Olaf Stapledon inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame at a short ceremony at the Locus Awards Weekend on June 28.

Embattled Heavens: The Militarization of Space in Science, Fiction, and Politics

For much of the twentieth century, outer space has been envisioned as not only a site of heavenly utopias, but also the ultimate battlefield. Concentrating on weapons, warfare, and violence, this conference explores the military dimensions of astroculture in the period between 1942 and 1990. By highlighting the militarization of extraterrestrial frontiers and conquest in politics and popular culture alike, ‘Embattled Heavens’ addresses the complex processes that oscillate between peaceful and aggressive characteristics of human endeavors in outer space. While the Space Age is usually associated with Cold War history, this conference complicates established narratives by integrating Western European and global perspectives. Examining astropolitics, technoscientific practices, and science fiction, the goal of this conference is to reconceptualize the history of outer space with a view towards its military dimensions.

Conference speakers include David Edgerton (King's College London), Bernd Greiner (Hamburger Institut für Sozialforschung), Michael J. Neufeld (National Air and Space Museum), Alex Roland (Duke University) and Michael Sheehan (Swansea University).

Interested attendees are encouraged to register in advance, so that adequate seating can be provided. Please contact Daniel Brandau and Tilmann Siebeneichner at astrofuturismus@fu-berlin.de.

http://www.geschkult.fu-berlin.de/e/fmi/astrofuturismus/veranstaltungen/C_Heavens/index.html

Forthcoming event highlighting Leeds University Brotherton Library's sf collections.

 
http://library.leeds.ac.uk/events/410/event/195/

Date: Saturday 29 Mar 2014

Location: The Stanley and Audrey Burton Gallery
Time: 11:00 - 12:00
Cost: Free Event
To coincide with our new display, Dreams of a Low Carbon Future (10 February- 31 March 2014), this discussion will highlight works from the Science Fiction Collection, held in the Library's Special Collections.
There will be opportunity to see early pulp magazines, illustrated volumes and rare editions of highly influential works of SF literature. Come along to learn more about these futures past and the history of the collections. A short presentation will be followed by questions and discussion.
Find out more about the University of Leeds' Special Collections on their website pages: http://library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections

A mini-con in Liverpool, 31 May 1st June 2014: The View Foundation Suite, 73 Everton Road, Liverpool L6 2EH. For sufther details, http://si-phi-entertainment.wix.com/si-phi

The New Wave at 50

The Science Fiction 'New Wave' At Fifty conference

Keynote: Professor Rob Latham (UC, Riverside): Senior Editor, Science Fiction Studies; editorial board member, The Journal of Science Fiction Film and Television and The Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts.

 

Saturday 31 May - Sunday 1 June 2014

University of East Anglia, Norwich

 

Conference Organisers: Dr Mark P. Williams | Dr Jacob Huntley | Dr Matthew Taunton

 

*****

In May 1964 New Worlds #142 hits the newsstands. It is the first edition edited by Michael Moorcock and ushers in a creative, and much debated, reinterpretation of the aesthetics of Science Fiction. The "New Wave" has begun. This period of aesthetic innovation connected a great many of the pressing concerns of the day, from the apocalyptic threat of the Cold War to the potential of the Space Age, but it also preceded the concerns of subsequent generations including postmodernism, questions of identity and subjectivity, and the nature of history.

Fifty years after that landmark issue the ripples continue to be felt, washing through various modes of fantastic literature from slipstream to the New Weird, from cyberpunk to steampunk.

As a way of celebrating and acknowledging the influence of Moorcock’s tenure as editor of New Worlds starting with that seminal May/June issue, the University of East Anglia will be hosting a conference, The Science Fiction New Wave at Fifty over the weekend of 31st May – 1st June 2014.

*****

Professor Rob Latham is a senior editor of Science Fiction Studies and member of the editorial boards of The Journal of Science Fiction Film and Television and The Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts.  He is currently completing a book on New Wave Science Fiction focusing on its connections to counterculture movements and debates of the 1960s and '70s. 

Submissions Extended

Submissions by Monday 10th March 2014

Papers are invited on any aspect of "New Wave" Science Fiction related to New Worlds, from key writers such as J G Ballard, Hilary Baily and M. John Harrison, to Moorcock himself, or comparisons between the British and American versions of "New Wave" and their relationships with Science Fiction as a mode.  We also welcome panel proposals of up to four papers with a unifying theme. 

