Helen Lowe's Blog, page 314

Voyager Heading Out Beyond the Solar System

One of the blogs I follow is Phil Platt's Bad Astronomy, which is hosted on the Discover Magazine site.

A few days ago, Bad Astronomy featured an update on Voyager, launched in 1977, which is currently heading out beyond the solar system. Here's an excerpt from Phil's post, titled The wind is no longer at Voyager's back:

" … There is gas between the stars, which astronomers call the interstellar medium. The solar wind blows out into it, slowing. There is a region, over a billion kilometers thick, where the solar wind plows to a halt, creating a roughly spherical shell around the solar system. That's called the heliosheath, and it looks like Voyager 1 is now solidly inside it. In fact, it's been there for four months or so; the scientists measuring the solar wind speed noticed it dropped to 0 back in June, but it took a while to make sure this wasn't just some local eddy in the flow. It's not. Voyager 1 now has calm seas ahead.

But the probe is still moving outward at 60,000 kph (38,000 mph). In a few more years it'll leave the heliosheath behind, and when that happens it will truly be in interstellar space, the vast and nearly empty region between the stars. At that moment it will be the first human device ever to truly leave the solar system and enter the great stretches of the galaxy beyond. …

To read the full article, click here.

Call me a terrible sentimentalist, which I probably am, but I do get more than a little teared up thinking about Voyager heading out there into the vasty deeps of space beyond the solar system. I get the loneliness of it, but also the grandeur of both the enterprise and the magnitude of space.  And of course, all the "what if" imaginings of what that "beyond" might bring are the very stuff of science fiction!

Arguably, the reality can beat most of that fiction into the proverbial cocked hat (great expression, huh?!) but there's still a few scifi stories out there that capture my imagination in terms of what the human experience of space "might be."

One of my favourites is CJ Cherryh's Downbelow Station.

How about you? Do you have a "definitive" science fiction story?

Mer-Made Tonight!

Starting 8 pm at Beat Street Cafe, cnr Armagh and Barbadoes Streets, central Christchurch—be there or be square for poetry and music with — Tusiata AVIA; Nikki BERRY; Jania GALLETLY; Marissa JOHNPILLAI; Helen LOWE; MUNDI; Danielle O'HALLORAN; Tamara SMITH; Sum SURAWEERA; The Cracks in Everything.

$5 entry.

Sir Julius Vogel Award Nominations

Jan Butterworth, Press Officer for the Science Fiction Fantasy Association of New Zealand (SFFANZ), has asked me to advise blog readers that the Sir Julius Vogel Awards will be open for nomination from 1 January 2011, closing on 31 March 2011.

Sir Julius Vogel Award trophy

The Sir Julius Vogel Awards are given annually by SFFANZ and recognize achievement in Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror by New Zealanders. Previous professional category winners include Brian Falkner, Russell Kirkpatrick, Anna MacKenzie, James Norcliffe, Juliet Marillier and Nalini Singh, and I won the award for Best Novel: Young Adult for Thornspell in 2009.

The Sir Julius Vogel Awards are a reader's/fan choice award and initial nominations are  open to everyone. The final vote for shortlisted works is restricted to members of SFFANZ and those attending the national convention (to be held next year over Queen's Birthday weekend.)

Categories of award, for works created by a New Zealander and first published or released in the 2010 calendar year, include:

Professional Categories:

Best Novel

Best Novella or Novelette

Best Short Story

Best Collected Work

Best Artwork

Dramatic Presentation

- Long Form

- Short Form

Best Production/Publication

Best New Talent

Fan Categories:

Best Fan Writing

Best Fan Artwork

Best Fan Editing

Best Fan Publication

Best Fan Production

Special Awards:

Services to Fandom

Services to Science Fiction, Fantasy or Horror

If you're interested in finding out more or nominating a work or works, you can read  the rules and criteria here. I will also post more information about how to nominate a work early in 2011, once the period for nomination opens.

