Back from Hollins, Off to Glasgow
Glasgow, Hollins, Children's Books, and of course the inevitable Footnotes
OH MY LORD as Eloise would say THERE IS SO MUCH TO DO
WE ARE BACK FROM TEACHING 6 WONDERFUL WEEKS AT HOLLINS AND NOW WE ARE PACKING TO LEAVE FOR GLASGOW IN 5 DAYS
“Glasgow” here is short for The 82nd World Science Fiction Convention (“WorldCon”), also known as a giant family reunion, a chance to meet other writers who then become part of the global family, a chance to connect with readers, and, of course, a chance to show off by appearing on Panels and delighting everyone with one’s wit, insights and ability not to pop P’s when using the microphone.
I’ve been placed on 4 panels (plus an Autographing, a Reading, & a Table Talk - I’ll put my schedule at the bottom of this). The moderators for each panel have begun sending out the loveliest emails to participants, asking about our preferences & experiences. Here’s my reply to the one about doing How Children’s Literature Shaped Fantasy Fiction.1 (I confess I let it go on at some length because I suddenly thought: Hey! A twofer! I can use this in my substack!)
First question was: “What would you like to discuss?”
As a panelist, I glory in winging it with the intellectual stimulation of a panel taking off in any direction people choose.
To the question, “What children’s books influenced you?” one person said, “I think the 'Choose your own adventure' books …inspired me to write as well because they made me consider the various what ifs and think about which ending was the most satisfying and why” — so of course I had to respond:
I wrote 5 Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books to pay the rent while wrestling with my first novel, Swordspoint - which was published in 1987 as an adult book, but has been massively popular with teens over the years. There’s something to unpick!
As a reader-turned-writer? I’ve stuck around long enough to become older than many here, which is both sobering and exhilarating: I Bear Witness to an Ancient Time. It is the time that Fantasy as a Genre was invented, actually. Before LOTR had become a massive enough hit to engender an entire commercial genre of fantasy novels for Not Children, virtually all contemporary fantasy was published as Children’s Books. I read them obsessively, to my mother’s despair: What was a 17-year-old still doing making a beeline for the Kids’ Books in the Library? She got her answer when I got a plum job in NYC right out of uni as the Editorial Assistant at Ace Science Fiction, whose new Hard- and Military-SF editor simply turned that Icky Fantasy Stuff over to me. I bought up John Bellairs, Diana Wynne Jones, and others. . . and then watched as everything changed over the next few years. I will be happy to accost anyone on their way to a wedding on a windy beach who wants to hear more about this; but meanwhile, I can certainly talk about the great children’s fantasists, mainly of the British Post-war, who influenced many of us.
How’s Your Summer So Far?
I wish I had the time now for a leisurely report about the fine semester I had teaching writing at Hollins this year in the Master of Fine Arts in Children’s Literature program for 6 weeks, mid-June to late July! One of my writing students actually gave me a list of my Greatest Hits - that is, little Bits of Writing Wisdom I chanced to dispense that she found particularly useful. I never remember anything I say once I’ve said it, so this time I wrote them down, and will devote a future Substack to them.
Meanwhile, here is a photo of me with my Spirit Animal,2 Frances the Badger, on our first night at Hollins U., devoted to the ritual of placing prominent characters from children’s books all over campus for the semester.
The summer program now includes a unique Children’s Book Writing and Illustration M.F.A. Delia & I got to hang out out a lot with the Illustration instructors, including Julie Benbasset. Her latest Substack newsletter, A Hollins Summer, describes her 6 weeks there, including this painted sketch of one of the views from campus that keeps us dreaming of summers in the Blue Ridge Mountains year after year:
Julie even did this graphic of all of us:
The only non-illustrators besides Delia & me were Dhonielle and Lisa. Over the course of the semester, the illustrators all did tremendous presentations on their art processes. I took photos I haven’t posted yet, and learned a lot in general about how picture books - and artists’ brains - work.
OK, that’s it, gotta run—
Why the packing panic?
The packing panic is because, after the Glasgow convention is over, we’re going to a remote sheep farm to detox for a few days before making our way south to Devon to visit with Terri Windling and other friends on Dartmoor. From there we go to France for a writing retreat in various places,3 then I’m a GoH at a French convention, Les Aveturiales; then we go to Paris for 6 weeks, where Delia will do some final research on her novel, and I will continue mine.
Because my philosophy is: Why have jetlag twice if you don’t have to?
It does mean a lot of time is devoted to very picky packing & assorted moving parts.
And that’s a good place to stop.
Your pal,
Ellen
Ellen Kushner WorldCon Schedule, August 8-12, 2024
Here is the Convention’s description of the panel:
We often acknowledge mythology and folklore as the roots of fantasy fiction for adults, but how much do writers use the other stories we read and heard as children as source material and inspiration? After all, even the publishing industry recognises the value of children's fiction in determining what works for adults - we wouldn't have The Lord of the Rings without the success of The Hobbit. Our panel discusses how childhood favourites have influenced modern fantasy.
I do know that’s not a term that Nice People Use. Please take it as a joking reference to my identifying with anthropomorphic characters in children’s books.
Lovely singing around the fire at Hollins, some old songs from a long time ago that my mother would have recognized!
I'm looking forward to those Greatest Hits!