INTERACTION

When it Changed: Science-into-Fiction Anthology Launch
Geoff Ryman, Patricia Duncker, Liz Williams, Dr Tim O’Brien & Prof Steve Furber
When it Changed is a collaboration between leading scientists and literary authors, coordinated by Comma Press, to create a brand new strain of the SF bug; one that extends the scientific repertoire of the genre beyond the commonplaces of space-travel, time-travel or AI, and brings it back into contact with diverse, credible, and contemporary research areas. Geoff Ryman has published ten books, most recently Air, and is the founder of the Mundane SF. Liz Williams’s first two novels The Ghost Sister and Empire of Bones were both nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award. Patricia Duncker’s first novel Hallucinating Foucault won the Dillons First Fiction Award and the McKitterick Prize. Dr Tim O’Brien is a Senior Lecturer at the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics. Professor Steve Furber is best known for his work at Acorn and as a designer of the ARM 32-bit RISC microprocessor.

Chris Beckett & James Lasdun
MLF is delighted to present two of the leading exponents of the short story form. SF author Chris Beckett’s acclaimed collection The Turing Test won the Edge Hill Short Story Prize 2009.
His fantastic fictions explore alien worlds, strange planets, genetic manipulation and virtual reality but their focus is on the individual rather than technology, and deal with love and loneliness, authenticity and illusion, and what it really means to be human. ...

with leading exponents of the form sharing stories inspired by science, The Smiths, political exile, and above all, what it is to be human. With everything from Football Detectives to Darwin-inspired poetry; from a Rainy City Stories walking tour to a cartooning workshop for all the family, there’s sure to be something to spark your imagination at this year's MLF.

The festival will take place from Wednesday the 10th March 2010 until Sunday 14th March 2010. This year’s festival includes creative events such as the film adaptation workshop, album-in-a-day workshop and a one off appearance from Alexei Sayle.

Paul Welsh has written shorts and features with support from Scottish Screen and the BBC. He has also developed, produced, commissioned and executive produced over 40 short, medium and feature length films with funders including UK Film Council, Scottish Screen, BBC, Channel 4 and EM Media. In 2001, Paul established DigiCult, the award winning Scottish digital film project. He also runs an independent production company - Edge City Films - developing and producing features with international talent and emerging British writer/directors. ECF's productions include Skeletons which premieres at Rotterdam, Gothenburg and SxSW this winter/spring.

The horror fiction panel will consist of three prominent horror writers from the USA: Ellen Datlow, Lisa Tuttle and Ramsey Campell, who will discuss their work. There will also be a chance to listen to readings from their work. At the end there will be an audience question and answer session.

The University of Winchester is proud to announce that the award-winning author Sir Terry Pratchett OBE will give the plenary address at the 30th Winchester Writers' Conference, Festival and Bookfair on 26 June as part of the weekend festival (25-27 June). The conference will be followed by a week of in-depth writing workshops.

Terry Pratchett's talk is titled Why Are You Listening To Me When You Should be at Home Writing? The bestselling fantasy writer joins a team of more than 60 novelists, poets, playwrights, literary agents, ...

Following previous successful collaborations, Manchester Literature Festival and Manchester Art Gallery are again teaming up to inspire the city's writers. We are looking to commission a poet to produce creative responses to the forthcoming Pilkington’s Lancastrian Pottery: Art and Industry in Greater Manchester exhibition.

Calling all fans of PHILIP K. DICK!

You are invited to come to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado in the Summer of 2010 to celebrate the Life and Imagination of this great American writer in the setting of his Hugo Award-winning novel 'THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE'.

SUNDAY 3 JULY
SCIENCE INTO FICTION
With Geoff Ryman, Michael Arditti, Sara Maitland, Prof. John Harris & Dr. Jennifer Rowntree
When it Changed is a collaboration between leading scientists and literary authors to create a new strain of SF, one that boasts a higher dose of 'hard science' in its bloodstream than usually found in so much of the genre's fantasy and speculation. Fifteen authors met and corresponded with practicing scientists with the task of assimilating their research into new short stories, which the scientists then commented on with afterwords. Today both parties reconvene to discuss the challenges and rewards or bringing science and literature closer together.
Geoff Ryman has published ten books, most recently Air, and is the founder of the Mundane SF movement, which calls for greater scientific realism (and less wild ambition and speculation) in the genre. Sara Maitland's novels include Three Times Table, Home Truths and Brittle Joys. Her short stories have appeared in three collections, most recently On Becoming a Fairy Godmother, and her non-fiction title The Book of Silence came out from Granta in 2008. Her contribution to this collection 'Moss Witch' was Runner-Up in the BBC National Short Story Prize 2009. Michael Arditti's novels include The Celibate, A Sea Change, and The Enemy of the Good. His short story collection, Good Clean Fun, was published in 2004.
John Harris is Lord Alliance Professor of Bioethics, and Director of the Institute for Science, Ethics and Innovation at the University of Manchester. He is also author of On Cloning and Enhancing Evolution. Dr Jennifer Rowntree is a post-doctoral researcher specialising in bryophites at the Faculty of Life Science, University of Manchester.
South Bank Centre, London. 3.30pm.
Part of the London Literature Festival & the Festival of Art + Science

An exciting new literature festival, Weaver Words, is taking place in Frodsham over 12 days in the summer (Wed 29 August – Sun 9 September 2012).
The programme includes events with Dr Who writer Eddie Robson and Gerald Dickens talking about his famous great great grandfather Charles Dickens on the 200th anniversary of his birth. Science fiction will take centre stage at a special weekend celebration on 1st and 2nd September.