12 Spec Fic Stocking Fillers for the 12 Days of Christmas!

To get my take on 12 spec fic (SFF) stocking fillers that will get the spec fic lovers in your life through the 12 days of Christmas, check out my list on The Realm, here!

And have fun reading!

Mer-Made Magic & Maybe Mayhem on the 'Morrow

Just a reminder that it's Mer-Made magic & maybe  a little mayhem, too, on the morrow, Thursday 16 December, from 8 pm, with Marissa Johnpillai and the muse-inspired  'mob' she's put together at Beat Street Cafe (on the cnr of Barbadoes and Armagh Streets, central Christchurch)—$5 entry.

And I'll even be there—taking an evening out from the novel writing!—in the guest poet line up.

`'~,.,~'`'~,.,~'`'~,.,~'`'~,.,~'

Mer Made

(because the earth is 80% water)

oceans, islands & merfolk

spin words & play music

`'~,.,~'`'~,.,~'`'~,.,~'`'~,.,~'

The Cracks in Everything lap songs by Nikki BERRY

onto the shores of poems by

Tusiata AVIA

Jania GALLETLY

Helen LOWE

Danielle O'HALLORAN

`'~,.,~'`'~,.,~'`'~,.,~'`'~,.,~'

which, of course, leads to a whirlpool of

Tamara SMITH & Sum SURAWEERA —

the Flutation and Percussion from Mundi,

ripplin ,over^under_through~ lyrics by Marissa JOHNPILLAI —

the Buoy from Elsewhere

Tuesday Poem: "Fey"

Fey

your door

stands open still

at dusk, your light

a moth's antenna

across

shadowed lawn

bare feet rustle

in last year's

leaf drift, a wind

sways

through naked trees

you say

you will hang

a cricket cage

above your lintel,

burn apple wood

in the grate –

dance, the circle

of your skirt

reflecting

the moon's dark face

I ride

a rocking horse

with patchwork eyes,

steal

through your door

to the cold-stone hearth –

dream

of dervish footsteps

hurdy-gurdy trees

(c) Helen Lowe

Highly Commended, Takahe National Poetry Competition 2008

Published in Takahe 68, December 2009

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Yesterday, Helen Rickerby was my guest here on "… Anything, Really", posting on the evolution of the recently published JAAM 28: Dance Dance Dance.  Fey was not eligible for submission to JAAM because it had already been published in Takahe—but it remains one of my favourite "dance" poems, which I would like to share with you today in honour of Dance Dance Dance.

As part of the Tuesday Poem Blog's celebration of Christmas, Tuesday poets are pairing up to feature poems by their "partner poet" for next Tuesday, 21 December. I am really pleased to be paired with Helen Rickerby and look forward to bringing you her poem next week.

—

To read today's featured poem on the Tuesday Poem Blog—and link to other Tuesday Poets posting around NZ and the world—either click here or on the Quill icon in the sidebar.

Guest Post: Helen Rickerby & "JAAM 28 Dance Dance Dance"

I have mentioned JAAM 28 Dance Dance Dance briefly on two occasions recently, here and here. Today I am delighted to have one of JAAM 28′s two editors (and fellow Tuesday Poem Blog poet), Helen Rickerby, as my guest on "… Anything, Really" to discuss the evolution of Dance Dance Dance.

Welcome Helen!

—

From Helen Rickerby:

The idea for JAAM 28: dance dance dance came from my co-editor, Clare Needham. Among many other things, Clare has worked as a dance producer. The idea came when she was producing a show Sleep/Wake, itself a blend of dance, theatre and science. She says, 'Many dancers I know also write, or paint, or compose music. Many of the dance shows I've worked on blend different genres and disciplines to create new and exciting art. I was thinking about how exciting it would be to get writers thinking about dance and dancers thinking about writing, then see what happened.'

Clare and I took over the management of JAAM a few years ago (after being involved in JAAM since its beginnings back in 1995), and had jointly edited JAAM 24 – Clare selected the prose and I chose the poetry. We decided to take a similar approach with this issue.

