I posted the original about the blank page and the muse last year, but reposting it because there’s a brilliant follow-up and they’re best seen together.

It hurts because it’s true.

I’d like to add: Those who cannot imagine the future are doomed to fuck it up.

Here’s info on the talk I’m giving at Webstock at 4pm on Thursday the 16th.

KINKING REALITY
Fantastical storytelling is at its most potent when it’s anchored to reality. Lauren Beukes talks about why she writes strange and twisty fiction from novels to comics to TV shows and the occasional ARG, and how storytelling that re-imagines where we are has the ability to tell us more about who we are. Short Q&A to follow.

And here’s my schedule at the Perth Writer’s Festival

Strength In Adversity Romeo Tent, Perth Writers Festival Precinct 9:30am – 10:30am 24 Feb 2012
Sometimes, it is only when faced with real challenges that true strength of character emerges and what is precious becomes starkly evident. Lauren Beukes, Nigel Brennan and William McInnes speak to Angelo Loukakis.

It’s All Speculation Juliet Tent, Perth Writers Festival Precinct 5:00pm – 6:00pm 24 Feb 2012
Sci-fi, fantasy, horror, supernatural fiction, apocalyptic fiction, spec-fic has captured our imaginations. Why do all of these invented worlds and conjured people permeate our lives? Lara Morgan, Carole Wilkinson, Lauren Beukes.

It Just Feels Real Arts Lecture Room 6 2:00pm – 5:00pm 25 Feb 2012
Workshop: How do you make an invented world seem real? Lauren Beukes shows you how to extract from life, through observation, interviews, research and history to find the real, surprising details that anchor even the most fantastic fiction: making the incredible – credible.

Thrill Me, Kill Me Winthrop Hall 9:30am – 10:30am 25 Feb 2012
Crime fiction examines the deepest and darkest corners of the human psyche. Three writers – Michael Robotham, Jo Nesbø and Lauren Beukes – with very different approaches to clinching the spinechiller, discuss why we are addicted to this genre of terror with Jennifer Byrne.

If you’re in the neighbourhood and want to hang out* / do an interview / get me to visit a school, email me on lauren at laurenbeukes dot com.

(*Stalkers will be fed to the sharks. Apparently, they tame them as nuclear submarine sniffers in the Antipodes)

In The Writer & Critic Podcast,  Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond spend two hours talking about Karen Lord’s Redemption In Indigo and Zoo City.

Then, Amy Flatau at Jacana picked up this lovely three page article by Ronel Wasserman in a very cool publications called Free State Libraries. THIS is just one of the reasons I love librarians – did you see the thoroughness of this? With references? Awesome.

Being one of the judges has been fun and harrowing (whittling down the lists to just five finalists got bloody and shouty and, worse, we elected to eliminate two brilliant books, SL Grey’s The Mall and Sophia McDougall’s Savage City because the judges were too close to the authors).

Most of all it’s been a total overdose of reading. At one point, I was literally getting a box of books a day.  The good news is that we’re sharing the love because the books are being donated to literacy and education charities.

I dropped four boxes off at CAFDA‘s Sea Point bookstore this morning (not including the finalists, because I’m going to have to re-read those), from hardcovers to paperbacks, the new Adam Roberts to The Vampire Shrink. If you hurry, you can get your paws on the best of ‘em.

Pictured here with bookstore owner Michael

CAFDA is committed to the social and economic development of disadvantaged communities on the Cape Flats. Their ultimate goal of establishing stable family and community life through participatory empowerment projects for all inhabitants regardless of age, gender, race, culture, religion and ability.

The UK copies will be heading off to Better World Books, where they will be sold off to aid leading literacy charities like the National Literary Trust, Books for Africa and READ International. Better World Books have already donated over five million books and raised nearly seven million pounds for literacy causes.

If you’re interested in keeping up with the intrigue and drama of The Kitschies, Jared and Anne are reviewing one of the finalists every day for the next few weeks running up to the announcement on 3rd of February at the SFX Weekender. Here’s the schedule. 

And here’s more coverage on the prize from The Guardian, Damian G Walters, writing about why we must celebrate intelligent fantastic fiction on his blog and Strange Horizons on the short-lists.

And via @The_Stuart_H, a really rather charming, gory and wonderfully twisted zombie sloth love story.

Lovely news today. The documentary I directed, Glitterboys & Ganglands, about Cape Town’s biggest female impersonation beauty pageant, made the official selection for the 2012 San Diego Black Film Festival. It’s happening January 26th-29th at the Reading Cinema, Gaslamp 15, Downtown.

