LonCon3: Critical Diversity: Beyond Russ and Delany

Andrew M. Butler, Liz Bourke, Fabio Fernandes, Erin Horakova, Aishwarya Subramanian

The popular history of SF criticism might just be, if possible, even more straight, white and male than the popular history of SF – but things are changing. Online and in journals, diverse voices are starting to reach a critical (if you’ll excuse the pun) mass. Which publishers and venues are most welcoming to critics from marginalised groups? What are the strengths and weaknesses of academic and popular discourse, in this area? And most importantly, whose reviews and essays are essential reading?

This sort of moved from a discussion about sf criticism to a discussion about science fiction and fantasy itself and how diverse it was and how it could grow. What stuck with me the most was Fabio Fernandes’ experiences of the SFF world in South America and how little of it English language fandom knows of it or is exposed to. And when it is, it’s always magical realism when cyberpunk is huge in Brazil…