org.uk

ACCESS: The Nicholls and Clarke Building and the RSA are accessible to people in wheelchairs. Please note there is no on-site toilet at the Nicholls & Clarke Building. For other access enquiries, please contact The Arts Catalyst on 020 7375 3690.

NUCLEAR: Art & Radioactivity is commissioned and produced by The Arts Catalyst with SCAN media arts agency, and in association with the RSA, the Royal Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, Manufacturing and Commerce. The Arts Catalyst and SCAN are funded by Arts Council England

Two donations to Science Fction Foundation Collection

Bookdealer, literary agent and fan Les Flood (left) has generously donated his awards (British Fantasy Award "Special award", 1985) , and the 1986 World SF "Dedicated Service Award" 1986) to the Science Fiction Foundation Collection.

Les Flood, now retired, was one of the "movers and shakers" of British sf in the 1950, and was instrumental in setting up the International Fantasy Awards in the early 1950s, before the establishment of the Hugo Awards. Gregory Pickersgill's webpage on http://http://www.gostak.org.uk/ifa/ifaindex.htm gives information about the IFA, images (of which the image above left is one) and reproduces an early article by Les on the IFA.

We are very grateful to Les for his generosity and support.

In addition, British fan Andy Croft has donated part of a collection of books left him by his late brother to fill gaps in our stock. It is always irritating to have three-quarters of a series, and this generous donation allows us to tackle this. We are extremely grateful.

Science Fiction Foundation Masterclass

Science Fiction Foundation announces SF Criticism Masterclass for 2007Class Leaders:Andrew M. ButlerJoan HaranBrian Stableford
The Science Fiction Foundation (SFF) will be holding the first of an annual Masterclass in sf criticism in 2007.
The SFF is launching this new venture in conjunction with the University of Liverpool, which hosts its book collection within the university library. The aim of the Masterclass is to provide those who have a serious interest in sf criticism with the opportunity to exchange ideas with leading figures in the field, and also to use the SFF Collection.
The first Masterclass will take place from June 19-22, 2007 at the University of Liverpool. Each full day of the Masterclass will consist of morning and evening classes, with afternoons free to use the SFF Collection. Class leaders for 2007 will be Andrew M. Butler, Joan Haran, and Brian Stableford. Delegate costs will be £180 per person, excluding accommodation; accommodation (at a local hotel) will be booked through the Masterclass with current rates being £59.50 (single)/ £79.50 (twin).
Applicants should write to Farah Mendlesohn at farah.sf@gmail.com. Applicants will be asked to provide a CV and writing sample; these will be assessed by an Applications Committee consisting of Farah Mendlesohn, Paul Kincaid, Andy Sawyer, and Roger Luckhurst.
Completed applications must be received by 28th February 2007.

Donations to the Science Fiction Foundation Collection

Before Christmas we received a number of important donations to the Science Fiction Foundation Collection: a collection of books, cds, and other material by NEIL GAIMAN, kindly donated by Neil himself. Thanks, Neil! In some cases, these are items which it would have been very difficult to get hold of, and we are extremely pleased to have these direct donations. Without such support, the Collection would be a lot poorer. They will be catalogued in due course.

In addition, the author DAVID DRAKE donated the 1st and 2nd State holograph mss of Ramsey Campbell's first novel THE DOLL WHO ATE HIS MOTHER. These were given to Mr Drake by the author in 1975, and we are delighted that Mr Drake has decided to donate these to the Foudation for the Campbell Archive. details are as below:

Campbell, Ramsey. THE DOLL WHO ATE HIS MOTHER. Holographic manuscripts written in ink. A) Black notebook; lined; 5 1/4 X 3 1/4 inches; 80 leaves. Each leaf is completely occupied with preliminary notes for the novel; as each section was expanded in the second state of the text it was canceled with a diagonal strike; there was some rearrangement of material from one state to the other. B) Three orange notebooks; lined; 9 X 6 3/4 inches; each 60 leaves. Text written on the rectos of each leaf; changes/additions occasionally appear on facing versos of preceding leaves. The final manuscript state of the novel, filling two notebooks and the first fifteen leaves of a third. The four notebooks are contained in the brown padded mailing envelope in which Campbell sent them to Drake.

