Monday 16 July 2012

SCIFIISTA RUMBLINGS IN DE-COLONIALIZING AZTLÁN



by Ernest Hogan

So it's not just me. Things are happening here in Azltán, the Aztec homeland, the part of the United States of America that was once Mexico. The future has arrived, and it's firing imaginations.

It started with a post by Rudy Ch. Garcia, Spic vs spec – 1. Chicanos/latinos & sci-fi lit, in La Bloga about his story “Last Call for Ice Cream” in the webzine Flurb. A critic said, “It has so much slang that it become tiresome very quickly.” After a few brain clicks, Rudy asked, “Do Chicanos/latinos read sci-fi?” and “How many are writing sci-fi? Should more latinos be writing it?

This got responses from science fiction writing Latinos that triggered Spic vs spec – 2. providing some background, and answering questions from the readers.

So I had to devote my next Chicanonautica column (every first and second Thurday in La Bloga), to Sci-Fi Evolution and Revolution in the Global Barrio in which I gave examples of science fictional art and even polticial discussion, gave some advice to aspiring scifiistas, and even plugged The Future Fire and We See a Different Frontier.


In Spic vs spec – 3. Rudy went on to ask about where science fiction readers are (both Anglo and Latino), the need for entry-level books in the genre, and that “future jobs will be filled by someone who will likely have an interest in sci-fi lit.”

The series ended with Spic vs spec – 4. Rudy got a response from a publisher that was interested in, and had published multicultural science fiction and fantasy for, the young adult audience and gave a nod to David Macinnis Gill's Black Hole Sun, a YA about a Latino mercenary on Mars.

I went on with another Chicanonautica, Chewing Scifiista Holes in the Tortilla Curtain with links to blogs dealing with science fiction, fantasy, and horror in Spanish, plus a few others to help rescue sci-fi from the monocultural ghetto.

And not to be outdone, Rudy announced the approaching publication of his novel, The Closet of Discarded Dreams, a post-cyberpunk tour-de-force that boldly demonstrates how Chicano is a science fiction state of being.

Things have being stirred up. I hope some writers who hadn't considered science fiction as a possibility are creating visions of the future the likes of which no one has ever seen.

And I encourage those of you who haven't checked out La Bloga to do so. Some very interesting things are happening there.


Ernest Hogan is the author of the pioneering Chicano science fiction novel Cortez on Jupiter. His infamous short story “The Frankenstein Penis” has recently become available in the anthology Love That Never Dies. His blog is Mondo Ernesto.

Thursday 12 July 2012

Outlaw Bodies ToC

We’re delighted to be able to announce the table of contents of the forthcoming Outlaw Bodies anthology, published by The Future Fire and guest co-edited by Lori Selke.

  • Emily Capettini, ‘Elmer Bank’
  • Anna Caro, ‘Millie’
  • Fabio Fernandes, ‘The Remaker’
  • Vylar Kaftan, ‘She Called me Baby’
  • Lori Selke, ‘Frankenstein Unraveled’
  • Stacy Sinclair, ‘Winds: NW 20 km/hr’
  • M. Svairini, ‘Mouth’
  • Jo Thomas, ‘Good Form’
  • Tracie Welser, ‘Her Bones, Those of the Dead’
Plus introduction by Lori Selke and afterword by Kathryn Allan.

Outlaw Bodies will be available in print and e-book (PDF, Epub, Kindle) from early November 2012. (e-ARCs available from September: contact me if you’re interested in reviewing a copy.)

Thursday 5 July 2012

TFFcon July 13th, London

The Future Fire and Fabio Fernandes are delighted to invite all of our friends, and anyone interested in speculative fiction with a social conscience, to join us for a mini-TFFcon in the upstairs function room of the Coach and Horses, near Oxford Circus, London (directions below), on Friday July 13th at 18:00 (6pm).

The evening will involve readings, samples and giveaways, convivial chat, eating and drinking. If you'd like to read some of your work, please prepare about 10 minutes-worth and we'll fit you in. If you have any review copies, flyers, or other freebies you'd like to bring along, that would be great too. Any other suggestions most welcome. Email me, leave a comment below, contact us via Twitter,or just bring your idea along on the day.

I hope to see many old friends and new faces next Friday. Directions below.

Coach and Horses, 1 Great Marlborough Street, London W1F 7HG: walking directions from Oxford Street Underground (4 mins)

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