This conference emphasises the international and culturally dialogic qualities of “New Wave” SF and is particularly interested in papers exploring how the themes and concepts which drive the 'movement' have been transformed in the intervening decades, and how they manifest in contemporary fiction today.

Topics for discussion might include but are not limited to:

·        Inner Space versus Outer Space

·        The “New Wave” and the “New Weird”

·        New Worlds as inspiration for Steampunk and/or Cyberpunk

·        Time Travel and Subjectivity

·        Synthesis of the avant-garde and populism in the “New Wave”

·        Apocalypse and ecological catastrophe

·        “New Wave” and transgression

 

Writers for discussion might include:

Hilary Bailey

J.G. Ballard

Samuel R. Delany

M. John Harrison

Michael Moorcock

Pamela Zoline     

Alongside other writers and artists connected with or inspired by the "New Wave"

Abstracts

Papers

Please send abstracts of up to 500 words, together with author’s bio of 50 words.

Panels

Full panel proposals should either have individual paper abstracts of 250 words with a brief statement of 150 words to describe the panel, or be one abstract of around 750 words.  These should be accompanied by a 50 word biographical statement for each panellist. 

*****

Submissions to: Dr Mark P. Williams (Mark.Williams@uea.ac.uk); Dr Jacob Huntley (Jacob.huntley@uea.ac.uk); Dr Matthew Taunton (M.Taunton@uea.ac.uk).

*****

Conference registration will be live from Monday 17th March 2014 onwards (see below). 

 

*****

Organiser Profiles

Dr Mark P. Williams | https://independent.academia.edu/MarkPWilliams

Dr Jacob Huntley | https://www.uea.ac.uk/literature/people/profile/jacob-huntley  

Dr Matthew Taunton | http://www.uea.ac.uk/literature/people/profile/m-taunton

 

Information

Further information and updates will be posted to the UEA Events page —

Copy and paste the URL from below:

<http://www.uea.ac.uk/literature/news-and-events/events/-/asset_publisher/Ka8ymwr5xxD0/blog/call-for-papers-the-science-fiction-new-wave-at-fifty>

SFF Science Fiction Masterclass

http://www.sf-foundation.org/masterclass
Eighth SFF Criticism Masterclass

The Eighth Science Fiction Foundation Masterclass in Science Fiction Criticism will be held from Monday 11 August 2014 to Wednesday 13 August, immediately before Loncon 3, the 2014 World Science Fiction Convention.

We are pleased to announce that the venue will be the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, founded by Charles II ...in 1675, and the home of the Prime Meridian. This is across the Thames from the Excel site where Loncon3 will take place. Price: £200.

The tutors for 2014 will be:
Andy Duncan, Professor of English at Frostburg State University, Frostburg MD, winner of the Theodore Sturgeon Award and two World Fantasy Awards, and winner of the 2012 Nebula Award for Best Novelette.
Neil Easterbrook, Professor of English at the Texas Christian University, and a prolific reviewer and critic, whose monograph on China Miéville is due to be published in 2014.
K.V. Johansen, a Canadian writer of fantasy, science fiction, and children's fiction, who has also published three books on the history of children's fantasy. Her adult novel Blackdog was shortlisted for the Sunburst Award in 2012.

Please apply to farah.sf@gmail.com. Send a short piece of critical writing, and a one page cv. Deadline for Applications: February 28th 2014

Call for Papers: Current Research in Speculative Fiction (CRSF) Conference

Call for Papers

Current Research in Speculative Fiction (CRSF) Conference

Friday 20th June 2014 in the University of Liverpool

With Keynote Lectures from: Dr. Mark Bould (University of the West of England) and Prof. Roger Luckhurst (Birkbeck University London)

Now in its fourth year, CRSF is a one day postgraduate conference designed to promote the research of speculative fictions, including SCIENCE FICTION, FANTASY and HORROR; showcasing some of the latest developments in these dynamic and evolving fields. CRSF attracts an international selection of delegates and provides a platform for postgraduate students to present their current research, encourages discussion with scholars in related subjects and the construction of crucial networks with fellow researchers. The University of Liverpool, a leading centre for the study of speculative fiction and home to the Science Fiction Foundation Collection, will host the conference.

