I have weirdly sunburned forearms, a headache born of long periods of concentration, a dozen emails that I need to write and a smile on my face. This is generally a sign of a good weekend. I was lucky enough to attend the 2008 Science Fiction Foundation Masterclass and it proved to be something of an eye-opener to say the least.
The experience took me back to my first week at graduate school when we were told that, effectively, we'd be spending most of our time working on our own but despite this we were encouraged to attend the weekly research seminar because it allowed the creation of an 'intellectual community'. Needless to say, it did nothing or the sort. At its best it was a way of crash testing your ideas in front of an openly hostile audience, but it never instilled any sense that there was any kind of collective endeavor. If anything it did the exact opposite, driving home the idea that a researcher is all alone in a largely hostile universe.
The SFF Masterclass not only made it clear to me that, as an SF critic, I am part of a larger community. It also made it clear how effective and desirable that community can be at bringing you new ideas, perspectives and opportunities.
Though I wasn't able to socialise as much as I would have liked, I still got a huge amount out of it and I suspect this will slowly filter its way back out in my various writings.
So a large thank you to Farah Mendlesohn, Edward James, Geoff Ryman, Wendy Pearson and Gary K. Wolfe for the classes and John and Judith Clute for a rather fantastic brunch (if only for the spectacle of Gary Wolfe talking to M. John Harrison about an American publisher going insane while John Clute burbles away about Stephen Baxter novels and rabid voles.
Thanks also to my other class mates, who were all lovely.
Technorati Tags: SFF Masterclass
The experience took me back to my first week at graduate school when we were told that, effectively, we'd be spending most of our time working on our own but despite this we were encouraged to attend the weekly research seminar because it allowed the creation of an 'intellectual community'. Needless to say, it did nothing or the sort. At its best it was a way of crash testing your ideas in front of an openly hostile audience, but it never instilled any sense that there was any kind of collective endeavor. If anything it did the exact opposite, driving home the idea that a researcher is all alone in a largely hostile universe.
The SFF Masterclass not only made it clear to me that, as an SF critic, I am part of a larger community. It also made it clear how effective and desirable that community can be at bringing you new ideas, perspectives and opportunities.
Though I wasn't able to socialise as much as I would have liked, I still got a huge amount out of it and I suspect this will slowly filter its way back out in my various writings.
So a large thank you to Farah Mendlesohn, Edward James, Geoff Ryman, Wendy Pearson and Gary K. Wolfe for the classes and John and Judith Clute for a rather fantastic brunch (if only for the spectacle of Gary Wolfe talking to M. John Harrison about an American publisher going insane while John Clute burbles away about Stephen Baxter novels and rabid voles.
Thanks also to my other class mates, who were all lovely.
John Clute burbles away about Stephen Baxter novels and rabid voles.
*raises eyebrow*
Go on, then, which Baxter novels?
Posted by: Niall | June 24, 2008 at 11:13 AM
Evolution.
He was working on a metaphorical schema for talking about some publishers and he opted for the term "rabid voles". However, not knowing the people being discussed I coouldn't tell you in which ways they were like rabid voles.
Posted by: Jonathan M | June 24, 2008 at 02:42 PM