Torque Control

CfP July 2018: Economics and SF

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Our next themed issue, scheduled for late 2018, will address economics in science fiction and fantasy. How do economic themes appear in SFF? What can SFF writers learn from economists, and vice-versa? Can SFF help us to develop alternatives to capitalism? The full CfP can be read here.

Please submit abstracts of 200-400 words to vector.submissions@gmail.com. The deadline for articles is July 15, 2018. In the meanwhile, informal queries very welcome. Some resources from Jo’s blog that you may find inspiring or helpful: a list of suggested topics and ideas, a list of suggested secondary reading, and the Economic SFF database.

 

“Not everything I write is covered in bees”: Adrian Tchaikovsky interviewed by Ian Whates

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The BSFA holds regular events in London, usually on the last Wednesday of the month, at the Artillery Arms near Old Street. These events are free, and open to members and non-members alike. Keep an eye on the BSFA website for news of future events. In February 2017, Ian Whates caught up with SF and fantasy novelist Adrian Tchaikovsky. Andrew Wallace chronicles the encounter …

Adrian Tchaikovsky is known for his ten-volume epic fantasy series, Shadows of the Apt, whose clashing civilisations are based around insect species. More recently, Adrian has been lauded for his science fiction, with his novel Children of Time winning the 2016 Clarke Award. Children of Time starts from the premise of a nano-virus sent across the stars to seed life on a distant world. Unexpectedly, it is the spiders and ants – species meant to play mere bit parts in the glorious epic of mammalian expansion – who get sped towards sentience, and the kind of richly detailed space-faring society that great SF does so well.

So the question we all want to ask Adrian Tchaikovsky is: what’s with the bugs?

Continue reading ““Not everything I write is covered in bees”: Adrian Tchaikovsky interviewed by Ian Whates” →

Nominate for the BSFA Awards

Nominations for the BSFA Awards are now open! Members of the BSFA can nominate in four categories:

  • Best Novel
  • Best Short Fiction
  • Best Non-Fiction
  • Best Artwork

Read about the Awards on the BSFA site, then get nominating. You only get a limited number of nominations, but if you have a lot of love for SFF in 2017, you can always spill over into the informal suggestions spreadsheet. If you’re not yet a BSFA member, here’s where you can rectify that.

This is also a good moment to remember last year’s winners:

Cover art by Sarah Anne Langton

August/September CfPs

Here’s a roundup of some recent calls for academic papers:

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