R.B. Lemberg's Blog, page 33

Five Questions meme

This is from   xjenavivex - who asked such wonderful questions!

The meme:

Leave me a comment saying "Resistance is Futile." 

• I'll respond by asking you five questions so I can satisfy my curiosity (though I am leaving for Wiscon shortly, so this will happen after I get back!)
• Update your journal with the answers to the questions
• Include this explanation in the post and offer to ask other people questions

1. What is your favorite mythological creature and why?

Firebird!!! It is a mythical bird of Slavic folklore (zhar-ptitsa, which would better be translated as heat-bird, but isn't for some reason). I love fire, I love birds, so obviously the firebird is the best creature ever. Of course, I also grew up with this folklore. One may aspire to catch the firebird, to find her feather, or perhaps simply to become Firebird. The scene in my default userpic is from Bilibin's famous folkloric illustration. The picture that adorns the Birdverse page on my website features Milashevsky's illustration to the Little Humpback Horse, a fairytale in verse, in which the hero and his magic horse sidekick must capture the Firebird.

The goddess of Birdverse is a Bird that appears to each person as a different bird according to their culture and character. She is a firebird for me obviously, though not for others.

2. What is your favorite folk tale and which specific variation?

It's really hard to choose just one.
But if I have to, then "Finist the Bright Falcon" is a Russian folktale about a woman (sometimes named as Vasilissa the Extremely Wise, a heroine of Russian folktales), who is visited by Finist, a shapechanger (his name is etymologically connected to Phoenix; I suspect he is the male variant of the firebird). When Vasilissa's family chases Finist away, she sets out on a heroic quest to retrieve her lost beloved. She essentially goes on a male heroic quest, though it has female elements, such as female kinship networks: the heroine is helped by a magical donor, Baba Yaga, who calls her daughter or granddaughter. The Baba Yaga claims no such connection to the male questing hero, who must trick her or else prove his knowledge/worthiness to get Baba Yaga to help him. In some variants of Finist, Vasilissa is helped by a family of Baba Yagas, three sisters who give her magical objects and advice. After many adventures in which her wit and character are tested, the heroine is successful in her quest.  

It is pretty obvious why I have always loved this folktale. I was quite lucky to grow up with this folklore, where some heroines are domestic and others go out into the world and have adventures.

Here is Vasilissa near Baba Yaga's house, as depicted by Bilibin:



3. Do you always know what form a story wants to take when you begin it? (Here I am also wondering if you view poems as stories and do they feel different that longer forms from the beginning?)

Hm, this is difficult. I always have to know the last scene or the last image of a story, or I will not finish. Knowing the last scene from the get-go gives me the strength to keep going, and also makes me work out what sequence of events leads to this scene. I make it sound like it is something very cerebral, but it is an intuitive process mostly based on my feel for the specific characters and their trajectories. Poems (as well as some flash pieces) are different.  They come from a feel or an image, and often they come with a first line that just unravels into second, third, etc. I often feel that the poem is "waiting" just behind my eyes, behind some gate - waiting for me to make a space for it. Sometimes poetry writing is an ecstatic experience; the Cycle was like that. The poem possessed me. I just had to lend it my heart and my fingers. 

4. Will you share a cool mom moment with me? (It could be you as the mom, daughter, or granddaughter - recent or some time ago.)

Sure. This happened in November 2011, during our last horse riding lesson of the Fall. 

We arrived a few minutes early, and the teacher was in the riding area with another child. Meanwhile, Mati's regular horse, Webster, was waiting tethered in an open-air stall. He ran into the stall - I think he wanted to hug the horse - but I told him he needed to wait. He stood in front of the horse and looked it straight in the eyes for the longest time, with a rapt expression on his face; Webster also appeared interested in Mati. The other kid came out of the riding area - about eleven or twelve years old, and pretty clearly with classical autism. I don't think I've ever seen her before. I greeted her with a hello and a wave. She didn't say hello back, which is just fine. "My name is Peggy," she said clearly and slowly, not exactly looking at me. I had up to that point thought that she was a boy. She then said, "What's her name?"
"His name is Mati," I said. "He's a boy." (Mati has long curly hair).
"A boy?" she said. "How old is she?"
"He's five," I said. "Mati, say hello."
Mati looked in her general direction and said, very reluctantly, "Hello. Peggy."
Then he ran into the riding area, where he tried to put on the "helmut". Peggy ran off to her mother, who was waiting in their car, and I heard her shout, "He can speak! Mommy, he can speak!"

5. What do you do when you need to clear your head?
I go for a walk. Sometimes I just go out in the front yard at night and stand in front of (and under) the oaks and lift my arms like the oaks do.

Small sale, and Wiscon!

1. I wrote a small poem about bees yesterday, and sold it also yesterday to Mitchell Hart’s new magazine, Beyond the Gate. Beyond the Gate will launch in August. The poem has no title and probably does not need one; it will be known by its first line, “if all of her would turn into bees.”

