Tobias S. Buckell: “Nora K. Jemisin was just saying on Twitter the other day that in science fiction we have this venerable tradition of using metaphor to dig at some of these problems—like race and power and structure and history—and that it’s been a mistake, because in the past we would always use the metaphor assuming that our fellow readers and fans of the genre were following along, getting the metaphor, and it turns out that they weren’t. In other words, you needed to be way more in-your-face.” – Wired
Author: ArtsJournal2
Agnès Varda Made The Invisible Visible
In The Gleaners and I and Faces Places, Varda paid attention to the France that feels left behind by the powerful and rich. But there was a secondary benefit as well: “She had wanted to pay attention to people who were ‘invisible.’ And she did. One of those people was her.” – The Atlantic
Butterworth’s Post-Atomic Wasteland
Two new collections of Michael Butterworth’s early short stories – stories he thought lost for good – show his early days as a literary SF writer. – Jan Herman
Shaking my head
A press release that touts a a composer who became famous nearly 100 years ago as “contemporary” has us smiling. – Greg Sandow
The Music Stars Of Social Media
How are these young people, in their teens and young twenties, getting so much streaming play on Spotify? “These artists have virtually no media profile, no radio play, most don’t seem to have a record deal and they barely give interviews.” YouTube. YouTube. You. Tube. – The Guardian (UK)
France Is Becoming A Refuge For American Noir Novels – And Novelists – Who Can’t Hit It Big On Amazon
Le Monde isn’t mincing words here. While the U.S., at least one novelist claims, has a blockbuster mentality, France is much more welcoming, a place where “several of these authors, who no longer have a publisher in the United States, see their talent justly distinguished.” – Le Monde (France)
First, Reality Influences Epic Fantasy Novels, And Then You End Up With English Watchers On Hadrian’s Wall
Turns out that the watchers on the wall – that is, the members of English Heritage who staff Roman sites along Hadrian’s Wall, the border with Scotland – have been answering Game of Thrones fan questions for years, but now they’re going one better: “Its members will be decked out in black cloaks and shields, and will be posted at four main Roman sites along the historic structure … until the debut of the final season on April 14th.” – The Verge
The Latest Dust-Up In The Uneven Battle Between Talent Agencies And Writers
At a time when the Writers Guild of America is trying desperately to get its members better positioned in the industry, suffice it to say that the union is not impressed with the Endeavor agency’s plan to enter the stock market with an initial public offering. The WGA: “It is impossible to reconcile the fundamental purpose of an agency — to serve the best interests of its clients — with the business of maximizing returns for Wall Street.” – Los Angeles Times
Contemporary Cancer Books Force Us To Address Grief In All Of Its Forms
There are a lot – a lot – of new cancer memoirs out right now. “As these memoirs suggest, individually and together, there’s no way to eliminate the risk of cancer and or be spared from grief. In addition, they call into question the popular notions that grief proceeds in simple, sequential stages.” – LitHub
Architects Need To Choose The Planet First
This piece is a fine, furious, anguished, specific call for action. “Our civilisation faces its end date. Cities are expanding refugee camps for a species in crisis. Every particle matters.” Yet architecture firms cut and paste specifications, not using green developers or materials when they could. That must change. – Dezeen