I link(post) you to the bones

[dolorosa_12]

This week has been absolutely excellent for people saying brilliant, eloquent, important things.

To journey is to be human. To migrate is to be human. Human migration forged the world. Human migration will forge the future, writes Ishtiyak Shukri in 'Losing London'. This was the post of the week for me, and affected me deeply.

We already have the table of contents, but now we have the cover of Athena Andreadis's To Shape The Dark anthology, illustrated beautifully by Eleni Tsami.

I really loved this interview of Aliette de Bodard by Rochita Loenen-Ruiz: I’ve come to realize that “appealing to everybody” is a codeword for bland, unobjectionable stuff; or at the very least for something that doesn’t challenge the reader; and, just as I like to be challenged when I read, I would in turn like to do that to my readers!

Speaking of Aliette de Bodard's writing, she's put 'In Morningstar's Shadow', the prequel short story to The House of Shattered Wings, up online for free. I read it last weekend and loved it.

I liked this essay by Marianne de Pierres on Australian myths in contemporary SF, but I've been worrying away at some of its conclusions for reasons I can't quite articulate. Certainly I appreciate the recognition of Australian writing's emphasis on the dystopian and post-apocalyptic, but I worry about her characterisation of the Australian landscape as universally barren, inhospitable and predatory. Let's just say it is not so to all inhabitants of Australia, and is not represented as such in the stories of all Australians, although it is a really significant theme in Australian literature.

Sophie Masson wrote on authors in a changing publishing landscape. I smiled a little ruefully at this quote:

When my last adult novel, Forest of Dreams, came out in 2001, I was commissioned to write a piece for a newspaper on the historical background of the novel (a paid piece), and reviews of the book appeared in several print publications, despite its being genre fiction. When The Koldun Code, also genre fiction, came out in 2014, I had to write several guest posts for blogs, do interviews for online publications (all unpaid) and reviews only appeared online.

I did not review this book, but I did interview Masson and review several of her YA works for print publications, where I was paid for my work. Now I retweet links to her articles and review things exclusively online for free. Oh, how times have changed!

Authors who are parents have been posting about the experience. There are too many posts to include here, but you can find links to all of them at the #ParentingCreating hashtag.

The latest of Kari Sperring's 'Matrilines' columns, on Evangeline Walton, is up. I've been finding these columns both illuminating - in terms of introducing me to many authors whose work sounds right up my alley - and disheartening, in that almost all of them were entirely new to me, instead of well-known figures in the SF canon.

I found this post by Samantha Shannon on judging a literary award to be a very interesting read.

In a departure from these posts' usual content, I have a music recommendation: CHVRCHES' new album Every Open Eye. It stops my heart, in the best possible way.

Comments

[dhampyresa]

Thanks for the links! "Losing London" was excellent (and terrifying). i'm listening to the CHVRCHES album right now.

[dolorosa_12]

You're very welcome.

I read stories like 'Losing London' and I feel a deep chill in my bones. The hostility to immigrants, the assumption that in applying for a visa you are doing something deceptive, almost criminal, and the assumption of guilt by the border guards is increasing in the UK, and it's awful. While the experience of writers like Shukti is far removed from my own, I can't help but feel a connection with them. As long as my existence in this country can be measured in years on my visa, I'll always feel insecure.

[geckoholic]

I checked out the Chvrches album because of this post, and while it's not really my kinda music, found some gems. So thanks!!

[dolorosa_12]

Aww, that's great to hear! I'm glad you found some songs you liked!

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

Thank you for the signal boost! I makes me sad that we are forgetting these writers, too, especially Walton, who is magical.

[dolorosa-12.livejournal.com]

You're very welcome. I've found all of your columns in this series really fantastic, and you say very important things, particularly about the erasure of women's stories from the canon, and from memory.

Walton's stories influenced by the Mabinogi sound particularly intriguing. The only stories I've read that really seemed to draw on those tales heavily were those of Lloyd Alexander, although I've found hints of them in Jo Walton's Tir Tanagiri books and in The Dark Is Rising sequence (not sure what your opinion is of any of these works). However, nothing I've read so far quite manages to capture their tone, feeling and context, and I'm curious to see how (Evangeline) Walton approaches them.

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

I love all of those books -- they capture the weirdness of the originals beautifully, and also the humour. Evangeline Walton is perhaps the closest in tone to the originals, though, which is what I love about her books. They've dated in some ways, particularly The Island of the Mighty, which was the first one she wrote, but they still have that mythic feel -- with Jo Walton also captures.

[dolorosa-12.livejournal.com]

I just checked, and Evangeline Walton's Mabinogi books are all available at the public library! So I've placed a reservation and hope to be able to read them soon! Thank you very much for drawing my attention to her work.

[malinowy.livejournal.com]

The "Losing London" piece was such an interesting thing to read. It's something I wish everyone read.

And the new Chvrches album, oh dear. One of these days I'll listen to it without doing anything else at the same time, because it deserves the attention.

[dolorosa-12.livejournal.com]

I wish more people would read it, too. I have to admit, although our circumstances are nothing similar, I always feel such a strong sense of identification with people struggling with visa and immigration. Until I have the right to live where I want permanently, I'm always going to feel anxious and insecure, and worry about something like that happening to me.

The Chvrches album is really amazing — better, I think, than their first. I hope you get a chance to listen through to the whole thing soon!