Photos from My Reading with Samuel R. Delany

On April 21st, I was incredibly privileged to read alongside one of my all-time favorite science fiction writers and biggest heroes, Samuel R. Delany.

The place was packed, with 85+ people crowding the newly-renovated Commons, complete with cafe and wine bar. Tons of my favorite writers were in attendance, including N.K. Jemisin, Delia Sherman, Ellen Kushner, and many members of my illustrious writer’s group, Altered Fluid – Richard Bowes, Kris Dikeman, Matt Kressel,  Mercurio D. Rivera, and… N.K. Jemisin.

I read a specially pared-down version of my Nebula-nominated novelette “We Are the Cloud,” and got tons of great feedback and love for it.

And then… I got the honor of hearing Chip Delany read, and was not disappointed. He kicked it off by reading an OUTRAGED review of his novel “Through the Valley of the Nest of Spiders” [This review was very similar to one that “We Are The Cloud” received, and just goes to show you, if you have gay people in your stuff, and they have sex, some people WILL BE OUTRAGED]. As a reader he is every bit as wise and humorous and weighty and light as he is as a writer. Seriously, if you haven’t read Dhalgren, you need to put it on your calendar, because you’re really not ready to meet your maker[s] until you’ve done so.

Here’s video of the evening here, expertly produced by Terence Taylor (though the Livestream started broadcasting early and there’s some dead air at the start – show proper starts around the 23-minute mark). See below for some pictures, taken by a bunch of different folks in attendance. PLEASE DON’T JUDGE ME for going totally overboard with posting so many shots BUT THIS EVENT WAS TOO EXCITING.

Between Sams, Ellen Kushner exhorted us to support the crowdfunding campaign for the anthology “Stories for Chip.” AND NOW I AM EXHORTING YOU TO DO LIKEWISE. From the campaign description:

Editors Nisi Shawl and Bill Campbell have gathered together an exciting array of fiction and incisive essays by over 30 acclaimed and award-winning authors, including Geoff Ryman, Nalo Hopkinson, Eileen Gunn, Nick Harkaway, andJunot Díaz, plus rising stars of astonishing power and creativity. Over three-quarters of the 150,000 words contained in this volume are original to the book. Amazingly diverse along multiple axes, Stories for Chip is a fitting tribute to Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Grand Master Samuel R. Delany, a genius who never met a boundary he didn’t challenge.