Tracey Warr's Blog, page 19

July 7, 2019

June 23, 2019

Story Portals

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This weekend in Allenheads, Northumberland, a number of brief scifi stories are dotted around the village for visitors to find and step into another world, another time. You can read the stories here:





Writing the Future Story PortalsDownload



The seven stories by Lisa Chatterjee, Rob La Frenais, Robert Good, Jake Tinsley, Tracey Warr, Ruby Watts and Liz Wells appear at the village blacksmith’s, horse track, gallery, cosmic pond, well, cafe and observatory. They were generated in a workshop led by Tracey Warr and Rob La Frenais during Hexham Book Festival, as part of ACA’s Continuum project.

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Published on June 23, 2019 00:01

June 13, 2019

Science fiction midsummer weekend

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Art, science and science fiction in Northumberland for the Continuum Midsummer Weekend in Allenheads 22-23 June. Exhibitions, workshops, performances and a sunset to sunrise musical drone.





I will be running a future fiction workshop with Rob La Frenais. Sun 23 June 1-2pm. Book at traceykwarr@gmail.com. We have organised a trail of future fiction portals around the village with participants from the Hexham Book Festival workshop that we ran in May. Explore Allenheads village to discover future fiction technologies such as truth magnets, empathy lozenges and geo-reader shoes.





Detailed brochure for the weekend:





ACA_Midsummer_Leaflet_0.5Download
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Published on June 13, 2019 22:43

May 18, 2019

Long Weekend for Writers at Dartington

[image error]As part of Dartington’s Word Up! programme of short courses you can get away to a beautiful place to finish that book and learn how to get it published. This three day course will give you tips on how to get your manuscript finished and how to approach publishers. If you are thinking about self-publishing, it will show you how to edit, design and print a book to professional standards. Led by me and my publisher from Impress Books, Richard Willis, the workshop will take place in the iconic modernist masterpiece, High Cross House, designed by American architect William Lescaze.


The course costs £325 including supper on Saturday night. You can book a place or gift the course here.


Accommodation is not included – please contact crafted@dartington.org for a list of accommodation options. Totnes train station is a 10 minute taxi ride from Dartington.


Photo: High Cross House and Gardens, Dartington

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Published on May 18, 2019 16:09

The Midden – art and ecology

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My most recent art publicationThe Midden is published by Finnish publishers, Garret and  HIAP, and designed by NODE, Berlin. I co-edited this exploration of contemporary art and ecology with Jenni Nurmenniemi and wrote one of the essays. Other essays are by Antti Salminen, Taru Elfving, Jussi Parikka and Jenni Nurmenniemi, along with two short texts by future fiction writer, Emmi Itaranta. The book can be ordered through Idea Books.

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Published on May 18, 2019 15:57

May 10, 2019

Writing the Future

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Writers wearing future perception devices and investigating a red and white object in Hexham during fieldwork to the future in the Writing the Future workshop I just ran in Hexham Book Festival with Rob La Frenais.


We looked at the openings of future fiction novels by J.G. Ballard, Ursula LeGuin and Russell Hoban and wrote our own openings for future scenarios. We invented fictional technologies including geo-reading shoes, truth magnets and empathy lozenges:






We investigated Hexham through the eyes of a visitor from another planet and another time. A selection of outcomes from the workshop will be presented in Continuum at Allenheads Contemporary Arts 21-23 June.

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Published on May 10, 2019 09:47

April 4, 2019

Writing the Future Workshop

‘On exoplanet 55555b Frank span around, hearing something big in the water near a lilypatch, but missed sight of it.’


Writing the Future workshop, Sun 5 May 2-5pm, Hexham Book Festival, www.hexhambookfestival.co.uk


‘The thrill of an empty planet to do better with.’


‘Wealths lining their pockets for their exoplanet escape. Capitalism is cannibalism.’








‘It was standing in the water looking directly at him. Tiny nose and ears flat against a sleek dark head; extraordinary turquoise eyes.’


‘She plugged her mycelium translator into a dangling sugary fruit. Charging would take a while.’


‘The first rank of Meandans reached shallow water, began to wade. A hundred more heads breached, patches of crusted salt on their cheeks.’


Extracts from The Water Age and other fictions


 

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Published on April 04, 2019 01:04

March 16, 2019

Writing the future

[image error]I am leading a writers’ workshop on Writing the Future in Hexham on Sunday, 5 May 2-5pm, together with curator Rob La Frenais. The workshop is part of the Hexham Book Festival.


Bring your ideas about the future and develop your narratives with us. Start with a place; consider current social, political, environmental, technological conditions; now add 200 years. How might we project into the future and create a credible future world? What future narratives do we want to write and why? Which fantasy and speculative fiction writers have inspired you?


The event is taking place at The Phil & Lit, 7 Hallstile Bank, Hexham. Tickets are £20 and can be booked here.


The workshop is part of Allenheads Contemporary Arts’ project Continuum, which brings art and science together via the bridge of speculative literature.


My future fiction is collected in The Water Age and other fictions. Rob La Frenais is working on a new book about art on the moon for the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landings. He was the first curator to experience zero gravity on a parabolic flight from Star City in Moscow.


The full programme for the Hexham Book Festival is here. The many highlights include fellow Continuum participant Pete Edwards talking on A Beginner’s Guide to the Universe on Sat 4 May; a talk and workshop by Sarah Moss on Sat 4 May and a talk by fellow Impress author Annabel Abbs on Sun 5 May.


 

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Published on March 16, 2019 07:25

Careers in writing and publishing

[image error]Very much enjoyed talking with creative writing and publishing students at University of Exeter last week for a careers event, alongside representatives from my publishers, Impress Books, and Taylor Francis, Little Brown Book Group, Peter Lang, Rydon Publishing, and novelist, Lisa Dickenson.

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Published on March 16, 2019 03:18

February 10, 2019

Future Fiction Workshop

[image error]Original image from NASA Mars Exploration Rover. Manipulated image – Alan Smith

The Continuum project is bringing art and science together via the bridge of speculative literature. The project is organised by Allenheads Contemporary Arts, the only arts venue in the UK with an astronomical observatory. Continuum was launched last night in Newcastle with presentations by artists and interactions with the International Space Station.


As part of this project, I will be leading a future fiction workshop in May in Hexham, with my colleague, Rob La Frenais. Start with a town like Hexham; consider current social, political, environmental, technological conditions; now add 200 years. How might we project into the future and create a credible future world? Will our characters living in the future be the same as us, interact in the same ways, or might there be emotional and psychological changes to take into account? What future narratives do we want to write and why? Which fantasy and speculative fiction writers have inspired us? More details on the workshop coming soon.

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Published on February 10, 2019 04:45