Gallowglass

The New Weird

More on science-fiction/fantasy, while I'm on the topic; I've been lurking on the periphery of a very interesting discussion on the New Weird, taking place on M. John (Mike)Harrison's discussion board. The story so far ... Mike's been writing wonderful stuff for decades, which hasn't received as much attention as it deserves until recently - too genre for the mainstream press, but not quite genre enough for the fans. In the last two years, however, China Mieville, and to a somewhat lesser extent, Mike himself, have made big splashes with their last novels, They've gotten attention in places where science fiction is usually reviewed snootily, if at all. Mike is now trying to figure out how to turn this attention into a more solid base for an assault both on the mainstream and on SF, by creating a "movement,"* called the "New Weird." This has led in turn to lively and rambunctious discussion among various UK (Alistair Reynolds, Neil Asher, Justina Robson) and US (Jeffrey Ford, Jeff VanderMeer) authors about whether the New Weird is a good idea, what it would involve, who gets to define it, und so weiter. Some facts that were new to me - I hadn't realized that Mieville was nearly nominated as one of Granta's most recent list of 20 Best Young British Authors - he missed it because of his disreputable genre ties. Iain Banks managed to get on Granta's list a generation back, but that was before he started to write space operas under the rather transparent pseudonym of "Iain M. Banks." What are really interesting are the arguments - and the tug-of-war that all the contributors to the board experience between trying to maintain some sort of integrity to what they do, and carving out a space in a ruthless literary marketplace.

Two points I guess. First, this kind of transatlantic back-and-forth wouldn't be possible without the Web. As Reynolds says in a post, "I don't think you can overstate the influence the web is playing in the sense of something happening now. Rather than wait three months for an Interzone editorial and letters page. we have something like this forum."

Second and related: if this literary direction does take off, and I think its chances are good, this bulletin board will be a rather interesting historical document. We usually don't know all that much about where literary movements come from, because their beginnings aren't documented very well. There's a mimeographed manifesto here, a few letters there, but by and large the real debates take place in pubs, cafes and people's houses, and aren't recorded. Here, of course, it's different - the conversation is taking place in a forum that will leave traces. And that's something new.

*Or anti-movement, or argument, or whatever you want to call it. Mike, as an ex-New Waver is somewhat sensitive about being pigeon-holed.

Update: via Patrick Nielsen Hayden, comes Kathryn Cramer, who not only does a nice blog, but also maintains a comprehensive list of blogging SF-writers. Definitely one for the blogroll.