Jeff VanderMeer's Blog, page 94

Okorafor on Who Fears Death Controversy

I found this post by Nnedi Okorafor a necessary push-back against a certain kind of intolerant reaction to the author writing about female genital cutting in her new novel.

First of all, I speak about what I choose to speak about. Let's see you try to stop me. Secondly, if writers only wrote about what they'd experienced, then few people would write about wizards and unicorns. Thirdly, let's be honest here, you can lace the practice of female genital cutting with whatever elaborate stories...

Aqueduct Press's New Heirloom Series–Support It!

One of the great experiences of my teenage reading life was the Virago Modern Classics series and Virago books in general–among the ways that I discovered Angela Carter and many other amazing writers. Whenever I enter a used bookstore, I still seek out those distinctive green spines. They promise something unique that I probably can't get elsewhere, and they evoke memories of so many unexpected discoveries.

Now Aqueduct Press has instituted the Heirloom Books series to bring to light...

Clarion Blogging

Clarion San Diego has a bunch of guest blogging going on in aid of raising awareness (and money) for their write-a-thon. State funding for things like funding is taking a hit, and it's important to support Clarion with your donations.

Recent entries include writer/scientist/artist Eric Schaller's fascinating look into the myth of the "lone scientist," Justin Whitney's writing prompts, and much more.

Meanwhile, Shweta Narayan is working out the details of contributing her poetry to the cause.

Sup...

Anthologies: A Reader's Point of View

Earlier this month, I asked questions about anthology editing and anthology reading. As you can tell from the thread, there were a lot of good, thoughtful responses.

Next week, I'll address some of the issues surrounding anthologies from a writer's perspective and from an editor's perspective. For now, though, I'll explore what I as a reader want from a fiction anthology.

As a reader, I'm omnivoracious when it comes to novels but tend toward surreal, absurdist, fantasy, and related modes of...

What Does Betty White Have to Do with Book Sales?

Mebbe nuthin'. Mebbe everything.

The first two books chosen in McKenzie's experiment are Wyoming author Shawn Klomparens' Jessica Z. and Two Years, No Rain. She chose these books because "they were the best two books I'd read in the last six months that were relatively unknown."

…and that's all for today. *Head hits desk.*

The Narrative Realities of Matthew Cheney

Go check out this great essay at Strange Horizons. It's incisive, curmudgeonly, and as with all of Cheney's essays, well-written. Makes me want to read the Okorafor even more now.

The Weird: All In

So we're just a week away from turning in the final stories for our weird antho from Atlantic's Corvus imprint: 750,000 words, covering 100 years. We're all-in at this point. And I mean that in every possible way. I've gained ten pounds the last four months despite my best efforts, drank too much, spent too much time on the computer, been irritable and cranky, and suffered more anxiety than ever before on a project. Gone from incredibly highs to plummeting lows, and back again. Had the...

Big Oil, Corruption, Global Problems

Michael Bishop forwarded me this piece by Juan Cole that places the blame firmly where it belongs: on big oil, captured legislatures, politicians working against the people's best interests. This isn't to say that each individual person shouldn't proactively reduce their carbon footprint and be as active as possible on environmental and energy issues. It just points out that it shouldn't be this bad, and corporations have way too much power–and that it's simplistic to self-flagellate without ...

Mindmeld on Essential Collections…and an Old Man

(Book covers as part of Tetris, courtesy of SF Signal)

SF Signal ran a Mindmeld where they asked me and others about essential short story collections. Go check it out. Here's my list, sans descriptions.

1.The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter
2.The Lottery & Other Stories by Shirley Jackson
3.Stranger Things Happen by Kelly Link
4.The Zanzibar Cat by Joanna Russ
5.Bloodchild by Octavia Butler
6.Star Songs of an Old Primate by James Tiptree Jr
7.The Seventh Horse by Leonora Carrington
8.To Charles...

Comic Con Special Guests: Me 'n' Ann, Join Us July 25

Comic Con is being kind enough to fly us out to San Diego (and thus do a Good Thing for Clarion, which we're teaching at right after). We're not sure of everything we might be doing, but they've definitely signed us up for a "spotlight" feature, description below. Please come join us. We will have very cool visuals! Woo-hoo.

Sunday, JULY 25, 10:30-11:30am, ROOM 8 (followed by signing):

Spotlight on Ann and Jeff VanderMeer: Dr. Lambshead, Steampunk, Weird Tales, Imaginary Animals, and You: Join ...