New year a time to consider literature of ideas
There’s a term in the science fiction community that for many of us could describe the bulk of 2020: “cozy catastrophe.”
Coined by author Brian Aldiss in the 1970s, it originally described a type of post-apocalyptic novel in which some sort of huge disaster wipes out the bulk of humanity, leaving largely unaffected protagonists free to pursue interests such as rebuilding society for better orworse, or just wandering around reflecting on hownice or stupid things used to be.
As a fan of sci-fi, I have to admit they’re fun novels to read, and as a youngster I had daydreams in which I thrived in such scenarios. Toward the beginning of Stephen King’s “The Stand,” one of the few survivors of aworldwide pandemic is found fishing in a bucolic landscape, sipping on cans of beer he keeps cool in the rushingwater of a stream bed. I wanted to be that guy.
Of course, adult life quickly disabused me of any such notions. My fate is directly tied to that of the grocery store and utility companies. When I gotword last spring of stay-at-home advisories and otherwarning signs of the impending pandemic, the grocery storewasmy main priority, stockpiling enough provisions to get through theweeks ahead.
Thoseweeks turned into months, and included a bout with the novel coronavirus (worst novel ever) in April. The pandemic has stolen so much fromso many people, most importantly all the lives that have been ended due to the virus. But there also have been elements of this ongoing catastrophe that for many of us have been, well, kind of cozy. My home and yard are comfortable places to be, and there’s been some extra time for engaging with good books.
A group of area science fiction fans can relate, and thanks to their efforts Chicago will have a direct role in helping decide which good books are the best. Amid all the upheaval over the summer, word arrived July 30 that voters fromall over theworld had chosen the Chicago bid to host the 2022 Worldcon, whereHugo Awards are handed out to the sci-fi books, stories, programs and related media deemed to be the best of the previous year.
The annual gathering of theWorld Science Fiction Society first took place in 1939 and the first onewas held in Chicago in 1940, when 128 fans descended on theHotel Chicagoan on Madison Street. It took a break forWorldWar II and has been held continuously since 1946, including six more times in Chicago over the years.
“We’re super excited to be bringing Worldcon back to Chicago,” said HelenMontgomery, who headed up the organizing group for the local bid. “Our fingers and toes are crossed that it will actually be in person by 2022!”
LongtimeHyde Park resident Sandy Levy, a retired University of Chicago librarian who helped land the 2022 convention aswell as the effort last time itwas here in 2012, said by their very nature, events such asWorldcon bring people together.
“You are going to, in essence, a family reunion filled with friends you see
only at the cons,” she said. “There is the joy of companionship.”
The early incarnations centered on literature, “because in the ’30s and ’40s, whatwas there in addition to books?” Levy said. “As theworld of science fiction/fantasy expanded into different genres, so did the fandom and the conventions.”
“There are panels to discuss trends in storytelling, art shows, musical concerts, demonstrations of howto make things, fromknitting to making mockweapons,” she said.
While other gatherings of fans, such as Chicago’s C2E2, are run by businesses and are profitdriven enterprises (albeit still very fun, Levy said), events such as Chicago’s Worldcon, specifically
called Chicon 8, are run by volunteers and financed solely by attendees, known as members.
Chicago’s bid, which overwhelmingly won over a bid from Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, was awarded at the virtual 2020Worldcon, which had been slated to be inWellington, New Zealand. The 2021 event had previously been awarded toWashington, D.C. There’s noword as of yet if the 2021 event will be an in-person gathering.
The pandemic permeates all things these days, and even events rooted firmly in the imagination are not immune. But being immersed in a style of literature that offers ideas and different perspectives is a plus when it comes to dealing with the mundane and often depressing details of life in the time of the novel coronavirus.
Levy agreed, noting it’s not just escapist burrowing into literature that tends to focus on the future.
“It’s more than that,” she said. “Science fiction and fantasy can be in the future, in the past, the present or along alternative timelines or in alternative galaxies. It gives us the chance to consider things in differentways. Right now, isn’t that what’s needed, to think and do things differently? Canwe make things better?”
Part of the job of the Chicon 8 memberswill be to help bestowHugo Awards on the best stories that will be coming out in the year ahead. And as what’s been, if nothing else, a memorable 2020 closes out with hope for a better 2021, Levy, who’s been a member of every Worldcon since 2003 except one in Japan, is keeping her sights squarely on better days ahead.
“Iwould like to try a different thought experiment,” she said. “Rather than just focusing on the best of 2020, “What has given the most hope for the future? What ideas will improve our lives, our cultures, ourworlds?”
In aworld that remains amid catastrophe, cozy or not, those areworthwhile questions to consider.