Photos from WisCon 39

I tend to forget to take photos at WisCon, except for those I've gotten in the habit of doing-- chiefly of the Aqueduct Press-organized readings. Partly this is because I don't like to take photos without first getting permission from those who will be clearly identifiable in the photo (which pretty much rules out most candid photos), partly because I tend to get so caught up in talking to people that I forget. On our first night at WisCon, I remembered to take a photo of the window of Room of One's Own (which I of course stared admiringly at before entering the store), and a photo of Kath, Arrate, Nisi Shawl, and Margaret McBride at dinner. (Tom was leaning in back in his chair, & so, like me, who was talking the photo, is invisible.)

Hmm. Actually, you can see Tom's arm, the napkin in his lap. The food was Peruvian, and we were all in an exuberant mood and rejoicing at being all together again and attending another WisCon.

Friday, I took a picture of our tables in the Dealers Room. Kim Nash took the photo so that all four of us could be in the photo: this is what it the center part of the table looked like before the doors to the Dealers Room were opened:

Reading on Saturday were Anne Sheldon (who read several poems and an excerpt from Adventures of the Faithful Counselor, Mary Anne Mohanraj (who read from the introduction of The WisCon Chronicles Vol 9: Intersections and Alliances, Jackie Hatton (who read from Flesh and Wires, which Aqueduct Press will be releasing later this year), Andrea Hairston (who read from a novella), and me (who read a portion of "The Forbidden Words of Margaret A., which has just been reprinted in Ann and Jeff VanderMeer's Sisters of the Revolution):

And reading on Sunday were Eleanor Arnason (who read from The Daughter of the Bear King, which Aqueduct recently released in an ebook edition), Nancy Jane Moore (who read from The Weave), Therese Pieczynski (not an Aqueduct author, but one who writes very much in the spirit of Aqueduct and who read a teaser from a story that had everyone on the edge of their seat), and Lisa Shapter (who read from her novella A Day in Deep Freeze, which Aqueduct published this spring, and who prefers not to be photographed).

I want to sing Jacques Brel and read you a passage of lesbian steampunk romance adventure from my forthcoming novel, Everfair.  All you have to do is show up at Gay City in Seattle on Thursday, July 2, 7 p.m. and listen.

Here are the details.

The WisCon Chronicles, Vol. 10-- Call for materials

 Call for Materials

 The WisCon Chronicles, Vol. 10:  Social Justice (Redux), will be edited by Margaret McBride. She has issued the following call for materials:

"One thing I admire in Ursula K. LeGuin's writing is her willingness to publicly examine and change her way of seeing the world and her fiction (as in Tehanu, published almost 20 years after The Earthsea Trilogy or the 1976 "Is Gender Necessary?" followed by the 1989 "Redux" version of that essay). I hope The WisCon Chronicles 10 Social Justice (Redux) authors will have the same attitude, for we seem to bring up problems of social injustice so often.  Mary Anne Mohanraj, who edited The WisCon Chronicles 9,  focused on social justice issues in her introduction, as did several included essays. The fiction and WisCon 39 guest-of-honor speeches by Alaya Dawn Johnson and Kim Stanley Robinson focused on multiple aspects of social justice: environmental collapse, need for reduced population, and climate change; violence against women; racial inequality in publishing and elsewhere; gender issues, including reproductive rights; inequality of income and power; etc. Yet current newspapers or blogs about Ferguson or gay marriage or our own science fiction community show that we must continue to address such issues in fiction and elsewhere (I hope in WisCon Chronicles 10!). The "redux" aspect of the volume might include essays on how terms used in debates about social justice could be problematic.

"I am particularly interested in how science fiction is addressing social justice, especially the idea that environmental programs need to include equality for women and minorities. Essays examining the fiction of any past guest of honor at WisCon or Tiptree Award winner or any science fiction that looks at environmental concerns or diversity issues would be appropriate, also. 2016 will be the 40th year for WisCon, so personal memories from guests of honor, committee members, and also people new or long-time to WisCon will be considered, even if not linked directly to social justice issues.

"Please submit essays, personal remembrances, poetry, short fiction for consideration by September 30, 2015 to mcbride@uoregon.edu."

