Cities and suburbs, real and imaginary.

Friday, May 13, 2011

With an excellent illustration from Michael Kaluta!

New INTERFICTIONS ZERO essay by Joseph M McDermott is up! Edited by Delia Sherman & Helen Pilinovsky, IF0 is a rolling online anthology of criticism of interstitial texts. This essay cites work by Maureen McHugh,Jeff VanderMeer & Charles Stross, among others. Please read, enjoy & respond!


http://www.interstitialarts.org/wordpress/?p=1091

With an amazing illustration from Michael Kaluta!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Hey J.M. It's Cesar from Quail Ridge. We spoke briefly before the event. You read your Daedalus piece when it was your turn at the podium.

I've been reading Never Knew Another, just got to bite into it as I'm whirling around, trying to get things done in this day-to-day of mine, but I've already got a couple of comments to make.

All these threads you create about identity in your stories, about memory and the narrative of the life of others as seen by an outside observer play off of the overt themes of loneliness and isolation people feel; whether it's geographical, cultural, or individual isolation. Your Daedalus shared the aspirations of the girl he was speaking to, but he also understood the solitary place it took her. He aimed to use it, didn't he? That isolation, I mean, for his own motives.

It speaks to me at several levels. Culturally, individually, there is a tense isolation in the Colombian context (as I am one such creature). Going into details here would be unnecessary, I think. It's the result of our history mostly, as well as our geography to a lesser degree. We have a maze of our own, of sorts. The walls are made out of memories remembered and memories forgotten.

In any case, I'd like to begin a conversation with you about that sometime. I've got my own blog, a tiny and neglected thing: http://bacchuslives.wordpress.com/

Maybe we could talk over comments.

Sincerely,

Cesar Gonzalez

J m mcdermott said...

Howdy Cesar! It was great meeting you in North Carolina!

I suspect that you will know the subject deeply, with your experiences, and I am pleased if my work resonates with you successfully!