We are seeking abstracts relating to speculative fiction, including, but not limited to, papers on the following topics:

- Alternate History - Alternative Culture - Anime - Apocalypse - Body Horror - Consciousness - Cyber Culture - Drama - Eco-criticism - Fan Culture - Gaming - (Geo)Politics - Genre - Gender - Graphic Novels - The Grotesque - The Heroic Tradition - Liminal Fantasy - Magic - Meta-Franchises - Morality - Monstrosity - Music - Non-Anglo-American SF - Otherness - Pastoral - Poetry - Politics - Post-Colonialism and Empire - Proto-SF - Psychology - Quests - Realism - Sexuality - Slipstream - Spiritualism - Steampunk - Supernatural - Technology - Time - TV and Film - Urban Fantasy - Utopia/Dystopia - (Virtual) Spaces and Environments - Weird Fiction - World Building - Young Adult Fiction.

Please submit an abstract of 300 words for a 20 minute English language paper and a 100 word biography to CRSF.team@gmail.com by Monday 10th March 2014.

For further information email the conference team at CRSF.team@gmail.com or visit our website:

www.currentresearchinspeculativefiction.blogspot.com

New issue of Eaton Journal of Archive Research in Science Fiction is now available at

http://eatonjournal.ucr.edu/

ARCHIVES DISPLAY

. . . includes includes awards given to Leslie Flood (nice Cthulhu in the centre!) and a hand-made Valentine's day card from John Wyndham to his partner, Grace Wilson.

SCIENCE FICTION /FANTASY BOOK SALE

Recent donations mean that the Science Fiction Foundation is holding yet another sale – sf, fantasy, comics, graphic novels – of duplicate stock.

Surplus copies of classic/contemporary novels, magazines, and anthologies – sf,  fantasy, comics, graphic novels  ­– are  available at knock-down prices: often 50p or less!

All money raised will support the work of the Science Fiction Foundation and its research collection administered by the University of Liverpool Library.

Books available to view

Monday 4 November – Tues 5 November from 10:00 a.m. – 4 p.m: Teaching Room, Special Collections and Archives, Sydney Jones Library

Or contact Andy Sawyer on  asawyer@liv.ac.uk for further information.

Fan Studies Network Symposium 2013

We are delighted to announce the programme for the FSN2013 symposium, taking place at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, on Saturday 30th November 2013. This will be an excellent opportunity to meet other scholars in the field.
Registration is open until Monday November 18th 2013. You can find out more information and register on the symposium website: http://www.uea.ac.uk/politics-international-media/events/fan-studies-network-symposium

.http://fanstudies.wordpress.com/fan-studies-network-symposium-2013/

The Lightbox in Woking is exhibiting an alien invasion from 15th October - 19th January:

http://www.thelightbox.org.uk/events1/october2013/15oct19janalieninvasion

On show will be some items from the Science Fiction Foundation Collection.

Deletion, the open access online forum in science fiction studies

http://www.deletionscifi.org/

A new venture in sf studies from Deakin University, Melbourne: (text below taken from their website)

Deletion, the open access online forum in science fiction studies, publishes written think pieces, videos, and artwork in bimonthly “Episodes,” with each Episode featuring between 6 and 8 contributions from scholars, authors, artists, filmmakers, gamers, and creative researchers involved in all aspects of science fiction studies.
Committed to exploring science fiction in all its forms and modes of operation, Deletion invites contributions from those writing about science fiction from a literary, philosophical, artistic, scientific, aural, televisual, games and play, and cinematic context. Deletion also accepts and encourages non-standard submissions such as creative pieces, or think pieces taking the form of 2-3 minute podcasts or video blogs. All readers and contributors are encouraged to join the conversation on Deletion via the comment threads and social media links.
Taking an inter- and cross-disciplinary perspective, Deletion is framed around the key questions; what is science fiction today; what are its social, cultural and political functions; how does it move us and make us think; what forms does it take and what are the relationships within and between those forms?
Deletion is led by scholars from the Science Fiction Research Group at Deakin University, Melbourne, who will form its inner editorial board, alongside an international advisory board comprising of leading scholars in the field.
The first edition of Deletion features invited papers from the leading scholars in science fiction studies addressing the theme “the pleasures of science fiction.”
If you are interested in contributing to Deletion, or have any inquiries, suggestions, or feedback, we would love to hear from you at deletion@deakin.edu.au

PhD Position in European Space History

A fascinating phd possibility for anyone with the interests and language background

 PhD Position in European Space History

The DFG-funded Emmy Noether research group "The Future in the Stars: European Astroculture and Extraterrestrial Life in the Twentieth Century” at the Friedrich-Meinecke-Institut of Freie Universität Berlin invites applications for a two-year PhD position. Salary grade accords to E 13 TV-L (50%).

