Life imitates art in unexpected ways, especially when it comes to dystopias. From the realms of science fiction to the harsh realities of today, we witness the convergence of fiction and fact: robots and AI, surveillance states, global wars, government oppression, natural disasters and mass poverty.
The Liverpool University Special Collections and Archives: Science Fiction Hub is Europe’s largest catalogued collection of science fiction material with over 35,000 books, 2,500 critical works and 2,500 periodical titles.
On Monday 13th May WoW partners with Liverpool University to explore dystopian literature, taking you on a journey through the evolution of dystopian literature and how authors and artists eerily predicted our present and future.
Enter the archives and explore dystopian literature spanning from the 1800s to the contemporary era. Engage with hands-on presentations featuring rare materials, gaining insights into the evolution of dystopia and our collective imagination.
Afterward, craft your own dystopian narrative in a workshop with a seasoned science fiction writer. How do you think the world will end?
Biographies:
Tom Dillon is the Science Fiction Collections Curator at the University of Liverpool, where he cares for a wide array of science fiction materials and aids researchers in accessing the collections. Tom’s academic research focuses on the material contexts of science fiction magazines and completed a thesis on New Worlds magazine at Birkbeck, University of London. Tom is a member of the queer science fiction research collective Beyond Gender and a former co-director of the London Science Fiction Research Community.
Monday 13th May 2024
Various between 10am and 5pm
£5
Special Collections and Archives: Science Fiction Hub, Sydney Jones Library, L7 7BD
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