October is Science Fiction Month in Bristol

You should all know about BristolCon by now, but that’s only a small part of the SF-related action that is taking place in Bristol this month.

First up, this coming weekend, we have Bristol’s Fun Palaces event. This is a national project co-directed by Stella Duffy that aims to create a “laboratory of fun” in every town. The Bristol Fun Palace will be science fiction themed. Jo and the crew from BristolCon have been busily helping with the organization. Details of the Sunday events that they are involved with are available on the Bristolcon wesbite. On the Watershed website you can also find details of what is happening on Saturday. Assuming that I’m not totally exhausted after Cheltenham, I hope to be at some of the Sunday events.

If you clicked through to that Watershed link you will see that the place has been renamed Mothershed for the month. That, as you might guess, is because it is also home to an Afrofuturism season, curated by Edson Burton. That kicks off tomorrow with a film about Sun Ra. Apparently there will also be a short introduction beforehand that will feature a Skype appearance by Ytasha Womack. And afterwards the Mothershed will enter party mode courtesy of my colleagues at Ujima Radio. I’ll have Edson on my show next week to talk about some of the other events he has lined up, and about Afrofuturism in general.

I am so proud of Bristol.

Update: And there’s more! On Sunday October 12th, 1:00pm to 4:00pm, the M-Shed is hosting Supercomics Sunday, organized by the Bristol Festival of Literature. The guests are Laura Howell (Beano, Toxic), Tom Plant (Beano), Cavan Scott (Beano, Doctor Who), Rob Williams (2000 AD, Doctor Who, Marvel Comics), Huw Powell (Spacejackers). There will be a pirate workshop, and it is free to attend. Awesome! Details here.