Celebrating 50 Years of the Science Fiction Foundation

To celebrate fifty years of the Science Fiction Foundation, join our eminent panellists Edward James, Roz Kaveney, Farah Mendlesohn, Andy Sawyer, and Maureen Kincaid-Speller, as they examine the pasts and futures of SF, SF criticism, SF Studies, and SF fandom.

How has the SFF transformed over the upheavals of the past half-century? How has science fiction itself transformed, in dialogue with social and technological change, and new literary and artistic movements? What is the function of SF criticism, and what dreams have SF critics harbored about what science fiction is and might be? How has SF variously dismayed, exceeded, and exploded those expectations? How has SF criticism navigated the complex gravities of academic professionalisation, and fannish scholarship as its own distinctive intellectual tradition? And what might the future hold?

Attendance

Please note, if you are a current member of the Science Fiction Foundation or the British Science Fiction Association and you would like to attend this event, you are already automatically pre-registered. You'll receive your link to attend in your ConSpire 2021 email, along with AGM information.

For everyone else: this is a public event, and all are welcome to attend! Places are limited though, so book your spot now. You may also wish to consider joining SFF and/or joining the BSFA.

About the SFF

The Science Fiction Foundation (SFF) was launched in 1971 with the founding aims of providing resources for the study of SF, fostering SF in educational contexts, providing information about SF to a wider public, and promoting a deeper and more discriminating understanding of the nature of SF.

The SFF was soon home to one of the world's most extensive SF collections, and one of the first SF scholarly journals in the world, Foundation, which both continue to flourish today.

The SFF's current patrons are Neil Gaiman, Nalo Hopkinson, and David Southwood. The SFF is a registered charity no. 1041052.