Upcoming event with London Sc Fiction Society

[Luxi]

From London Chinese Science Fiction Society   (It's actually London Chinese Science Fiction Group , sorry for my lack of attention)

 

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Upcoming: February session: Online meeting with author Wei Ma  (未马)

 

Formerly Slow / 《从前慢》(2019) by Wei Ma / 未马
Translated by Andy Dudak (2020)
 
Video call with the author and the London Chinese Science Fiction Group
 Sunday 28th February - London: 14:00 = Beijing 22:00, lasting about 1hr30

 

More details here:   
https://londonchinesesf.com/stories/story22.html    
Way down on the page, there are links to the original story 《从前慢》 and to Andy Dudak's translation.   

 

To get the Zoom link, email the message:

Count me in for LCSFG's next meeting!

to the address on this page:

https://londonchinesesf.com/connect.html

 

[Tomsima]

Just emailed, maybe see some of you there, sounds interesting

[Luxi]

There was a previous event with Yan Ge as guest author in December. It was very well run. Yan Ge looked quite relaxed and comfortable, and was given plenty of time and space to talk about her novel. I'm looking forward to this one, the story sounds very interesting, and it's good to have the text to read beforehand.

 

These events are a big bonus in a lockdown. 

[roddy]

That's very nearly the only time in the next few weeks I'm NOT free, or would probably have turned up. Thanks for posting!

[amytheorangutan]

Sent the email on Wednesday but they haven’t replied with the link. Does it actually take them a few days to reply or maybe my email has gone to their spam folder? 

[Luxi]

I didn't get a reply either. I think they will send the Zoom link nearer the event's date, maybe a few hours before it starts. This event isn't on Eventbrite, but we should be well within the organisers' Zoom limits.

 

Just check your email (and Spam Folder) and make sure you have Zoom installed and updated.

[Luxi]

Reminder: this event is tomorrow. 

 

E-mails with Zoom number and password seem to be coming around now. I just got mine, have you got yours @amytheorangutan ? If you haven't received anything in a couple of hours, email the organisers again.

[amytheorangutan]

@Luxi Yes, I just got my email as well. Thank you!!! 

[amytheorangutan]

That was fun! Thanks @Luxi Was that you who asked about the character Da Li? Can’t wait for the novel actually, from the little glimpses she gave us, I’m curious to see how she would develop the mother daughter relationship. 

[Luxi]

1 hour ago, amytheorangutan said:

Was that you

Yes, that was me. I spotted you too, nice meeting you!  

It was a good meeting, so much to talk about for such a short story. I'll watch for Wei Ma's future writings too,  maybe follow her in Weixin if she's publishing a serial there.

 

There'll be another group reading and meeting next  this month.

 

 

[Luxi]

March Online Meeting London  Chinese Sci Fi Group, Sunday 28/3, London: 14:00  

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"The Facecrafter" /《捏脸师》(2017) by Anna Wu / 吴霜, translated by Emily Jin (2018)

  Video call with the author and the London Chinese Science Fiction Group
 

Sunday 28th March - London: 14:00 = Beijing 21:00
lasting about 1hr30 (note the BST clock change)

To join: email with "Count me in for LCSFG's next meeting!" and we'll send you a video call link and password a day before the session. 

More about this month's story  : 

London Chinese Science Fiction Group (londonchinesesf.com)

The English translation is online  but to read the original you have to email the organisers for a pdf courtesy of the author. The Chinese pdf is 26 pages long.

Link for the translation:

The Facecrafter by Anna Wu : Clarkesworld Magazine - Science Fiction & Fantasy  

 

I haven't read it yet, but the excerpt moved me to tears. Looks like a beautiful story. 

 

[Luxi]

On 3/24/2021 at 10:30 AM, Luxi said:

I haven't read it yet

 

Now I have, it's not an easy read. It required much use of dictionaries and encyclopaedias, and that's just the English. (I read it first in Chinese and was left wondering. Then I read the translation to see what had I missed, but the translation and my electronics-aided reading of the Chinese were very close.) It'll be great to have the author explain it on Sunday.

 

World-creation is brilliant, has some beautiful descriptions, nice explanations, unexpected characters (in more than one sense) and raises some interesting questions. I look forward to the Zoom event.