When Clare first mentioned the idea to me, I thought it sounded exciting – I enjoy genre-bending and experimentation – but I certainly didn't have the same relationship to dance as Clare did. I confess the few performances of modern dance I've been to have sometimes left me cold – it seemed very abstract. What sold me on the idea at first was dance as a metaphor for life and living, which, curiously, is how dance is often used in the writing that ended up in JAAM 28.

But as we kept on talking about it, I made more and more connections between literature and dance – especially poetry. Like dance, poetry can be formal, with set steps, or free-form. But even a free-form dance or poem is made up of steps and rhythms – even if uneven. The way words are placed on a page is like a dance, and dance is such a powerful metaphor.

As the submissions came in (flooded really, we had around 450 individual pieces submitted by about 170 people) I was fascinated by the diversity of work related to one topic, and excited to see the connections they made with each other.

We were delighted at how contributors interpreted the theme laterally as well as literally. Some work is about dance or features dance – such as the poem below, 'Siegfried' by Hera Bird, which is one of a series of poems inspired by the ballet Swan Lake. Other work dances on the page, or sets up dance rhythms. In many pieces dance is metaphorical – people dancing gingerly in their relationships with other people, or dancing with death, for example.

We didn't get as many non-fiction submissions as we hoped, so we decided to fill that space with a few mini interviews with dancer/writer/choreographers Michele Powles, Linda Ashley, Lyne Pringle and Sam Trubridge. They are just a quick turn around the floor, rather than being long and in-depth, but we get some lovely insights into the place of dancing and writing in the interviewees lives, and how those different art forms interact.

The more visual art includes artefacts – drawings and poems – from dance projects, and a series of photographs that capture the vibrancy and movement of dance in South America. We've used one of those photos – a swirling image of a night parade in Bolivia – on the cover, which I think is really striking.

In the end, reading through the finished issue, I'm amazed and delighted at the variety and the vibrancy. It's definitely worth a read.

– Helen Rickerby

—

Siegfried

Thigh white birds stitch themselves

muscle deep into the night.

Plaster trees crack themselves open, hollow as globes.

Their roots split the varnished forest floor.

They are growing.

Their leaves are cut from paper but they still fall

black into my mouth, narrowed as eyes.

I was afraid the night

my mother gave me a weapon

and told me to find a wife.

I held my crossbow like a compass.

in the dark throat of the woods.

(c) Hera Bird

—

About the Editors:

Helen Rickerby is the author of two collections of poetry: Abstract Internal Furniture (Headworx, 2001) and My Iron Spine (Headworx, 2008), and recently had a sequence of poems, Heading North, published in a hand-bound edition by Kilmog Press. As well as being co-managing editor of JAAM literary magazine, she runs Seraph Press, a boutique poetry publisher. She lives in Wellington, in a cliff-top tower, and works as a web editor.

Clare Needham is a writer, policy analyst and former lawyer. She has worked as in-house legal counsel at Penguin Books UK, production manager for the stage show spectacular Maui: One Man Against the Gods, and a theatre and dance producer.

2010 Nobel Peace Prize: Congratulations Dr Liu Xiaobo

Dr Liu Xiaobo, a Chinese literary critic, writer, professor, and former President of the Independent Chinese PEN Centre (ICPC), has  been awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo. I would like to congratulate Dr Liu Xiaobo on the award.

Liu is currently serving an 11 year prison sentence in China for "inciting subversion of state power" and is regarded internationally as a political prisoner.  Liu's absence from the ceremony was marked with an Empty Chair.

The awarding of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize to Liu Xiaobo is both a cause for celebration and a reminder that he and more than 40 other writers remain in prison in China; three of them, like Liu, are also members of international PEN.

