| Is science fiction writing pure escapist entertainment – or does it help to understand, or even change, the real world that its readers and writers inhabit?
Canada’s best-known SF writers will address this issue at FutureVision 6.0, a symposium on science fiction and social change taking place at Mount Royal College on February 6 and 7. Robert J. Sawyer will deliver the event’s keynote address, and join several panels and readings. Sawyer is the only Canadian-born winner of the prestigious Hugo Award (for Hominids in 2003).
Edmonton’s Candas Jane Dorsey, Tiptree Award winner for Black Wine in 1997 and a prolific writer of fiction and poetry will also read, speak and participate in panels. Timothy J. Anderson, also from Edmonton, will join Sawyer and Dorsey. Anderson is something of a polymath, as he is not only an SF author, but also a musician, journalist and award-winning television writer.
In addition to their symposium appearances, all three authors will also offer an evening of readings and discussion at the Calgary Public Library’s John Dutton Theatre in the W.R. Castell Central Library on Thursday, February 5 at 7 p.m.
And there’s more: a week before the symposium weekend, Calgary SF author Marie Jakober reads on Thursday, January 29 at 7 p.m. at the Central Library’s Meeting Room #1 (on the lower level).
The Public Library events are free. The public is also welcome at the Mount Royal symposium, but you do need to register (see contact information at the end of this column).
All of this amounts to a mid-winter SF fest for thousands of Calgary-area readers. What is unique about the events, according to organizer Randy Schroeder, is that they bring together three groups, "all of whom have a stake in SF: the academics who study it, the writers who write it, and the readers and fans who passionately discuss it."
The event grew out of a summertime conversation that Schroeder, of Mount Royal’s English department, had with Dorsey. The two asked each other about SF’s social relevance "because that’s the kind of stuff you hear people talking about at an event like Con-Version (the science fiction and fantasy convention), over beers," says Schroeder. The issue had been on Sawyer’s mind as well, Schroeder points out. Since September 11, 2001, Sawyer has reformulated the purpose of his own SF writing. (He explains his change of attitude in an interview in the Fall 2003 issue of the literary quarterly Descant). In fact, all three authors at the symposium have strong views on the subject, which means the discussions between writers, fans and the academics delivering papers promise to be lively.
Symposium events take place at Mount Royal College’s East Arts Building, in room EA 1031. Registration for both days is $129.95 and for one day is $69.95. Post-secondary students and members of Con-Version are eligible for price reductions. Register by calling 440-3833 or online at http://www.mtroyal.ca/events/sf. |
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