Following a link
I followed this link about race in fantasy to an amazing essay by Pam Noles. She writes about growing up reading books that had no one like her in them.
While reading this essay I started thinking about WisCon and its influence on my reading of SF & F. This year WisCon is celebrating it's 30th year. I did not attend the first one however I was there for the second one and then every year until we hit the road.
WisCon is known as a SerCon (serious). There focus was on women in Science Fiction and Fantasy. They brought in authors who wrote speculative fiction that wrote about the future in new ways instead of replicating the elite white male world. I learned to look for what was missing in the fiction I was reading. I started to look for fiction that had strong female characters, I looked for fiction that reflected the multicultural world that is developing. I became very dissatisfied with stories that only told the male white viewpoint. The one where women and people of color don't exist except in a supporting role or as a villain.
There was something about the essay that made me think of what I have learned from Wiscon. Following the links at the end of the story I read about the The Carl Brandon Society Awards for works of speculative fiction that deals with issues of race and ethnicity, and one for fiction created by a person of color. The Carl Brandon Society started at Wiscon and the awards will be made this year at WisCon 30.
While reading this essay I started thinking about WisCon and its influence on my reading of SF & F. This year WisCon is celebrating it's 30th year. I did not attend the first one however I was there for the second one and then every year until we hit the road.
WisCon is known as a SerCon (serious). There focus was on women in Science Fiction and Fantasy. They brought in authors who wrote speculative fiction that wrote about the future in new ways instead of replicating the elite white male world. I learned to look for what was missing in the fiction I was reading. I started to look for fiction that had strong female characters, I looked for fiction that reflected the multicultural world that is developing. I became very dissatisfied with stories that only told the male white viewpoint. The one where women and people of color don't exist except in a supporting role or as a villain.
There was something about the essay that made me think of what I have learned from Wiscon. Following the links at the end of the story I read about the The Carl Brandon Society Awards for works of speculative fiction that deals with issues of race and ethnicity, and one for fiction created by a person of color. The Carl Brandon Society started at Wiscon and the awards will be made this year at WisCon 30.