What can I say but . . .

A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!

New blog for Science Fiction and Fantasy Research Database

Hal Hall, of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Research Database, Texas A&M University, writes:

"When I dipt into the future far as human eye could see.."

Science Fiction and Fantasy Research database has been up on the web since July 2000. With some good fortune, it will remain up and running for 4 more years before change becomes inevitable. However...

Change is coming, and planning for change is an issue on my mind. Planning for a significant change also takes time, and planning is always best with good information, so I am coming to these participants of these listservs as sources of information, opinion, and advice.

To do so, I have embarked on an experiment in contemporary communication - a Web Log, or Blog. The blog, titled Science Fiction and Fantasy Research Database, may be used at:
http://sffrd.blogspot.com/

This tool will allow the capture of comments very effectively, and in a form I can use with the various administrators who may be involved in any decisions on the future.

There may be other options than the ones I have noted on the Blog; please feel free to propose any new ideas.

The other element of decision-making is the value of the Database to the community. Your comments regarding that matter will be of use to the administrators, also.

Thank you for your time. Hall

Science Fiction Book Club website

Gregory Pickersgill has started a website devoted to the history of the (British) Science Fiction Book Club. It's proving to be a useful and interesting resource. A remarkable amount of publishing history vanishes simply because people never get round to recording it, and in the discussions around the SFBC people began to discover how much they didn't know about an institution which introduced sf to many people who were not part of the established science fiction scene (and not a few who subsequently became so.

You can find the site at http://www.gostak.org.uk/sfbc/sfbcindex.htm

"About SF" resource centre

JIM GUNN, of the Center for the Study of Science Fiction, University of Kansas, writes:

"Through funds contributed by SFRA, SFWA, Tor Books, and a couple of individuals, we have implemented an idea proposed by David Brin to create a half-time graduate position here as a Coordinator of Volunteer SF Activities. The first person to hold that position is Thomas Seay, a graduate student pursuing an MFA. The first fruit of that project is the aboutsf.com website. The most complete part of the project is the Speakers Service. Any of you who are willing to give talks about SF, particularly at local schools but in statewide or national venues as well, can list your names on the site and indicate what topics you are qualified to address and a range of honoraria. You can read more about it on the site.

We also hope to make the site a repository for information about the teaching of SF at the primary, secondary, and university levels."

SF and the sublime

Romanian Foundation contributor CORNELL ROBU has published a book developing ideas in his essay "A Key to Science Fiction: the Sublime" (Foundation 42: Spring 1988). The book, O chiee pentru science-fiction is published by Casa Cartii de Stiinta, Cluj-Napoca. Robu identifies the ideas of the sublime from Edmund Burke and Immanuel Kant -- infinity, immensity, "delightful horror" -- as a key to science fiction's "sense of wonder".

Forthcoming conference

The Founding Conference of the British Society for Literature and Science

Proposals for 20-minute papers are invited for the founding conference of the British Society for Literature and Science. The conference will be held at the University of Glasgow from 24-26 March 2006. Papers may address topics in the interactions of literature and science in any period. Presenters need not be based in UK institutions.

Proposals are on any topics are welcome, but we would especially encourage proposals reflecting on methodological questions (particularly questions of history and historicisms) or on how this interdisciplinary field can benefit by broadening or redefining its disciplinary base, for example by considering what the sociology of science can bring to science and literature studies. We also invite panel proposals for three papers of 20 minutes; members of the panel should be drawn from more than one institution.

Please send an abstract of no more than 400 words (or in the case of a panel, abstracts for each paper) to Dr Alice Jenkins, Department of English Literature, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ or bsls@englit.arts.gla.ac.uk, by 30 November 2005. If using email, please send abstracts in the body of messages; do not use attachments. In sending hard copy, please include an anonymous proposal and a cover sheet giving contact details.