To celebrate Liu Xiaobo receiving the award  and also raise awareness of his situation and that of his fellow writers, PEN is asking members, writers and people everywhere to "spread the word" by listening to, reading and disseminating Liu's work as comprised in the following links:

"Words a Cell Can't Hold," translated by Jeffrey Yang in The New York Times


Liu Xia (Dr Liu Xiaobo's wife) telling the story of Chinese authorities confiscating Liu Xiaobo's work, recorded in Beijing, March 2010


A reading of "Greed's Prisoner," recorded in Beijing, March 2010


Liu Xiaobo on freedom of expression in China, 2006

For more multimedia, Liu's poetry, and continued updates on his case please visit: www.pen.org/nobel

If you are in the USA, there will be a Writers' Rally for Liu Xiaobo in New York on December 31.

—

If you wish to do more, you could:

1. SEND A CARD OF CONGRATULATIONS TO LIU XIAOBO IN PRISON:

Liu Xiaobo

Jinzhou Prison

Nanshan Road 86

Taihe District, 121013

Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province

P.R. China

2. SEND A LETTER OF APPEAL TO THE CHINESE AUTHORITIES:

Please write to the Chinese authorities respectfully requesting the immediate and unconditional release of Dr Liu Xiaobo and all those detained in China in violation of Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which China is a signatory. Letters should be sent to the Chinese authorities in Beijing—see below—with a copy to the Chinese embassy in your home country.

His Excellency Hu Jintao

President of the People's Republic of China

State Council

Beijing 100032

P.R. China

What I'm Reading

My standing-at-the-kitchen-bench, lunch time reading this week has been William Gibson's Spook Country—and I'm loving it. I am a long time William Gibson fan, ever since I read Mona Lisa Overdrive way back when, couldn't put it down, and then went back and read Neuromancer—which effectively started the Cyberpunk scifi subgenre—and Count Zero. I loved the Virtual Light trilogy as well.

I was disappointed with Pattern Recognition when it came out, because I was expecting cyberpunk and it wasn't that. In fact, it wasn't even scifi at all and I was not quite sure exactly what I was reading … so as you may imagine, there was a little resistance to picking up Spook Country. It's described on the back as a "thriller" and I suppose it is, although I feel there are decided "caper" elements as well–but there are also classic William Gibson elements around technology, popular culture, and alternate culture so—with different expectations this time around—I am enjoying it a lot.

I'll almost certainly go on and read his latest, Zero History, as well.

By the way, for all you "punk" lovers out there, it's arguable that William Gibson started not just cyberpunk but also steampunk, given he co-authored The Difference Engine with Bruce Sterling in 1990.

Rosewater Macaroon Cakes

I haven't shared a recipe for a while, but GiadaM invited me to participate in a recipe exchange (so I am hoping to get 36 new recipes to try out—when I've finished Wall2, of course!) and I thought, why not share my recipe choice here as well.

(Remembering that Christmas-New Year in the southern hemisphere is summer solstice, not winter) I find these rosewater macaroon cakes go down a treat as Christmas fare—and are really easy to prepare as well.

One way I like to serve the macaroons is on a plate that has been dusted with dried rose petals, but a  little bit of decoration with pansies or lavender works really well, too. Try using a coloured plate for styling effect—blue is great, although clear glass is very effective as well.

Rosewater Macaroon Cakes
from---Jo Wilcox, 'Take the Cake', NZ House & Garden, August 2005

These light coconut-ty cakes are lovely with crème fraiche.

Ingredients:-

½ cup flour

180 g icing sugar

100g dessicated coconut

5 egg whites

180 g butter, melted

1 tsp rosewater

extra icing sugar for dusting

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170 OC.  Lightly grease 10-12 leaf or friend moulds.

2. Sift flour and icing sugar into a large bowl and mix in coconut

3. Beat egg whites to soft peaks.

4. Fold into dry ingredients with the melted butter and rosewater

5. Three quarter fill the moulds and bake 10-15 minutes or until pale golden and set

6. Cool 2-3 minutes then remove from moulds (or tin)

7. Serve lightly dusted with icing sugar.

Enjoy!