ALERT!! OFF WORLD, THE WORDSPACE SCIENCE FICTION READING GROUP, TO BEHAVE LIKE ACTUAL BOOK CLUB

Over the past year Off World meetings have talked science fiction in general, the authors Off World Mystery GuestsNeal Stephenson  and Philip K. Dick (in general), and sponsored book signings and panel discussions. But on May 8 we will meet to discuss The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Philip K. Dick. There is still plenty of time to read this 240 page novel, although if you have read it in the past or just want to absorb some good PKD weirdness, please join us at 7:00 pm at the WordSpace World Headquarters, 415 North Tyler Street, Dallas 75208.

Find out more about this and other WordSpace events at our website.

For a more on The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch and a clue to why this blog post is illustrated with a picture of Barbie and Ken, read a review of the book on Potato Weather.

YOU CAN COME HOME AGAIN

If you look at the picture to the right and think, “Hey, that’s Octavio Solis!” you may be

Octavio Solis, circa 1990

Octavio Solis, circa 1990

showing youour age.

I think the website I found that image on was from 1995, and even by then  Octavio had left Dallas for San Francisco several years in the past, lured there by the prospect of working with the Magic Theater.

Here in Dallas, in the late 1980’s, Octavio produced several plays in local clubs and for Teatro Dallas. A native of El Paso, he was a graduate of the theater program at Trinity University in San Antonio. His stay in Dallas was in fact fairly brief, but he had a definite impact on the local theater scene. And after his relocation to San Francisco in 1990, he continued to return for the occasional production at Undermain Theater and The Dallas Theater Center, as well as visits to theaters in San Antonio and Austin.

On May 24, Kitchen Dog Theater opens Se Llama Cristina, Solis’ newest play, previously produced only this past January at the Magic Theater in San Francisco.  WordSpace is delighted to present an evening with the playwright on April 17 at the McKinney Avenue Octavio nowContemporary.

The evening will provide old fans and a new audience with a chance to get to know one of the finest playwrights in the the country. The evening begins at 7:30, with tickets at $15 or $10 for WordSpace or MAC members. You can preorder tickets here

Prekindle

or take your chances at the door.

 

FIND YOUR PLACE ON THE NERDOMETER

Here’s a joke that only makes sense if you read a lot of science fiction:

Cruel attempt to deprogram young SF fan

Cruel attempt to deprogram young SF fan

Q: What’s the Golden Age of Science Fiction?

A: 12

Get it? You see the Golden Age of SF is really considered the 1940’s, when the pulp magazines began their rule. But let’s face it. We all started reading it when we were around 12. (I am generalizing here.) And we were hooked, maybe for only the next few years or maybe a lifetime.

While Dallas celebrates the Big Read with a citywide reading of Ray Bradbury’s classic

A healthy and perfectly normal SF reader

A healthy and perfectly normal SF reader

Fahrenheit 451, WordSpace and Half Price Books join in the festivities with the panel discussion Growing Up With Science Fiction, April 9 at 7:00 pm in the public room of Half Price Books, 5803 E. Northwest Hwy.

We are bringing together a diverse group of area writers and readers to delve into what science fiction did, or did not, mean to them while growing up.

And our panelists are:

Ben Fountain — novelist and recent recipient of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Billy Lynn’s Long Half Time Walk. (Ben claims to have read one SF novel as a child and to have never found one he liked since.)

Ken Ruffin — Ken is the president of the National Space Society of North Texas, an organization you should all know about and support. I don’t know for sure, but I suspect he trounces all over Ben’s lifetime SF reading stats.

Jerome Weeks — book critic and KERA commentator. He’s read his fair share of SF and has definite opinions. He is, after all, a book critic.

The panel moderator is Charles Dee Mitchell — freelance writer, curator, chair

Why my parents did not encourage my SF reading

Why my parents did not encourage my SF reading

of programming for WordSpace and yes the author of this blog posting. I abandoned science fiction in high school but confess to have returned to the fold in my own golden age.

The evening will be fun, free, and with lots of time for audience participation.

There are many Big Read activities  during the month of April you will want to check out. My favorite, other than this panel, is The Science of Fire at the new Perot Museum on April 13. For more information about all the events, visit the Big Read Dallas website.

For more information on WordSpace programming visit our website.

Hope to see you on April 9. You need not speak Klingon to attend.