Browsed by Month July 2014

LonCon 2014 Schedule Storytelling And representation

July 19 2014 JY Yang

Hurrah The schedules for LonCon are finally out

This is the first big peoplefromallover SFF con that Ill be attending and also the first con of the same kind in which Ill be sitting on panels With that in mind Im hoping that four panels isnt more than I can chew this is a reasonable schedule is it not

Heres what Ill be on Mostly discussions of ways to tell stories and matters of representation in media

1 Recentering the World Storm John Clutes Fantastika and the World

Thursday 14th August 1630 1800 Capital Suite 6 ExCeL

With Geoff Ryman John Clute Glenda Larke and Gili BarHillel Talking about John Clutes definition of fantastika in the context of a world where nonWestern nonAnglophone storytelling traditions exist

2 Content and Form Writing SFF in nonWestern Modes

Friday 15th August 1330 1500 Capital Suite 8 ExCeL

With Amal ElMohtar Aliette de Bodard Rochita LoenenRuiz and Nick Wood Talking about nonWestern forms of SFF storytelling

3 Beyond Bechdel

Friday 15th August 2000 2100 Capital Suite 712 ExCeL

With Kate Heartfield Kate Elliot Jed Hartman Julia Rios Discussing other tests of diversity in film and media

4 The Knowable Other

Saturday 16th August 1900 2000 London Suite 2 ExCeL

With Viktoriya H Michael Morelli Ashley Pollard Justina Robson Discussing the trend in media where Others are increasingly taking on human form Cylons in BSG androids in Almost Human etc I dont think its a trend and I dont think its that new

As a softener to warm me up to LonCon Ill also be attending NineWorlds from 810 August I wont be on any panels there but I might be doing a readingmore on that later

Really excited at the prospect of meeting folks Ive gotten to know over the past year or so in person NOT TO MENTION A NUMBER OF MY CLARION WEST CLASSMATES ITS NOT LIKE IM EXCITED ABOUT THAT PROSPECT OR ANYTHING

August is going to be fantastic Hope to see yall there

The National Library Board

July 11 2014 JY Yang

If I were a cleverer and more eloquent writer this blogpost would be coherent it would have a beginning and a middle and an end it would have a point and it would stick to that But I am not that writer and my feelings over the past few days have oscillated from annoyance to anger to disbelief and back again so many times that that pendulum has broken and rolled a death spiral onto the floor coming to rest somewhere near tired

Im tired

I could tell you what its like Its having someone you thought was a friend somebody whom you thought loved you and supported you and would welcome you no matter what having that somebody stand in the harsh light and turn into this stony unreachable figure expression unreadable You root for them and you root for them until the truth hits you in the face and you cant deny anymore that your trust was misplaced

Its scrolling through your Facebook feed and seeing one person after another after another after another get in on the bandwagon and then ministers are listening and political newsmakers are getting involved so all of a sudden youre hoping that something might change and a happy ending might come out of this but it doesnt it doesnt and it all comes crumbling down in a media circus and empty rumbles of community norms

I want to say intelligent things I want to argue that fixating on the pulping of the books is a pointless exercise because whether the books would be destroyed or kept in a locked box in the basement is immaterial and were turning an issue of bigots exploiting state apparatuses for their own means into a paean to the sacred physicality of books I want to shout at every person insisting this is not just about gay rights but really about the allencompassing and universal right to read because no the whole thing is SPECIFICALLY about gay rights and it was SPECIFICALLY gaythemed titles that were targeted by a specifically antiGLBTQ group out of the thousands and thousands of books that the library carries so to pretend otherwise is massively erasing of context and telling gay folk that their struggles arent important enough to warrant their attention unless it affects you also

But Im tired

I see more and more reports cropping up on my newsfeed From BBC and BoingBoing and WashPo and the like I see boycotts and calls to arms and guerilla readalong sessions I see the writing community I hang around more worked up than Ive ever seen them There is a fine frothing anger being worked up and spilling over the rims of the bucket theyve tried to put us in

But through this all I just cant shake the feeling that theres no happy ending in this Even if the library recants after all this pressure puts the books back on the shelves it feels like too little too late Things have been said Boxes opened and bridges burned Weve seen where priorities lie And we dont know if the bigots will strike againand maybe this time they wont make the mistake of crowing about their achievements

It feels like the world is telling me over and over again this year that no matter how much progress we make theres always people committed to rolling that progress back people who openly compare queer folk to cancers and oppressive state apparatuses too afraid of change that are always willing to give them the time of day Theres no happy ending in this

And Im tired

ETA A convenient news tab that collects a smorgasbord of news articles pertaining to the NLBs pulling of the books off the shelf Background development ministerial comments letters to the editor