Evening, gentle readers! <\/p>\n
It\u2019s been a rollercoaster weekend; I haven\u2019t got any creative writing done, which is egregious. Ah well, at least today I had a very productive caf\u00e9 session with a dear friend: I worked on an article I\u2019m writing related to my MA thesis. Oh how I enjoy crafting academic text!<\/p>\n
Anyway, links! <\/p>\n
Before the serious discussion links, let\u2019s go for a poem. A Glance Across the Ballroom<\/a>, by Ada Hoffmann: one of the most delightful Cinderella-inspired poems I\u2019ve ever read. <\/p>\n *<\/p>\n Eleanor Arnason\u2019s Me and Science Fiction: Hope for the Future<\/a> is an interesting column on optimistic science fiction and why there should be more of it. I mostly agree with her. Yes, I think sf needs to tackle the grim, difficult stuff, too \u2013 but why should it entirely shun the brighter visions? Optimism doesn\u2019t need to mean lack of conflict. In a setting that doesn\u2019t paint an entirely bleak future for our planet, you can still have interesting stories. <\/p>\n Personally, I\u2019m not much a fan of grimdark. I prefer my fiction with more than just a sprinkle of goodwill and optimism. There\u2019s a time and place for dystopia \u2013 definitely yes \u2013 but I just don\u2019t think it needs to be the default<\/em> option for sf. Human beings are capable of horrific, dark things, but we\u2019ve also got the potential for good, for healing. Fiction \u2013 perhaps especially science fiction \u2013 is a great way of looking at the consequences of what we\u2019re doing to the planet, for instance. But sometimes, I\u2019d love to see a sf future-vision that ended up bright. Through darkness, perhaps, in the way of the most heart-wrenching stories; but ending in hope. <\/p>\n * <\/p>\n