Metamorphosis by Alaya Dawn Johnson and Kim Stanley Robinson

I'm pleased to announce the release of Metamorphosis, a little paperback book that Aqueduct Press issued in conjunction with WisCon 39. Metamorphosis offers a taste of work from WisCon 39 Guests of Honor Alaya Dawn Johnson and Kim Stanley Robinson, as well as an interview of Johnson by Justine Larbalestier and an interview of Robinson by Jeanne Gomoll. In Johnson's "Love Will Tear Us Apart," the narrator, who regards humans (their brains, especially) as a primary food source, must cope with conflicting impulses when one of the most appetizing humans he's ever met is also really, really hot. In "A Song to Greet the Sun," a family reels when a father puts honor before love. Robinson's "The Lunatics," deprived of memories, toiling for their truncated lives deep below the surface, walk in the nerves of the moon, tearing out promethium under the lash of the foremen. While in "Zürich," the narrator's desire to be the first Ausländer to make an impression on an inspector notorious for not refunding cleaning deposits leads to extraordinary effects on the city he is preparing to leave.

Metamorphosis was printed in a limited, numbered run of 150; but this year, in response to popular demand, we've also issued an e-book edition of the book. You can purchase it here.

The WisCon Chronicles, Vol. 9: Intersections and Alliances

I'm pleased to announce the release of The WisCon Chronicles, Vol. 9: Intersections and Alliances, edited by Mary Anne Mohanraj. As with the seventh volume of the Chronicles, the electronic edition of Vol. 9 includes a good deal more material than the print edition, and will be available gratis to everyone who purchases the print edition. 

"In this volume of the WisCon Chronicles, we find ourselves considering what it means to live at the intersections of various identities, some of them more privileged than others. We ask how we can function as good allies to each other in often challenging situations. We're living through an intense time of social change, and a variety of questions arise as we have these often difficult conversations about feminism, race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, and more. Among them are questions about what leads to positive social change and how best to effect such change in our communities."
 —from the Introduction by Mary Anne Mohanraj

The WisCon Chronicles, Vol. 9: Intersections and Alliances, edited by Mary Anne Mohanraj, includes a mix of essays, fiction, poetry, and roundtable discussion by Nisi Shawl, Samuel R. Delany, Vandana Singh, Kelley Eskridge, Sheree R. Thomas, Michi Trota, Benjamin Rosenbaum, Tobias Buckell, and others.You can purchase it now from Aqueduct's website.

Nancy Jane Moore's The Weave

I'm pleased to announce Aqueduct's publication of The Weave, a debut novel by Nancy Jane Moore. The Weave brings us a first-contact story in which humans, seeking to exploit the much-needed resources of a system inhabited by creatures they assume are "primitive" and defenceless, discover their mistake the hard way. Human Caty Sanjuro, a seasoned marine and dedicated xenologist, and native Sundown, a determined astronomer, struggle to establish communication across the many barriers that divide their species, at first because they share a passionate interest in alien species, but finally because they know that only they can bridge the differences across species threatening catastrophe for both sides.

Vonda N. McIntyre, author of Dreamsnake and The Moon and the Sun, writes of The Weave: "Unique protagonists. Unique aliens. Unique war. Nancy Jane Moore's remarkable first novel drew me in and kept me reading and left me, at the end, knowing that Caty Sanjuro and Sundown the Cibolan continue their work and their lives and their friendship. My favorite kind of novel."

Michael Bishop, author of A Funeral for the Eyes of Fire, writes, "In this accomplished first novel, Nancy Jane Moore dramatizes at least three great speculative themes: first contact, telepathic communication, and earthlings and aliens at war. In so doing, Moore narrates the compelling struggle of a brave human xenologist, Caty Sanjuro, to wring interspecies harmony from the chaos of interspecies misunderstanding and mistrust. Like Ursula Le Guin, Moore never settles for pat or clichéd extrapolations. Further, she treats each of her archetypal themes with adult thought-experiment thoroughness and all her characters, human and alien, with insight, respect, and compassion. Aficionados of real science fiction will love and celebrate this remarkable debut."

"Moore (Changeling) effortlessly weaves together first contact, corporate exploitation, and space adventure on a planet 40 light-years from Earth in this anticolonialist science fiction fable.... Moore realistically and enjoyably describes the excitement of scientific exploration, corporate greed, conspiracy, telepathic conflict, and the desperation of natives determined to defend their home against invasion.--Publishers Weekly

The Weave is available now through Aqueduct's site in both print and e-book editions. It will be officially released on July 1, when it will be available elsewhere.