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Readercon 19
Jul. 21st, 2008 12:34 pmReadercon
I just returned from Readercon 19 and before the high of being among so many writers dissipates, I should write something about the experience. One of my writing workshop buddies lives in New York now, and she came down. I had the experience again of attending with a friend and comparing our reactions later. I am hoping to hear from her about panels scheduled after I left. I wanted to get home before dark. All went well, even with two stops and having to check a box of books on the way back.
Readercon added another day this year. Time for more panels and a film that I had never seen on Delany. It was an interesting intro to the author. I’ve read his biography: “The Motion of Light in Water” on Kalamu’s recommendation. And I’ve read some of his short fiction. But I have to admit that I haven’t read any of his long fiction. I read one book (Babel 17) that I couldn’t explain to save my life. Nevertheless, he’s a god in the SF field. Some stuff, I just will not get. I’m not in the right place for it in my life.
Speaking of which, I read and finished “The God of Small Things” while I was on this trip to the Boston area. It spoiled me for purchasing too many books in the huckster room. I picked up David Anthony Durham’s fantasy book several times in the bookstore. My mind was still full of the lyricism of Arundhati Roy’s prose and I did not buy it. No doubt I will be sorry because Durham is just a visitor to the SF field. He’s only been involved in fandom for a little over a year and he plans to return to historical fiction. He was not the only writer’s work who I left on the table. As it happened, I only bought books that have been on my Amazon wish list for some time. I mention Roy’s book because it has been on my shelf for a while. This weekend I was in the right place mentally to appreciate it.
Standouts this year for me—
The Sycamore Hill Conspiracy: This is a workshop for writers who have been published. I didn’t get practical info from this panel, but it was an joyful follow-up to a panel on the Four Categories of Fantasy. I love reading literary criticism, but it is difficult to follow aurally. There was an immediate dust-up on the Fantasy panel when one of the panelists said that she thought that the book under discussion had either (a) no editor, or (b) was edited by Spell-Check.
Consciousness, Free Will, Evolution: Because I love this stuff even when it is over my head. The presenter was excerpting for his paper under construction on whether the notion of free will can be retained in a world that he says is deterministic. And if there is no free will, why has evolution given us the notion that there is?
Breaking out of the Ghetto: David Anthony Durham has led a charmed life. His first book sold, his second book sold less. And yet, his publishers gave him the choice of what they would accept for a third book. That became “Pride of Carthage”, if I have my notes right. Then, when he wanted to write a trilogy of fantasies, they agreed again. The SF writers on the panel were envious.
Crowley’s reading was excellent. Like Le Guin, his prose sounds smooth and self-evident. The words are perfect and inevitable.
I went to the Regionalism and the Fantastic panel and had the experience of signing my story in an anthology. Note to self: write more! Write more now!
Underutilized historical eras in Spec Fic: The 18th century. The French Colonial period. Although I raised my hand and noted that Nalo Hopkinson’s book “The Salt Road” is set in the French Colonial period. They knew---they wanted to see more. Fewer Civil War and WW II books, please, they begged. (Amen, brothers and sisters!)
I went to the poetry workshop and the dialog workshop. Both interesting and the poetry workshop was exactly that. We had to write one poem and rewrite another during the 50 period session.
I have pictures, which are not so good because I wasn’t sitting on the front row. I am coming to the conclusion that I need a video camera. Panels cannot be captured by photo. Just as my Jazz fest pictures are not ultimately a picture of “music”. Those Jazz Fest photos have the advantage that the picture can show people enjoying the process of producing music or listening to music. A panel photo can’t.
P.S.
Other reports at
http://community.livejournal.com/readercon/874.html?#cutid1
Random Thoughts
Travel forces you into a sort of meditative state. You notice things. Like the fact that Thursday travelers in New Orleans are in vacation garb. Even the business travelers dress down to kakis and polo shirts. Business travel in Washington D.C. (the first stop) and Boston is dark suit and white shirt. Nothing emphasizes more that New Orleans is not a destination for business. Conventions, perhaps. But not business.
After re-introducing myself to F. Brett Cox, I kept running into him. I told my roommate that I feared he would think that I was stalking him. I almost didn’t go to the panel on regional SF because of this. Small cons have unexpected pains and joys.
Happy accidents happen at the strangest times. My workshop buddies sent me lists of people to look up. Somehow they forgot that I am the shyest person around. Any braggadocio that I have now is my attempt to emulate a steel magnolia. I jumped into the van heading back to the airport and found one other person. After talking to him for a while, he suddenly asked if I was Marian. As it turned out, my workshop pal had sent a similar list to his correspondents. And I was the one person that this man had missed. We had an interesting conversation and I was able to tell my workshop friend that his book is in good hands.
