I’m the guy who maintains the list of upcoming readings and signings, and the one who moves the events from that list to the list of past events after the fact. And frequently, I find myself moving entries for events that happened very close to my home, but happened the day before. I keep missing out. Last night, I made a concerted effort, and got to a reading before it became history. (Mind you, I’ve been to these readings before, but not nearly as regularly as I should.) These readings are one of the joys of being part of this community: the community of genre readers and writers. They’re inexpensive, cultural, and a great opportunity to spend time with like-minded people.
Last night, which was the first reading of the New York Review of Science Fiction’s Reading Series at the South Street Seaport‘s 19th season, featured Paul Di Filippo and Norman Spinrad. As always, the evening was introduced by Jim Freund, host of WBAI radio’s Hour of the Wolf (for which he records the event for later rebroadcast). And indeed, you’ll be able to listen to the program and hear the readings in the near future, but just listening means you’re going to miss out on a lot (see below).
Paul read a story that started, for him, with the title. As he explained, he was at Readercon this summer listening to Karen Joy Fowler read, and, though she was reading “Ice City,” he thought he’d heard “iCity,” and thought it a great title for a story. When he realized he’d misheard her, he felt relief at being able to use the title himself. “iCity” is a story of competitive urban planning using sensate substrate. His reading brought the story alive, and truly enhanced the experience. The story, he says, will be appearing in Solaris Books‘s forthcoming The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction: Volume Two. After he finished reading, he said that the story reminded him of C.L. Moore’s “Vintage Season,” though it was an accidental homage, as the thought hadn’t occurred to him while he was writing.
After a ten-minute intermission, Norman read a selection for a novel-in-progress. The working title of the book is Welcome to Your Dream Time, and the piece, “Float Like a Butterfly,” was a verbal dream. This particular piece was rated G, although he said other selections would have different ratings. It was a more difficult piece, but fits into his greater scheme for the book, which he envisions as something like a video game (although not a shoot-’em-up or a puzzle game, more an environment to experience). The whole project is an outgrowth of his current interest in lucid dreaming. It should be interesting when it comes to fruition.
The reaedings, however, are only part of the appeal of attending such an event. There were 25 or 30 people present, including the readers. Several other authors were there, including Rick Bowes, Barbara Krasnoff, and Barry Malzberg. And that’s one of the thrills of the evening: a very low fan-to-author ratio. After the readings, about half the crowd adjourned to a local pub for dinner and more conversation. Such an intimate setting is very conducive to wide-ranging and fascinating discussions, and I really enjoyed the chance to talk with Paul, Norman, and several of the fans who were with us.
So, through a convoluted path, this is a way of urging you to take advantage of these opportunities. Fewer than 30 people! In New York City! For almost no cost (the sponsors of the reading request a small donation to help them defray the costs, and it’s definitely worth it). Every time I attend one of these events, I’m surprised by how the number of people there. It’s definitely a great way to spend an evening.
The next NYRSF reading will be 2 October featuring Samuel R. Delany. And before that, the KGB Fantastic Fiction series will be 19 September featuring readings from Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet. And that’s just in New York City….