2. WISCON BOOKS:

-”Here, We Cross,” the first publication of Stone Bird Press, is in my grabby hands. It is beautiful. I do not say this lightly, for if you know me, you know that I am perfectionist and hard to please when it comes to my own work. It is a gorgeous book. It contains 94 pages full of powerful and beautiful LGBTQIA poetry from Stone Telling, issues 1-7. You will be able to buy it from me at Wiscon, and one copy of Here, We Cross will be given away during the Outer Alliance party on Friday.

- The Moment of Change. People, this is, like, amazing. Ok? Ok. I do not lie. Get the book at Wiscon from the Aqueduct Press in the Dealers’ room, and the Room of One’s Own, as well as at the Moment of Change reading, which will happen on Friday, from 9:00–10:15 pm (though may last longer) at Michelangelo’s. There will be COOKIES and also BROWNIES and ICE TEA for free. In addition, one copy of the Moment of Change will be given away during the Outer Alliance party on Friday.

- The Sign-out.  I will be signing both HWC and MoC during the Sign-out on Monday.

3. If you are a MoC contributor, and are at Wiscon, please come SIGN MY COPY, which will be auctioned during the Con or Bust auction next year.

 

Originally published at RoseLemberg.net. You can comment here or there.

OMGZOMGOMGGOOOOOOOOOOOMG

A box full of HERE, WE CROSS books arrived omg they are so beautiful they are perfect I cannot believe it

Wiscon HERE I COME!!!

Rose @Wiscon

Wiscon is my second con, but the most excellent shadesong just posted on her own care and feeding, so I feel it is a good thing!

Spoonie Rose @ Wiscon

I am a spoonie with a compromised immune system. Cons, conventions, and any other major events involving travel and change of context stress the heck out of my body. I am doing better than I did before WFC, since the horrible back pain has now morphed into a manageable issue. However, as I found out during the flight to WFC, flights exacerbate it. Also I have been majorly despooned lately and do not see it changing before Friday. So.

- I walk and enjoy it, but I cannot walk fast or I will be in pain. So please don't expect me to run, dash about, or even keep pace with you if you are a brisk walker.

- If you are telling me that you'd like to spend time with me, like right now, but you just need to do this one thing and you'll be back, and then you dash away and are never seen again, well, please do not do this (happened @WFC). If you want to include me, please help me by staying/walking with me. If you cannot do this, no biggie, but the other scenario is quite painful, as it drives home to me just how much I can no longer dash about.

- I can get dizzy very suddenly. I manage this. But if I am saying "I need to sit down," I need to sit down. If you feel like asking if I need help, please ask. What I need the most is for you not to ignore this and if possible, please stop talking until I have found a place to sit.

- If I am sitting down with you and I have an absent/grayish look on my face, I might be dizzy and/or in pain and might not be able to talk or process speech at that moment. It will pass. But if you feel like getting me something to drink, cold water, ice tea (black or not) or just ice will help.

- In the last two years during academic conferences I spend most of my time either in my room or in a quiet coffeeshop off the convention site to reserve spoons, sometimes parallel-playing with a friend, most often alone. At SF/F cons, I want to be with people and in the thick of things, but it is a strain on me. I am still figuring out how to manage this and still be able to enjoy cons. I am only doing 2 panels and 2 readings because of spoons and am feeling weird for not registering for more, but this is good for now.

- I will attend as many panels as I can because I am really interested in this con's programming, but I might need help (if you think I might be interested in a panel you are going to, please invite me to come with you! Being w. people helps, as I get easily disoriented).

This sounds worse than it actually is... though perhaps it doesn't. Heh. I should be fine most of the time, but some of the time I may not be.

I don't know a lot of people in person, but I want to meet you all!!. Please come and say hi! I am 5'4", long curly dark hair, and more spherical than not. I might be wearing the Runcible Hat. The hat is tall, black, made of felt, and has many multicolored balls of felt attached to it. 

Photographs: I do not want ANY pictures of me taken without my permission, and I do not want any pictures of me on the internet. I am quite fond of group pictures and might want to have some taken with you guys, but no pictures of Rose on the internet. Please. 

My Wiscon schedule:

The Moment of Change: Feminist SFF Poetry Open Mic  Fri, 9:00–10:15 pm Michelangelos
Moderator: Rose Lemberg. 
Come join the authors of the "The Moment of Change" for an open mic evening in celebration of the first-ever anthology of feminist speculative poetry! "The Moment of Change" is edited by Rose Lemberg and forthcoming from Aqueduct press, and includes poems by Ursula K. Le Guin, Nisi Shawl, Amal El-Mohtar, Delia Sherman, Vandana Singh. Bring your own feminist speculative poems to read, and join Rose Lemberg, Shira Lipkin, Sofia Samatar, and Alex Dally MacFarlene for an open mic extravaganza to celebrate the release of the anthology and feminist speculative poetry in general.

Note: THERE WILL BE COOKIES AND SUCH FOR the MoC READING ATTENDEES. PLEASE BRING YOUR FRIENDS!