Please send any queries to Dr Alice Jenkins at the postal or email addresses above.

Dr Alice Jenkins
Department of English Literature
University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ
0141 330 5699 www.gla.ac.uk/~aj12x

Glasgow

Memories of the Worldcon in Glasgow seem to be fading (maybe it was the Finnish party, subsidised by Finlandia vodka), but the convention turned out to be one of the best events in years. There was a strong showing at the Science Fiction Foundation table, where two books were launched: Christopher Priest: the Interaction edited by Andrew M. Butler and Parietal Games: Critical Writings by and on M. John Harrison edited by Mark Bould and Michelle Reid ("Foundation Studies in Science Fiction", 5 & 6). This proved even stronger when Edward James and Farah Mendlesohn won a Hugo for "best related book" for the Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction (Cambridge University Press) -- see photos above).

Other British Hugo winners were Susanna Clarke (Best Novel : Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell),Charlie Stross (Best Novella), Sue Mason (Best Fan Artist),David Langford (Best semi-pro magazine: Ansible, David Langford (again) (Best Fan-Writer, and the Plokta Cabal (Best Fanzine). The Special Interaction Committee Award (not a Hugo Award)went to David Pringle, former editor and publisher of Interzone.The "Big Heart Award" (a kind of "services to fandom" award, was jointly awarded to Walter Ernsting, John-Henri Holmberg and Ina Shorrock: I'm particularly pleased about the last as Ina is a friend and one of the founders of the Liverpool group of the 1950s.




Ina Shorrock





Some other photos:


Would you award a Hugo to this man? Edward James at the Voyager party. (right)












French writer Jean-Claude Dunyach
(left)










Jon Courtenay Grimwood: the only man who managed to look cool at the Voyager "Pirate Party" (right).


The Hugo Winners, 2005

From Alien (environments) to The (Glasgow) Matrix

A journey across the Atlantic to the Science Fiction Research Association conference in Las Vegas last month and the forthcoming (I leave tomorrow) World SF Convention in Glasgow has meant comparatively little time for blogging, but I've managed to get some more links up on the to Hub. I was chagrined when the server fell apart last week (it now appears to be better -- thanks, Rob!) but I was secretly pleased when several people actually noticed that the Hub was down.

Las Vegas was like everyone told me it would be -- "there's no there there"; "24-hour gambling hell"-- but it still surprised me my first experience of Las Vegas was the rain. This is meant to be the Nevada desert, yet I step out of the airport to feel raindrops falling on my head and lightning flashes in the hills. I ended up standing beneath an Eiffel Tower in the rain, wondering which city I was in. It felt like the time I caught a cold in the Peruvian rainforest . . .

But evidence that I have been thinking of sf: Roz Kaveney's interesting new book on sf film is reviewed below.

Roz Kaveney, From Alien to The Matrix: Reading Science Fiction Film (I. B. Tauris, 2005: 208pp, £9.95, ISBN 1-85043-806-4)

In From Alien to the Matrix, Roz Kaveney does two things, and does both of them uncannily well. The first is a theoretical defence of what she calls the “geek aesthetic” in considering sf films (and by extension, any popular art form). By this, she means both the “active consumption” of an art form – the simple but oft-overlooked fact that “sitting through films and television shows can be the start of appreciating them, not simply an end in itself – and the “hobbyist” nature of the means of production of many of these artefacts, which begins with many of their creators starting off as fans and the creative fan-cultures which centre around phenomena like fan-fiction. Films, and particularly sf films, says Kaveney, are “thick texts”: products not just of the creative process which makes them but “all stages of that process . . . like scars or vestigial organs”. Unlike many people who write about sf film (but by no means all: this is not a knee-jerk reaction against critics of the field) Kaveney is versed in wider aspects of science fiction and sf fandom and understands/is part of/forms its collegiate nature. When she remarks that sf film is not only often about Big Dumb Objects but is itself a kind of Big Dumb Object she is the person who invented the term. And when she goes on to dissect particular cinematic texts, which is the second and longest part of the book, it is as critic and fan noting how these texts work and why, and how and why, in some particular cases, they don’t work.

