British Library, London, Out Of This World

As much as the title suggests an address, in reality it is an exhibition that opened yesterday and that opened my eyes today.

Did you know that the first story about journeying to the moon was written in 2 A.D.? Or that the word robot was coined in 1928 by a Chech playwright?*

The Out Of This World exhibition encompasses all facets of science fiction literature, the ambiguity surrounding its definition and the various subgenres (including my personal favourite, cyberpunk). Personal highlights for me were:

> Trolling an AI
> Seeing the handwritten Wyndham manuscript for The Kraken Wakes
> Listening to H.G. Wells’ recorded voice

The overall exhibition was impressive, although less so than the previous, Evolving English, whose effect was greater because of the sound background of famous speeches.

Still, if you’ve a passing interest in genre fiction, go see it. (For free! Or a nominal donation.)

…

* This one I did know.

Steampunk Can(n)on, Fire!

Most importantly, you should read this entry whilst listening to this.

It could be as a form of procrastination, but I often buy Writing Magazine. Recently, they’ve started putting Writer’s News in the middle of it, and until very recently I had always ignored it.

That’s changed.

In this month’s edition, I came across this call for submissions, and became worryingly excited and excitable.

I’ve been toying for a long while with the concept of the discovered text – specifically discovering a manuscript of Charles Dickens or Thomas Hardy that tells a tale of steampunk (if you’re unfamiliar with the term, I’d really recommend reading at least a bit of the definition). The concept of retooling Shakespeare into the genre massively interests me.

Unfortunately, I’m not as versed in the genre as perhaps I should be. It’s always been something I’ve been interested in, although I’ve always read more of cyberpunk. Most of my conscious understanding of the genre comes from games and films (and these are a bit off, as those who understand this title’s reference will comprehend).

That being said, I am highly familiar with Victorian fiction, and the work of H.G. Wells is of particular interest to me. Really ought to read more Verne, mind.

In order to more fully understand the canon, I am reading through Extraordinary Engines, which is giving me some more tropes of the genre. Otherwise, I imagine I’ll head back to my formal training in English – and draw on Victorian literature and my study and tutelage of The Scottish Play.

The archaicism I might handle with ease.

I’m doing Macbeth.