Candidates should have completed their post-graduate studies in History with a specialization in History of Science, History of Technology, Cultural History or Art History by the time the appointment begins. Applicants should be fluent in English. The ability to work in German would be an asset. Applicants without any knowledge of German are expected, if appointed, to acquire within one year a sufficient level of proficiency.

The successful candidate will be expected to conceptualize and compose a doctoral dissertation that is related to European Space History, c.1927-1975. Furthermore, she/he will be actively engaged in all activities relevant to the research group including the organization and realization of workshops and conferences as well as full participation in its operation and activities.

Applicants should submit a cover letter, a curriculum vitae, a list of publications, copies of relevant academic certificates, a research proposal of no more than 3,000 words, and names and contact information for two academic references. Applications (marked 05-FMI-2013-Geppert) should be addressed to Dr. Alexander C.T. Geppert, Friedrich-Meinecke-Institut, Freie Universität Berlin, Koserstrasse 20, D-14195 Berlin, Germany.

Application deadline is 20 August 2013. Interviews will be held in mid-September.

Women and minority candidates are especially encouraged to apply. If equally qualified, persons with severe disabilities will be preferred. Since application files will not be returned to applicants, original documents must not be included. Electronic submissions will not be considered.

Queries about the position should be directed to Dr. Alexander Geppert, head of the research group, at alexander.geppert@fu-berlin.de. Prospective applicants are invited to consult www.geschkult.fu-berlin.de/astrofuturism for further information.

Hélice -- new issue

Vol 2 of the bilingual (English Spanish)  sf/f online journal Hélice
 
http://www.revistahelice.com/revista/Helice_1_vol_II.pdf
 
is now up. Contents include translations by Leimar Garcia-Siino of the University of Liverpool of two classic sf tales from 19th century Spain: " Teitan the Proud – Tale of Things to Come"

by Nilo María Fabra and "Future Time" by Leopoldo Alas ("Clarín"), and an essay on "Time Paradoxes in Science Fiction" by the Romanian sf critic Cornel Robu.

SWORDS, SORCERY, SANDALS AND SPACE

And
Swords, Sorcery, Sandals and Space starts tomorrow, at the Foresight Centre, University of Liverpool.

NAOMI MITCHISON BIBLIOGRAPHY

LONDON, UK, 1ST JUNE 2013 – BECCON PUBLICATIONS AND THE SCIENCE FICTION FOUNDATION ANNOUNCE PUBLICATION OF OUTSTANDING AUTHOR NAOMI MITCHISON'S COMPLETE BIBLIOGRAPHY AND NEW SHORT STORY

Roger Robinson: a publisher and bibliographer, the late Violet Williams: for many years Naomi Mitchison’s secretary, and Caroline Mullan: a reader and avid collector of Naomi Mitchison’s work have banded together, in association with Beccon Publications and The Science Fiction Foundation to produce a bibliography of the works of Naomi Mitchison, 1897-1999. Mitchison did many things in her long life: she was the only girl to attend the Dragon School, Oxford, a nurse during the Great War, active lifelong in left and feminist causes, and received a CBE in 1981; but she was, above all, a writer. The bibliography lists over 2,000 items: novels, articles, poetry, reviews, plays, autobiography, speeches, interviews and letters.

 

The earliest item listed is Saunes Bairos, the play Mitchison wrote in 1913 while still at school. The latest is the hitherto unpublished short story, On the Edge, published (with Mitchison’s kind permission) in the bibliography itself.

Emeritus Professor Isobel Murray, Editor in chief of the Naomi Mitchison Library, in progress from Kennedy and Boyd, said:

“No one has hitherto dared to attempt a Bibliography of Naomi Mitchison: her work is so various and voluminous that the task has scared the critics and biographers alike. This new undertaking will be of enormous value to people working in many disciplines. It is compiled with rigorous scholarship, and will continue to grow as items are traced and new studies appear. I welcome it whole-heartedly.”