And she does this with wonderful skill and wit. This is a book which needs to be read as an object lesson in how to consider a science fiction film.

Kaveney considers, for example, why Paul Verhoeven’s Starship Troopers doesn’t work as what Vehoeven seems to think it is (a satire) because it is based upon a fundamental misunderstanding of Heinlein’s novel; and why the Trek-located satire of Galaxy Quest works (because it is based upon an understanding of the strengths of fictions like Star Trek as well as their parodiable aspects). A chapter on invasion films moves from The War of the Worlds and The Thing to Mars Attacks and Signs and covers a large amount of territory in a comparatively small space to examine the way this once-powerful theme seems to have worn out. Another chapter on comedy looks at the way the idea of the “robot” is used in Dante’s Small Soldiers, while the following two chapters consider the idea of “cognitive dissonance” in films that question ideas of identity, especially Dark City and the less-depth-but-more-style The Matrix and its sequels: it would have been interesting, although a digression, to have seen Kaveney on the several books which have claimed The Matrix as a work of philosophical or religious interest. The rest of the book pulls some of the ideas discussed so far together and develops them along with the idea of “creation as product” to consider the “franchise” films, which share, in one respect, sf’s “collegiality” but in another respect are almost at the other pole.

Sf’s ideas, says Kaveney, have “hinterland”. They are passed along in an ongoing dialogue between writers and readers (and writers and writers: and readers and readers). The hinterland of sf film tends to be film rather than sf – “Most filmed SF fails to work as SF simply because it lacks contact with a broader context of influence” – and even here much sf film, suggests Kaveney, avoids dialogue with other cinematic genres (the noir and Hitchcockian suspense film may be an exception). She wonders whether the “franchise” film such as the Star Wars series, which sets up its own background, could be an exception, but despite the vast amount of fannish exegesis and enthusiasm finds that this is not the case. Here, I think, is the most interesting part of the book. Kaveney takes us through the sequence and shows how George Lucas fails to engage with his source material in any radical or even interesting way. (Kaveney is silent about Joseph Campbell and the “monomyth” for, I think, good reason: if a mythic “universal” is present in a text that says nothing at all about how interestingly or effectively that universal is presented: something many writers on Star Wars have overlooked in their enthusiasm.) In more depth, and with more attention to detail Kaveney considers the “Alien” quartet as one of the comparatively rare cinematic sf sequences that do possess a “hinterland”, where changes in the sequence become a dialogue with previous versions rather than attempts to tie up loose ends. Direction, acting, sets, script and cinematic technique all play their parts, as do the theoretical stances on questions like gender and sexuality which we bring to bear as we “read” the character of Ripley as she changes throughout the series.

Kaveney herself approaches the films she analyses as (if you like) a fan. That is, she is watching these films because she likes them, or hopes to like them, or finds them interesting. She is knowledgeable and enthusiastic, and communicates this knowledge and enthusiasm. You come out of the book knowing a lot more than when you started it, but never feeling that reading it is a substitute for seeing the films: instead, what you want to do is rush to the video and watch the films again in the light of what she shares. But as she writes with the best of fannish verve so she writes with the best of academic engagement. This is a jargon-free zone and, apart from a few glitches which read like sentences in need of repair, wonderfully reader-friendly. In short, this is a book which will be enormously helpful to people studying sf film, but will also be a sound and friendly companion to those for whom a science fiction film is a Saturday night in with a six-pack and a few friends.

Andy Sawyer, July 2005

Photos of the Hub Launch

Left: Brian, Stephen and Ramsey.
Right: Brian Aldiss reading his poem.

An alternative account of the Hub project: all these poets!

Ballad of The SF Hub

Andy Sawyer.
(Who is really, really sorry. He couldn’t help it . . .)



When thinking how to launch the Hub
We thought “How would it go?”
Would anyone be interested?
Would anybody show?
And even if it all went well,
Would anybody know?

Let’s call in Ramsey Campbell,
He knows a trick or three,
On how to work an audience
Convulsed with chills, or glee.
And he has sent his archive
To gather dust with we.

