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Notes behind the cut. People are attributed by initials; aud -> indicates an audience comment or question. As always, transcribed fast and edited only vaguely, misattributions and errors are my own. Assume everything outside of quote marks is a paraphrase. (?) indicates something that I missed.
Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy
Panelists: Peter Halasz, Robert J. Sawyer, Alison Baird (mod)
[Jo Walton and John Robert Colombo were scheduled but didn't make it. It was supper time.]
Description: The only Canadian writers read by significant numbers of people are published in the US, so is there any such thing as Canadian SFF? The British "New Wave" changed American SF forever, but is Canadian SF sufficiently distinctive and coherent to have a comparable impact? Why does the Canadian government give grants to writers nobody wants to read, while genre fiction writers starve to death?
PH - defines Canadian SF/F as SF/F written by Canadians
AB - Can publishing scene biased by literary focus
RJS - used to be hard to find pub/ed willing to take chance on Canadian
- US SF has happy endings; Can SF has sad; Brit SF has none (this was a quote of someone else?)
AB - was told not to set things in Canada
RJS - Tanya Huff and Terry Greene
- setting hasn't bothered his editors but being Canadian may make writers think it does (?)
- laws/legal process different -> mystery/procedural doesn't fly
PH - so what is the difference?
RJS - socialism, guns, melting pot vs mosaic
- most of his 1 star Amazon reviews are about the politics
PH - Can voice is "in opposition to" US/Brit
- isn't it more like Australia? post-colonial, but Aus is not attached to (former) super-power
RJS - New Zealanders sounded Can, being in shadow of Aus as power and politics
PH - post-colonial, struggling with influx of immigrants (?)
RJS - anecdote about 1st book, chara with terminal disease, pub wanted to change ending (make it happy)
AB - anti-whaling novel
RJS - Shadows of Ashland example
PH - but in UK that would be ok
aud -> Agnes Cadieux - mentoring is saying don't bother with genre
RJS - EDGE advance is $500 vs TOR's $5k
AB - exception is YA, good advances for genre
PH - post-Harry Potter
AB - no, from Penguin in mid-90s
- focus is still on literary, re Giller
PH - same thing happens in US, think of scale, we have 10% of population
- Gibson pub'd by Penguin
RJS - sensibility -> Gibson is libertarian, nothing Can about his fic or voice
- (his books) Neanderthals like Can, Homo-sapiens like US
aud -> should be supporting Can voice?
RJS - yes, also because Can publishers subsidized by Can taxpayers
Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy
Panelists: Peter Halasz, Robert J. Sawyer, Alison Baird (mod)
[Jo Walton and John Robert Colombo were scheduled but didn't make it. It was supper time.]
Description: The only Canadian writers read by significant numbers of people are published in the US, so is there any such thing as Canadian SFF? The British "New Wave" changed American SF forever, but is Canadian SF sufficiently distinctive and coherent to have a comparable impact? Why does the Canadian government give grants to writers nobody wants to read, while genre fiction writers starve to death?
PH - defines Canadian SF/F as SF/F written by Canadians
AB - Can publishing scene biased by literary focus
RJS - used to be hard to find pub/ed willing to take chance on Canadian
- US SF has happy endings; Can SF has sad; Brit SF has none (this was a quote of someone else?)
AB - was told not to set things in Canada
RJS - Tanya Huff and Terry Greene
- setting hasn't bothered his editors but being Canadian may make writers think it does (?)
- laws/legal process different -> mystery/procedural doesn't fly
PH - so what is the difference?
RJS - socialism, guns, melting pot vs mosaic
- most of his 1 star Amazon reviews are about the politics
PH - Can voice is "in opposition to" US/Brit
- isn't it more like Australia? post-colonial, but Aus is not attached to (former) super-power
RJS - New Zealanders sounded Can, being in shadow of Aus as power and politics
PH - post-colonial, struggling with influx of immigrants (?)
RJS - anecdote about 1st book, chara with terminal disease, pub wanted to change ending (make it happy)
AB - anti-whaling novel
RJS - Shadows of Ashland example
PH - but in UK that would be ok
aud -> Agnes Cadieux - mentoring is saying don't bother with genre
RJS - EDGE advance is $500 vs TOR's $5k
AB - exception is YA, good advances for genre
PH - post-Harry Potter
AB - no, from Penguin in mid-90s
- focus is still on literary, re Giller
PH - same thing happens in US, think of scale, we have 10% of population
- Gibson pub'd by Penguin
RJS - sensibility -> Gibson is libertarian, nothing Can about his fic or voice
- (his books) Neanderthals like Can, Homo-sapiens like US
aud -> should be supporting Can voice?
RJS - yes, also because Can publishers subsidized by Can taxpayers