[Tomsima]

I'll be there too - I read the Chinese first, then the English. I found it quite a straightforward read personally, but then I did trudge through an entire book of strange scifi terminology with Waste Tide, so perhaps my tolerance is a bit higher. I thought the story was underdeveloped, and wonder why it was limited to such a short length. Perhaps the author will explain the decision tomorrow.

[Luxi]

1 hour ago, Tomsima said:

I'll be there too

 

Good! Don't forget to move the clock the right way for BST. Oh yes, Waste Tide, I read it entirely in translation, bad karma. This story at least was much shorter and deviates into mythology. 

 

1 hour ago, Tomsima said:

I thought the story was underdeveloped,

 

Yes, definitely. 

 

Spoiler

I'm puzzled at the lack of any action. There's a great introduction brimming with bright ideas, then a long explanation, and then this show (made me think of a Spring Festival gala), and the gods are appeased and all is forgiven and resolved, humankind saved, how? Just by restructuring the seedlings' DNA? We may find out tomorrow.

 

[Tomsima]

Exactly my thoughts too - I'm trying to reserve judgement until tomorrow, but it definitely had lots of build up with too many loose ends left untied for my liking personally. We shall see!

[Luxi]

Nice seeing you Tom, thanks for your interesting questions, and what a good meeting that was! I really liked 无霜/Anna Wu.

 

For anyone else who reads the story and wonders, this page has a nice explanation of the 《1000 子文》and the full text with translation and notes.

Chinese Classics: The 1000 Character Classic for calligraphy practise (chinasage.info)

 

[Tomsima]

I thought Anna seemed really lovely, down to earth and willing to talk about some more off the wall ideas without fear! I felt like a bit more time could have been given for the q&a, esp considering we had presumably all read the book before coming and didn't need the synopsis etc. Friendly chair and co-chair, just wish more had switched their cameras on, feel like it must have been quite difficult for the author to talk to a blank screen!

[Luxi]

Yes, a very pleasant meeting with a very cool author. I just bought 双生 (the anthology where this story was published) from Douban.

 

15 hours ago, Tomsima said:

willing to talk about some more off the wall ideas without fear

 

Wasn't that a surprise! Straight away into Joseph Campbell territory. I too wanted more time, there was so much to ask, and the questions were so good. Another 30 minutes would have been welcome - I wanted to hear more about her views on Confucianism. The organisers seem very nice and friendly and their choice of stories is quite intriguing, I've only been to 3 meetings and all were about very interesting stories from young, highly imaginative and creative authors.

 

15 hours ago, Tomsima said:

just wish more had switched their cameras on

 

Sorry! I'm such a Zoom noob I couldn't even find the controls on this PC. Besides I don't know the etiquette. The audiences were all blacked out in the previous 2 meetings, I assumed it was the organisers' choice. Good for you! 

[Luxi]

LCSFG Upcoming  Zoom Session:

Sunday 2nd May - London: 14:00 = Beijing 21:00

Guest: Han Song (韩松)

https://mailchi.mp/a961622b894a/lcsfgapr21

 

Story of the Month is 《我的祖国不做梦》("My Country Does Not Dream" translated by Nathaniel Isaacson). It looks like another good choice by the Chinese Sci Fi Group, rich in content and quite dark too.

 

The story in Chinese is here, only 22 pages and seems fairly easy to read.
 

The English translation is here: Exploring Dark Short Fiction #5 - A Primer to Han Song
https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/exploring-dark-short-fiction-5
[not free but cheaper than a cup of coffee, and supports authors, translators, publishers] [Also in Amazon for same price]

 

If interested: send email to LCSFG with "Count me in for LCSFG's next meeting!" and the organisers will send you a video call link and password a day before the session.

London Chinese Science Fiction Group (londonchinesesf.com)

 

[Luxi]

On 4/25/2021 at 11:20 AM, Luxi said:

It looks like another good choice

 

It is a good choice! Really easy to read, very interesting (for some of us, anyway) political/social content, and offering much to talk about. 韩松 is now firm on my list of authors to follow. 

 

There's a French translation available here

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Ma Patrie ne rêve pas
Une nouvelle politiquement incorrecte de Han Song 韩松