Let’s invite some stellar names,
It only is polite.
They may not even want to come,
But anyway they might.
But don’t neglect the scholars
For they have seen the light.

For sf’s academic!
MAs and Ph.ds
Swarm round the Universities
Like ants or mice or bees,
And bursars smile contentedly
Considering the fees.

And how much wood is hewn and pulped
For books and essays written
By earnest-looking scholars
With fame and tenure smitten
Who stroke their newly-minted tome
As if it were a kitten?

But where can all these scholars find
Intellectual inspiration?
Oh, there can’t be a library
With so much information?
As if by magic summon up
Our own SF Foundation.

Now safely based in Liverpool
Are books and pulps galore
From single-issue fanzines
To all you want and more
Of bio-bibliographies
All spread out on the floor.

But how to let the people know,
And catalogue it well?
Along there comes AHRB
With its financial spell.
(That’s Arts & Humanities Research Board,
As if you couldn’t tell.)

Our archive’s Stapledonian,
A Time and Space romance.
There’s Wyndham’s triffid manuscripts,
His wartime notes from France.
We’ve Lionel Fanthorpe paperbacks!
We have to stand a chance.

The grant is granted, in comes Roy,
With his mighty band
As Heather, Steph, and Elinor
Take manuscripts in hand.
To see it all encoded,
Ah, wouldn’t it be grand!

So here we are, the task is done,
Apart from all that stuff
Falling off of Andy’s desk,
But that is quite enough.
And back again to plan the launch,
And show that we are tough.

Then letters fall upon our desks:
McCready’s and then mine.
“It looks like Stephen Baxter’s coming.”
“Well, wouldn’t that be fine!”
“And Brian Aldiss, he says yes.”
“Go out and buy more wine!”

And now the launch, here Ramsey comes
(And everyone’s on time),
But he refuses speechmaking,
Declaiming forth in rhyme!
His puns excruciating,
His sentiment sublime.

But as our blushes fade away
From cheeks to burning throat,
Another shock to modesty
As Brian waves a note
And confesses that upon the train
An ode was what he wrote.

Oh shall I call on Stephen
To extemporise
Or follow the example
Of Brian’s words so wise?
I think he mentioned “to the pub”?
Well mine’s a double size!

But Baxter steps out to the breach
Extemporising well.
There isn’t any rhyme in it
As far as we can tell.
He’s praised the SF Hub again
So we won’t give him hell.

And now here come the journalists
To talk to me and you
Of why we think the SF Hub
Is something brave and new
So say “Sf’s postmodernist”
And don’t say “Doctor Who”.

So thank you, Horrormeister,
And thank you, Clarke’s Successor!
And thank you, Dean of Brit Sf!
It could have been a mess, or
Something not the maddest monk
Reveals to his confessor.

But thanks to thee, AHRC*,
And thanks to the Foundation,
And thanks to the University
We’re reached our destination.


*Not a typo. The Arts and Humanities Research Board earlier this year became the Arts and Humanities Research Council. Thank goodness the rhyme still fits!

Brian Aldiss's poetical tribute

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?

Ramsey Campbell's "SF Hub" poetic tribute

[The Science Fiction Hub]

(Ramsey Campbell : Delivered at the launch of the SF Hub, University of Liverpool, 12th April 2005).

There’s no payment for joining this club.
Of sf it stands as the hub.
And also of horror,
To some people’s sorrow.
Of fantasy too it’s a nub.

First let Andy Sawyer be fêted.
His work cannot be overrated.
He still stocks the shelves,
Whereas, pleasing themselves,
Public libraries treat books as dated.

Next behold the formidable Brian.
His mastery there’s no descrying.
Stephen Baxter’s no dope:
His inventions have scope.
Both chaps’ talents reward our descrying.

Many others are stored in the files.
There are Wyndham and Russell in piles.
There is Greenland (the man),
The great Olaf to scan,
And Brunner – he goes on for miles.