 

Mitchison was the author of over 80 books, with a career extending over 80 years and 5 continents, and encompassing literature, journalism, politics, science, theatre, poetry, memoir and autobiography. Her novels include The Corn King and the Spring Queen (1931); non-fiction includes The Moral Basis of Politics (1938), and Images of Africa (1980). Her autobiographical memoir, Mucking Around: Five Continents over Fifty Years, was published in 1981. Mitchison’s stories, articles and letters appeared in publications as diverse as The Times and The Guardian, The New Humanist and Trends in Biochemical Sciences, The Countryman and The Illustrated Weekly of India.

Caroline Mullan said:

 

"We hope this comprehensive bibliography of her works will be valuable to scholars of literature, and of the history of the 20th Century."

The bibliography is a work in progress, and its authors intend to maintain and extend it over the coming years. It is available for use on the Beccon Publications website at: www.beccon.org

For more information about the Bibliography and its authors, please visit www.beccon.org or contact Roger Robinson at 01708 342304.

***

Notes to the Editor:

1.     Naomi May Margaret Mitchison, CBE (née Haldane; 1 November 1897 – 11 January 1999) was a Scottish writer. She was appointed CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in 1981. Naomi Mitchison’s science fiction includes the ground-breaking novel, Memoirs of a Spacewoman, published by Gollancz in 1962, as well as other novels and short stories.

2.     The Science Fiction Foundation is a registered charity. The aim of the Science Fiction Foundation is to promote science fiction, and bring together those who read, write, study, teach, research or archive science fiction in Britain and the rest of the world. Contact the Science Fiction Foundation via its website: www.sf-foundation.org or by emailing Secretary Shana Worthen at secretary@sf-foundation.org.

3.     Beccon Publications is a British small-press publisher specialising in science fiction, and does not produce "print-on-demand" editions, preferring to print one or two "real" books each year. The first Beccon publication - a bibliography of Barrington J Bayley - was issued in August 1981. Since then more than 50 booklets and books have been produced, including a number of titles nominated for prestigious Hugo and BSFA Awards.

The Midwich Dayout at Letchmore Heath  on Sunday 19th May celebrating Village of the Damned (where many of the film's exterior scenes were shot) was a good, er, day out. Among the guests were Barbara Shelley, who played Anthea Zellaby in the film, and Martin Stephens, Teri Scoble, Lesley Scoble, and Peter Preidel, who were among the blond, staring-eyed "cuckoo" children.

My talk about Village of the Damned, and John Wyndham's The Midwich Cuckoos and its unfinished "sequel" Midwich Main was well received. A highlight of the day was a guided tour around Letchmore Heath, seeing buildings and locations which featured in the film.

Journalist Darrel Buxton (far left) interviewing (l-r) Lesley Scoble, Barbara Shelley, and Peter Preidel.



Four of the Midwich "Cuckoos": l-r Martin Stephens, Teri Scoble, Lesley Scoble, Peter Preidel.

Stapledon's STAR MAKER on Radio 4

Moshsin Hamid, author of The Reluctant Fundamentalist and How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia, chose Wirral-born Olaf Stapledon’s Star Maker to talk about on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row on Wednesday 24th April as part of its "Cultural Exchange series" . Front Row's website illustrates the discussion with a photograph of Stapledon and this image of Stapledon's "Timeline" showing the billions of years covered by the book. Images were supplied by Special Collections and Archives from the Olaf Stapledon Archive.

ALEX COX TO DIRECT BILL, THE GALACTIC HERO?

Alex Cox, director of REPO MAN, SID AND NANCY, and the extraordinary sf version of THE REVENGER'S TRAGEDY has launched a Kickstarter appeal to raise funds (US$ 100,000)  for the film of Harry Harrison's BILL THE GALACTIC HERO  to be made by students at the University of Colorado film studies programme. Alex was working on a script for the film with Harry Harrison before Harry's death. Alex Cox will direct the film.

If anyone wants to become a media "angel" this looks like a worthy project to support.

Details are on http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/alexcoxfilms/alex-cox-directs-bill-the-galactic-hero