UPDATE: Glitterboys WON best film in the LGBT category! Huge kudos to everyone involved!

Here’s the trailer:

(Huge thanks again to everyone who helped make this documentary possible, including the organisers of Miss Gay Western Cape, the contestants who invited us into their lives, Exec producers Okuhle and the fantastic crew, DOP Nick van der Westhuizen, editor Izette Mostert, assistant editor Dene McLeod, assistant director/production manager William Patterson, Barry Donnelly, Matthys Pretorius, Joy Sapieka, and my husband and producer, Matthew Brown at Sea Monster. 

John Scalzi has a great guest space for writers, artists and to mention their eligible works over at his Whatever blog.

But I thought I’d do one for South African writers and artists whose work I admire.

If I haven’t mentioned your eligible work here, please add in the comments. (Please check the websites of the various awards first to make sure that it IS eligible. The rules are finicky).

And if you’d like to vote for the awards?

Join ChiCon to vote for Hugos ($50 for a supporting membership buys you not just the opportunity to vote, but also electronic editions of practically every work on the ballot that year, best novels, short stories, comics, artwork, everything. It’s like an Oscars voters pack of goodness).

You could also join Science Fiction Writers of America (pro organisation, you need to qualify) and the British Science Fiction Association (great perks for those in the UK).

My eligible work:

My novel, Zoo City, is eligible for The Hugo and The Nebula.

2011 Short stories (eligible for everything)
Ghost Girl, published in Fantasy Magazine (free to read)

Unathi Battles The Black Hairballs in SFX (free to read)

Unaccounted in the Further Conflicts anthology edited by Ian Whates, NewCon Press (Buy on Amazon)

Chislehurst Messiah in Pandemonium: Stories of the Apocalypse published by Jurassic London (Buy ebook or request review copy for nominations purposes)

Now on to the important stuff, eligible work I’ve loved this year by other South Africans:

NOVELS:

The Mall by SL Grey (aka Sarah Lotz and Louis Greenberg), published by Corvus. A chilling consumer horror with a sly social edge. Great review in The Independent here.  Published in the UK by Corvus, 2011.

Deadlands by Lily Herne (aka Sarah Lotz and her 19 year old daughter, Savannah). Published in South Africa by Penguin, 2011. (Hugo and BFS, I *think* but not Nebula or BSFA)

SHORT STORIES:

OMG GTFO by S.L. Grey  - The social media apocalypse unfolds in a hilariously disturbing tale.

The Immaculate Particle by Charlie Human  - Dissolving cities and nasty cults and compromise.

Postapocalypse by Sam Wilson - Typically weird and genius Sam-ish mind-bendy stuff about perception warping reality.

These were all in Pandemonium: Stories of the Apocalypse, published by Jurassic London. These are all eligible for the Hugo and the BSFA Awards.

It got a great review in AfricaScreams.

You can buy the e-book for a mere $2.99, packed with brilliant stories, including work by Sophia McDougall and Jon Courtenay Grimwood as well as SA stars SL Grey, Sam Wilson and Charlie Human.

But editors Anne and Jared have also generously offered free review copies to awards voters. Here’s the info on that.

(And although they’re not South African, they’ve been huge supporters of SA spec fic and just fantastic people all round, so if you wanted to, you could also nominate them for best fan writers and related work for the Hugos)

MAGAZINES:

Something Wicked is South Africa’s best (only) speculative, science fiction and horror magazine. It’s a paying market and mixes up hot local talent (Diane Awerbuck, Sarah Lotz, Sam Wilson, artists Vincent Sammy and Jesca Marisa) with stories from the likes of John Connolly.

They’ve got a list of their eligible works up over at http://www.somethingwicked.co.za/, including best editors – and trust me, Joe and Vianne work hard.

Their eligible short stories from South Africans are:

The Silver City & The Green Place by Abi Godsell

And the novella Scission by Domenico Pissanti

Eligible for best fan-art:

Vincent Sammy

Pierre Smit
Jesca Marisa
Hendrik Gericke

(While you’re there, you could get the latest issue featuring an interview with Sam Wilson and Charlie Human talking about their books which have both just been snatched up by major international agents.)

And of course, Something Wicked is eligible for best semiprozine for the Hugos too.

Hmmm, I also reckon There Are No Heroes, the short film made by Donald Leitch and Kyle Stevenson based on Charlie Human’s short story, might just qualify too, although the guys might have to put the whole film up on YouTube or similar so that voters can see it.

That’s all I got off the top of my head. If you know of other eligible works or would like to punt your own (please, please check the rules on the various awards sites first to make sure that it IS eligible) or just talk about SA genre fiction in general, please do in the comments.