But the hub’s the achievement of Roy.
It’s very much more than a toy.
Three years in the making
And now ours for the taking –
Altogether a reason for joy.

And now it is launched on the net
With verses you’ll hope to forget.
May it grow on the Web
And its power never ebb
So researchers shall not up be het.

The Launch of the SF Hub: 12th April 2005

Probably the second post ought to be an account of the Hub's launch, and here it is:

With fewer than normal jokes about “going boldly”, The Science Fiction Hub, a new venture into science fiction scholarship developed by the University of Liverpool Library with funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Board, was launched on Tuesday April 12th at the Sydney Jones Library, University of Liverpool with an address by Liverpool author Ramsey Campbell.

The Hub (www.sfhub.ac.uk) was developed by project manager Roy McCready as a web-based route into the multi-disciplinary riches of science fiction. It contains several unique features. Building on the Science Fiction Foundation Collection of 30,000 books and over 2,000 magazine and fanzine titles deposited with the University of Liverpool in 1993, the Hub allows search of the catalogue records of this major resource as well as the lists of other archive collections held by the University, including the Olaf Stapledon, Eric Frank Russell, and John Wyndham Archives. During the three-year Hub project, 20,000 journal articles (including many from scarce fanzines) have been indexed and recorded on the University catalogue. The Hub also provides easy links to other major library holdings of science fiction and significant scholarly web resources including, for instance, the largest database of material about sf, Hal Hall’s Science Fiction and Fantasy Research Database at Texas A & M University.

The Hub was launched with a flurry of thank-yous from Science Fiction Collections Librarian Andy Sawyer, who claimed not to be in training for his Oscar nomination, and a description of the Hub from Roy McCready. Author Ramsey Campbell, who had rushed to deposit an extensive archive when the SFF came to Liverpool, returned and declaimed a poetic tribute to all concerned. Also in attendance were Brian Aldiss and Stephen Baxter, two of the authors who have deposited archive material. Not to be outdone, Brian read a poem he’d written on the train to Liverpool. Faced with a challenge to compose a praise-song in thirty seconds, Stephen Baxter nevertheless uttered a well-chosen impromptu welcome to the Hub.

Although Roy McCready is moving on from the project, there will be a process of tidying-up, cataloguing new material, and adding new links over the next few months. Comments and information are therefore welcome, to Andy Sawyer (asawyer@liv.ac.uk).

It is hoped that the Hub will be of use not only to researchers in science fiction and fantasy, but also to those many scholars in other disciplines who find sf – the literature of speculation and extrapolation – useful for their research.

Thanks to Ramsay Campbell, Brian Aldiss, and Stephen Baxter for their support. Almost immediately to come: the texts of the poems themselves.

First post (initial whisper)

So here we are. To recapitulate: HUBbub is a look at the sometimes unruly (hence the title) conversation of science fiction. It’s a way of putting out information about the SCIENCE FICTION HUB, an on-line resource for sf researchers (and researchers of anything else who may find science fiction useful) built by the University of Liverpool Library, home of the Science Fiction Foundation Collection, with funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council. I’ll also be posting reviews and comments about books and journals of sf criticism, and any relevant news which comes my way. Please note, though, that this is a personal blog: the Science Fiction Hub is not a body which expresses opinions, and while the University of Liverpool as a corporate body may well have opinions they will not be expressed here. What I say is what I say and nothing else. Other people are welcome to join in. You can’t have a hubbub without competing voices, true. But I'm quietly inserting this into the babble so I get get used to blogging. I wouldn't be surprised if there were changes made . . .

People who know me may know that I am Reviews Editor of Foundation. This blog is not a sneaky attempt to increase the review coverage of non-fiction in Foundation: what I said above with respect to opinions goes for the Science Fiction Foundation. But if you don’t subscribe to Foundation, why not? BACK ISSUES can be bought from me from me: just ask.

I am just back from the Science Fiction Research Association annual conference in Las Vegas, of which more, probably, anon. I have some links to add to the SF Hub pages, of which the first is going to be a link to this blog so that people can actually know that it exists.