I just returned from Readercon 19 and before the high of being among so many writers dissipates, I should write something about the experience. One of my writing workshop buddies lives in New York now, and she came down. I had the experience again of attending with a friend and comparing our reactions later. I am hoping to hear from her about panels scheduled after I left. I wanted to get home before dark. All went well, even with two stops and having to check a box of books on the way back.
Readercon added another day this year. Time for more panels and a film that I had never seen on Delany. It was an interesting intro to the author. I’ve read his biography: “The Motion of Light in Water” on Kalamu’s recommendation. And I’ve read some of his short fiction. But I have to admit that I haven’t read any of his long fiction. I read one book (Babel 17) that I couldn’t explain to save my life. Nevertheless, he’s a god in the SF field. Some stuff, I just will not get. I’m not in the right place for it in my life.
Speaking of which, I read and finished “The God of Small Things” while I was on this trip to the Boston area. It spoiled me for purchasing too many books in the huckster room. I picked up David Anthony Durham’s fantasy book several times in the bookstore. My mind was still full of the lyricism of Arundhati Roy’s prose and I did not buy it. No doubt I will be sorry because Durham is just a visitor to the SF field. He’s only been involved in fandom for a little over a year and he plans to return to historical fiction. He was not the only writer’s work who I left on the table. As it happened, I only bought books that have been on my Amazon wish list for some time. I mention Roy’s book because it has been on my shelf for a while. This weekend I was in the right place mentally to appreciate it.
Standouts this year for me—
The Sycamore Hill Conspiracy: This is a workshop for writers who have been published. I didn’t get practical info from this panel, but it was an joyful follow-up to a panel on the Four Categories of Fantasy. I love reading literary criticism, but it is difficult to follow aurally. There was an immediate dust-up on the Fantasy panel when one of the panelists said that she thought that the book under discussion had either (a) no editor, or (b) was edited by Spell-Check.
Consciousness, Free Will, Evolution: Because I love this stuff even when it is over my head. The presenter was excerpting for his paper under construction on whether the notion of free will can be retained in a world that he says is deterministic. And if there is no free will, why has evolution given us the notion that there is?
Breaking out of the Ghetto: David Anthony Durham has led a charmed life. His first book sold, his second book sold less. And yet, his publishers gave him the choice of what they would accept for a third book. That became “Pride of Carthage”, if I have my notes right. Then, when he wanted to write a trilogy of fantasies, they agreed again. The SF writers on the panel were envious.
Crowley’s reading was excellent. Like Le Guin, his prose sounds smooth and self-evident. The words are perfect and inevitable.
I went to the Regionalism and the Fantastic panel and had the experience of signing my story in an anthology. Note to self: write more! Write more now!
Underutilized historical eras in Spec Fic: The 18th century. The French Colonial period. Although I raised my hand and noted that Nalo Hopkinson’s book “The Salt Road” is set in the French Colonial period. They knew---they wanted to see more. Fewer Civil War and WW II books, please, they begged. (Amen, brothers and sisters!)
I went to the poetry workshop and the dialog workshop. Both interesting and the poetry workshop was exactly that. We had to write one poem and rewrite another during the 50 period session.
I have pictures, which are not so good because I wasn’t sitting on the front row. I am coming to the conclusion that I need a video camera. Panels cannot be captured by photo. Just as my Jazz fest pictures are not ultimately a picture of “music”. Those Jazz Fest photos have the advantage that the picture can show people enjoying the process of producing music or listening to music. A panel photo can’t.
P.S.
Other reports at
http://community.livejournal.com/readercon/874.html?#cutid1
Random Thoughts
Travel forces you into a sort of meditative state. You notice things. Like the fact that Thursday travelers in New Orleans are in vacation garb. Even the business travelers dress down to kakis and polo shirts. Business travel in Washington D.C. (the first stop) and Boston is dark suit and white shirt. Nothing emphasizes more that New Orleans is not a destination for business. Conventions, perhaps. But not business.
After re-introducing myself to F. Brett Cox, I kept running into him. I told my roommate that I feared he would think that I was stalking him. I almost didn’t go to the panel on regional SF because of this. Small cons have unexpected pains and joys.
Happy accidents happen at the strangest times. My workshop buddies sent me lists of people to look up. Somehow they forgot that I am the shyest person around. Any braggadocio that I have now is my attempt to emulate a steel magnolia. I jumped into the van heading back to the airport and found one other person. After talking to him for a while, he suddenly asked if I was Marian. As it turned out, my workshop pal had sent a similar list to his correspondents. And I was the one person that this man had missed. We had an interesting conversation and I was able to tell my workshop friend that his book is in good hands.
