(no subject)

The Australian speculative fiction carnival is on again in a few days. If you have come across any interesting , insightful or funny posts on the subject, please send the URL for them to philologa (at) gmail (dot)com. Philologa is fictional (have to keep saying that cos people keep thinking it is me) but the email address is the holding one for carnival stuff, so if you send material there *any* month, it will reach the right people.

I will do a less-dull post later, promise. It was just important to get this reminder out.

(no subject)

"Matilda at the Speed of Light" is sitting on my desk, saying "re-read me."

Finding it on my bookshelf and thinking of the huge bag of books Donna borrowed for her Australian speculative fiction overview, made me wonder. Do some readers and writers live in a sort of perpetual present? Do others stop now and again to search out contexts and think back to earlier publications? It makes sense that I enjoy looking at patterns and trends: it is, after all, what I am trained to do. (did I say that with enough pretension?) Even when I read something for the first time, there is an element of analysis. And it would make no sense at all if I analysed contexts for books written in other places, other times, but didn't even touch those same ideas for my own place and time. So I do. It is what the French call a professional deformity. But what about everyone else?

And, on a less philosophical note, if we were making a list of the best works of Australian speculative fiction written before 1990, what would *have* to go on it? Which authors could not possibly be left off? I am going to start the author list with Damien Broderick. That is because - coming full circle - "Matilda at the Speed of Light" is sitting on my desk.