Peter Watts is Sofanauted
Originally published at tansyrr.com. You can comment here or there.
I thoroughly recommend the latest episode of the Sofanauts, and not for once just because it’s a freaking episode of the Sofanauts (missed that theme tune so much!) but because it’s a frank and at times harrowing interview with Peter Watts.
Watts, a marvellous SF writer whose short story “The Island” is up for a Hugo this year, made the internet explode a few times over the last year with the news that, upon returning to his home in Canada after a convention in the US, he was stopped by customs officials, beaten up, maced, and arrested for not getting on the ground fast enough. He tells his story, as well as the awful legal consequences and the progression of his trial, to Tony C Smith, showing a surprising amount of humour and philosophy. It really is worth a listen, if only because it highlights how fragile our assumptions about liberty and fairness really are.
It’s amazing that Watts is holding up as well as he is considering his experiences! And while he won’t be travelling to the US again any time soon, I am glad to hear he is considering coming to Aussiecon this year. As long as, you know, our customs officials behave themselves…