Aliette de Bodard writes speculative fiction: she has won three Nebula Awards, an Ignyte Award, a Locus Award and five British Science Fiction Association Awards. She is the author of the lesbian space pirates romance The Red Scholar’s Wake (Gollancz/JABberwocky Literary Agency, Inc, 2022), and of Of Charms, Ghosts and Grievances (JABberwocky Literary Agency, Inc, 2022), a fantasy of manners and murders set in an alternate 19th Century Vietnamese court. She lives in Paris.
Digital Course: Sci-Fi & Fantasy
** SOLD OUT **
If you wish to be added to our waiting list, please contact us: tynewydd@literaturewales.org
This course will be held over four online sessions on the following dates:
Tuesday 14 November, Tuesday 21 November, Tuesday 28 November & Tuesday 12 December 2023 from 7.00 – 8.30 pm
Over four online sessions, Aliette and Alastair will address the peculiar challenges and opportunities open to anyone wishing to write science fiction, fantasy or their related sub-genres. Drawing on their own experiences across a range of literary styles and formats, from short stories to novels and extended series, they’ll cover the mechanics of crafting a story, from planning and plotting, to the use of voice and viewpoint, setting and mood. They’ll address the unique challenges of worldbuilding within the literatures of the fantastic, from the use of language to evoke a time and a place to the invention of social systems and far-future technologies, and how to make those creations seem real to the reader. They’ll talk about the different stages of writing; from initial drafts to polishing, how to prepare work for submission and how to make the most of the literary marketplace, from traditional venues to the online world and self-publishing. They’ll bring invaluable experience in problem-solving: how to come up with ideas, how to work around creative blocks, how to make a good story better – and, always, how to find fun and fulfilment in your craft, wherever it takes you. The future is wide open!
Tutors

Aliette de Bodard

Alastair Reynolds
Alastair Reynolds was born in Barry in 1966. He studied astronomy at Newcastle and St Andrews universities before travelling to the Netherlands to work for the European Space Agency. He became a full-time writer in 2004, a few years after the publication of his first novel, Revelation Space (Gollancz, 2000). He has now written over 20 novels and more than 70 short stories. His stories have been adapted for the stage and screen. He has been nominated for the Arthur C Clarke and Hugo awards, and has won the British Science Fiction Association award, the Locus award, the Sidewise, Seiun and European Science Fiction awards. He returned to Wales in 2007 and now lives with his wife in the Cynon Valley. Outside of writing and science, his interests include running and music. His most recent novel is Eversion (Orion, 2022).