Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation & Fantasy

Glenn Grant at the Merril Collection

SF author, editor, and illustrator Glenn Grant will read from his upcoming short story collection Burning Days and talk about the writing and editing process.  The event will take place on Friday, April 8 at the Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation and Fantasy, 239 College Street, in the 3rd floor reading room. It starts at 7:00 p.m. and continues until people run out of questions.
 
Glenn Grant's fiction has appeared in Year’s Best SF 10, Interzone, Northern Stars, ArrowDreams, Island Dreams, and in the Quebeçois sf magazine Solaris.  In collaboration with Tor senior editor David G. Hartwell, he has edited Northern Stars: The Anthology of Canadian Science Fiction and a second volume, Northern Suns.  He has written the science fiction book review column for The Montreal Gazette, and also reviewed for such periodicals as Science Fiction Eye, The New York Review of Science Fiction, Science Fiction Studies, and bOING bOING.

The book is too new for me to provide a link, but copies will be available at Ad Astra, the local science fiction convention which will be taking place on the same weekend. It looks like being an interesting evening.

New to us

Hi. This is the first post to the Merril Collection blog. The contributors to the Merril Collection blog will be the five librarians who work at the Merril Collection. We'll post information about forthcoming events at the Merril Collection, recommend books, provide links to other sf-related sites, and write about anything else that seems likely to interest the sf community.

The Merril Collection and the Friends of the Merril Collection sponsor events throughout the year, where people of interest to the sf community, often writers, read from their forthcoming fiction, talk to their fans and pass on news about forthcoming projects. You can always check the Merril Collection Facebook page for additional information about events.

Next week, on November 10 at 7:00 in the Merril Collection reading room, the Merril Collection will host 4 readings sponsored by the Toronto Public Library and the Sturgeon Literary Trust, celebrating the publication of the 13th and final volume of the complete works of Theodore Sturgeon, Case and the Dreamer. Robert Charles Wilson, Nalo Hopkinson, Lesley Livingston, and Michaelle Sagara will read from some of Sturgeon's short fiction and Noel Sturgeon will talk about her father and his writing career.

The following week on November 18, at 7:00 p.m. in the Merril Collection reading room, sf writer Michael Swanwick will read from his fiction and talk about his writing career. 

Fiction

Cryoburn was worth the long wait for another novel by Lois McMaster Bujold. Imperial Auditor Miles Vorkosigan begins an off-world investigation by getting lost in a necropolis, then hiding out with a street kid, while investigating the political and financial ramifications of a culture where people want to live forever. Great fun.

Non-Fiction

Arts Unknown: the life and art of Lee Brown Coye by Luis Ortiz. Coye is best known in the sf community for the work he did illustrating Arkham House's fiction, although he also painted a lot of Americana. Ortiz' biography reproduces many of Coye's most striking pieces.

Associated Interest

People who have read Sean Russell's fantasies, beginning with The Initiate Brother might be interested to learn that he also writes historical fiction as S.T. Russell. A Battle Won is the 2nd in a series about an English naval officer during the Napoleonic War, continuing the story started in Under Enemy Colors. Russell's writing shows a good understanding of this period, his characters are interesting and the adventures convincing.

Lorna Toolis, Collection Head