RECENT APPEARANCE: EDGE-LIT 2023
Thanks to the efforts of the fabulous Holly Stephens, Edge-Lit came back from the dead to celebrate all that is weird and wonderful in literature. With an abundance of guests and panels and readings, the event was a huge success and I dearly hope it continues. I was lucky enough to be invited along to run a workshop, sit on a panel, and perform a reading, all of which – I am pleased (and relieved) to say – went very well indeed.
The workshop was called ‘Something from Nothing: Turning a Blank Page into a Short Story’ and was well attended, with people openly sharing some great ideas. It was fun to put the teaching hat back on again for a while, and I hope it was useful.
For the panel, ‘The Art of the Succinct: The Benefits and Drawbacks of Short Stories and Novellas’, Lynda Rucker asked interesting questions of Ian McDonald, myself, Nina Allan, and Stephen Volk (as pictured left to right) and I’m sure we could have chatted for hours on the subject. Even in the short time allowed we managed to cover a wide range of ideas on the topic, from favourite stories to challenges and techniques to the depressing invasion of AI.
It was particularly great to catch up with Nina Allan again after a fair few years, briefly in the panel mentioned above but at greater length in the reading and Q&A that the two of us took part in afterwards (pictured). Nina read a terrific extract from her current work, and I read my story ‘In The Shadow of the Lightning Tree’ from All That’s Lost, not only because it’s a story that fits neatly in a reading time slot but because I referred to the piece a few times as part of my workshop activity, so it seemed apt.
Lynda Rucker and Stephen Volk also performed readings, this time at a nearby pub. Regrettably I only managed to hear one of them as the well-packed room was so stifling hot a few of us had to escape for fresh air and water.
Of course, the best part of any convention – as much as I love the books and talks and reading, etc – is catching up with friends, and this Edge-Lit was no exception. It was very well attended, and drinks were had (many drinks), and there was even a surreal venture into karaoke at a (sort of) nearby bar, and then afterwards in a spontaneous after-party of sorts. I’m told there’s video evidence, but you won’t ever be seeing it here…