Crossing boundaries and bending genres: Meet the Interstitial Arts Foundation  Sat, 2:30–3:45 pm Caucus
Moderator: Larissa N. Niec. with Ellen Kushner, Rose Lemberg, Shira Lipkin, JoSelle Vanderhooft.
The Interstitial Arts Foundation (IAF) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the study, support, and promotion of interstitial art: literature, music, visual and performance art found in-between categories and genres--art that crosses borders. One of the specific goals of the IAF is to foster conversations among artists, academics, critics, and enthusiasts--conversations in which art of all types can be spoken of as a continuum, rather than as a series of hermetically sealed genres. Currently, the IAF is seeking to grow and develop new projects. In this town meeting-style session, we seek input from (1) artists and writers about ways in which the IAF might be of value to them as they seek to promote their boundary-crossing work, and (2) readers and enthusiasts about needs they perceive for the support of literature and other art forms that expand the conventional boundaries of gender and other restricting borders.

The Wild Ones reading Sat, 4:00–5:15 pm Conference 2
 Rose Lemberg, Shira Lipkin, Alex Dally MacFarlane, Patty Templeton.
Q: "Hey Jane, what are you rebelling against?" A: "Whadda you got?" Rose Lemberg writes about liminal identities, naming magic, languages, and birds. Shira Lipkin will bring you to the home you never knew you'd lost. Alex Dally MacFarlane lives and works in London, where the foxes cross paths with her at night. Patty Templeton writes hellpunk in a hand-basket, full of ghosts, freaks, and fools. Join four women of varied writing styles for a ruckus of a reading.

Class Culture and Values in SF&F  Sun, 1:00–2:15 pm Conference 5
Moderator: Debbie Notkin. With Debbie Notkin, Eleanor A. Arnason, Alyc Helms, ANONYMOUS, Rose Lemberg.
Class isn't just how much money you have or what work you do; it also involves cultural beliefs, values, and attitudes that are expressed in how you talk, what you do in your free time, and all sorts of less tangible elements. (See Barbara Jensen's book Reading Classes: On Culture and Classism in America, due out in mid-May.) The SF&F writing and fannish communities are mainly middle class folks, which makes the class values of SF&F works mostly middle class, too. What works and creators explore classes outside the mainstream, white, European, middle-class value systems? What class markers tend to show up most, or least, often? Do these works show the non-middle classes positively? negatively? realistically?

south Indian steampunk Engineer piccy

This is too awesome not to reblog. Comments should go to Shweta's LJ! 

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Originally posted by shweta_narayan at south Indian steampunk Engineer piccyI am very splat & having thermoregulation issues a-gain, so will be flaky on replying to anything, but rose_lemberg said to post this so here it is XD



This picture came about cause I was tired of multiple aspects of visual representation of South Asian characters.
1) They all seem to be skinny
2) They're mostly pale & with generic(Euro) features
3) They all seem to wear sad excuses for saris that are basically Victorian underwear plus a bit of gauze
4) Steampunking them up seems to often involve adding leather while keeping markers that say these are period brahmins wtf

So I drew someone who could be my period cousin :)

She should get a story once I'm doing better. I know some of it, but need to do research.
Also her sari is anachronistic & will have to be made more period once I have done said research.

Here, We Cross is Here, Indeed

The fabulous chapbook collecting 22 queer and genderfluid poems from Stone Telling 1-7, edited by yours truly and made possible by the tireless work of Jennifer Smith, is here! At least, it is available to purchase through Amazon. I have not yet seen a copy myself, but it is available to order, as if by magic!!! (we are using a printer which is an Amazon affiliate).

AND YAY, the first Stone Bird Press title!!! This is an ongoing adventure, I am telling you.

“Here, We Cross” is a glorious little book. The poems are heartbreaking, true, tremendous, lyrical, powerful. Go grab a copy – it’s 10$.

Originally published at RoseLemberg.net. You can comment here or there.

The Moment of Change is here!!

The anthology is officially OUT, and available for purchase at the Aqueduct website! It will also be on sale during Wiscon, where we will be having a Moment of Change reading (WITH COOKIES), and it will be available to purchase from other outlets by the end of the month. I am so, so, so proud of this. Congratulations to all the wonderful poets involved, major thanks to the Aqueduct team for publishing it, and to wonderful Terri Windling for the cover image!

 

 

Originally published at RoseLemberg.net. You can comment here or there.

Seven Losses is up

My story “Seven Losses of Na Re” is up today at the Daily Science Fiction website. There seems to be a debate at the Daily SF facebook page as to whether it’s genre at all.

I’d rather not defend my story’s genre cred. But I hope you enjoy it nonetheless.

Originally published at RoseLemberg.net. You can comment here or there.

Ascending Bird

Athena reminded me how much I love this:

Poetry sale

My epic-length poem in three acts, “Between the Mountain and the Moon,” will appear in Strange Horizons. This is the poem I wrote for the Magic4Terri metamorphosis auction; here’s a detailed entry about the making of an artist’s book that incorporates this poem.

I am glad. This is the last shapechangers poem (and very likely the last poem, period) that I will be offering to magazines before the chapbook is completed.

Originally published at RoseLemberg.net. You can comment here or there.