Near Future

[close] A group of writers and readers dedicated to offering positive visions of the future.

[close] ...February 16, 2012 to March 15, 2012...

[close] Two days ago, astronomers found Gliese 832c, what is probably the first discovered Second Earth. Since it's only 16 light years away, we have the Gemini Planetary Imager to study its atmosphere to see if the planet is cool enough for life and if it has water. If the answer to both is yes, we have our fist living planet, our first Second Earth. We could know tomorrow. We will know by 2016. What happens then? Few have explored what happens the moment after we learn we are not alone? What happens when we learn that UFO's "are real"? What happens if we find we are surrounded by more than a few civilizations? How will we change confronted by an interstellar future that's decades ahead of us?

[close] Every January, there is a literary seminar in Key West, Florida. Wonderful authors are invited. I'm reading through books by this year's seminar authors. They include Doug Coupland, Margaret Atwood, Michael Cunningham, Jennifer Egan, Gary Shteyngart, Valerie Martin and others. I'd like book recommendations from others attending the seminar in 2012.