A 501(c)(3) organization: It is the mission of Parsec “to promote awareness of the richness of speculative fiction as literature, art and music; further general education in the sciences and arts, support contributions–both scientific and artistic–to society and to espouse the enjoyment of speculative fiction as literature, art and music with others.”
A 501(c)(3) organization: It is the mission of Parsec “to promote awareness of the richness of speculative fiction as literature, art and music; further general education in the sciences and arts, support contributions–both scientific and artistic–to society and to espouse the enjoyment of speculative fiction as literature, art and music with others.”
Mary Soon Lee, a well-loved poet and member of Parsec, has published a book containing the entire story about King Xau as told in poems. The first fifth of the book, “Crowned,” was published in 2015 by Dark Renaissance Books.
Mary’s comment: The pandemic made me anxious to get the whole story published, and it’s now available as an ebook, from Kindle, Nook, Apple Books, Kobo, and Google Play. I’m donating any money I get from 2020 sales to charity (Doctors Without Borders, The Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, and The Trevor Project).
Her webpage for the book – The Sign of the Dragon – includes a recording of her reading the opening poem. [Note: This is definitely worth listening to, as Mary is very good at reading her poems.]
The plot summary is as follows:
As the fourth-born prince of Meqing, Xau was never supposed to be king. But when his three older brothers are all deemed unfit to rule and eaten by a dragon, as is the custom, Xau suddenly finds himself on the Meqinese throne. The early years of his reign are marred by brutal earthquakes and floods, and the long-simmering tension with the neighboring country of Innis finally erupts into war. Worst of all, demons rise out of legend to walk the realm again, leaving death and destruction in their wake. In a desperate gamble, Xau must broker an uneasy peace with his former enemies and hope their combined strength is enough to vanquish the demons before it’s too late.
For over three decades, Parsec has been the premier
speculative fiction organization in Pittsburgh. It’s been granted 501c3
charitable status because of the broad educational component and the high
number of volunteer hours. The Parsec mission is “to
promote awareness of the richness of speculative fiction as literature, art and
music; further general education in the sciences and arts, support
contributions–both scientific and artistic–to society.”
Confluence is the annual, three-day, science fiction conference in late July.
Alpha, the SF/F/H Workshop for Young Writers is a twelve-day, residential workshop for teenagers 14 to 19 years old at UPG.
The CMU student club Partners in Speculative Fiction co-hosts a lecture series with Parsec. Local and national authors share the stage for the public to enjoy free writing workshops and talks several times a year.
The meeting group hosts free, open monthly club activities.
Annually, the small press Parsec Ink publishes the Triangulation series and runs the Parsec Short Story Contest, a no-fee, genre contest with cash prizes ($200, $100, $50).
But Parsec is more than the sum of its parts, it’s a
community. I’ve seen members meet and marry, help each other through rough
medical issues, find each other jobs, new friends and living quarters, help
with moves, co-author and critique each other’s work, jointly celebrate and
mourn, grow up and grow old together.
Opportunities have been created for people to use this
system we’ve built, and Triangulation is a prime example, since it was designed
to rotate editorship among local writers as a learning experience. This year
nearly twenty students joined the editorial team as slush readers. They were
given access to the submissions system Submittable and could read stories as
they came in, rank and comment on them. They quickly learned something that’s
hard to believe until one experiences it firsthand. Most stories submitted
anywhere are awful. What a boost that was to their self-esteem. They saw the
same mistakes over and over. It’s hard to create those kinds of teachable
moments. We had lively discussions about story technique and they learned
quickly what not to do in their own writing. Of course, many of the hundreds of
submissions were brilliant and those were analyzed, too. The students saw our
procedures and contracts, how we raised the funds necessary and pulled together
art, design, layout and advertising material. SFWA gave us a grant for this
teaching experience. These students also will be sent copies of the anthology
and run release parties in their areas, the full experience.
The 2019 theme was suggested by a CMU Metro21 grant to study
light pollution in Pittsburgh. The phrase “Dark Skies” to astronomers is a way
to put a positive spin on light pollution, which is the excessive artificial
light at night that inhibits observation of stars. Light pollution can have
serious environmental consequences for human health and wildlife, and wastes
billions of dollars a year. 99 percent of the people in Europe and the US can’t
experience a natural sky where they live because of skyglow, which is easily
preventable, education being key. Shield lights so they don’t shine up into the
sky, use lower wattage, lower temperature bulbs, set timers, dimmers or motion
sensors or just turn the lights off when they aren’t needed.
Dark skies are what we should be seeing, skies full of stars. Triangulation has always benefited from authors interpreting the theme in whatever way they want, using artistic license to its fullest. Therefore, the stories are all thoughtful, creative interpretations of the theme. The hope is that this issue will spark interest in seeing dark skies, encourage authors to incorporate more realistic, scientific scenarios into their fiction and “storify” important issues to create a deep, lasting reader experience.
In this vein, Isaac Payne (former Alpha students and editorial assistant on the Dark Skies issue) will be editing the 2020 edition of Triangulation on the theme Extinction. His Kickstarter is up now to pay the authors 3 cents a word, a decent sum for a small press anthology. Won’t you consider helping? Deadline, Saturday, November 30th.
Saturday, April 6, 2019 10-12:00 Workshop by YA author Megan Lynch
Feminism
in Sci-Fi and Fantasy Writer’s Workshop: Learn about the evolution of feminism
in genre fiction, begin to analyze stories through a feminist lens, and start
to weave your perspective on gender issues into stories of your own. Bring a
notebook and pen.
1:00 pm Lecture by Connecticut fantasy author Tochi Onyebuchi
“Oriennuitalism”
“The untranslatable & deeply felt pain-joy of
sincerely, ceaselessly loving something (Star Wars, Firefly, Blade Runner, so
many more) that uses the aesthetics, the language, the empty shell of your
culture while tossing aside the ppl (& your humanity alongside
it).”
Book signing with both authors immediately afterward.
All events take place in the Studio Room of the Cohon
University Center at Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Ave. Free parking
in the East Campus Garage, next to the University Center.
Theme: Triangulation: Dark Skies is a celebration of the natural beauty of
the night sky. We’re into our third month, and we have seen an amazing array of
speculative tales featuring skies full of stars. We’ve roamed the universe far
and wide, but we need stories that explore the issue of light pollution more directly. Show us what it
might mean for a sentient race to lose the
ability to peer out into other worlds. If you need inspiration, head to the
site of our partner organization, the International Dark-Sky Association, a group dedicated to raising awareness of the dangers
of light pollution. Also, check out Duotrope’s interview with our
editor.
Neal Stephenson comes to Pittsburgh with the sequel to his blockbuster techno-thriller Readme.
Fall; or, Dodge in Hell is a wildly inventive and entertaining science fiction thriller—Paradise Lost by way of Philip K. Dick—that unfolds in the near future, in parallel worlds.
When: Monday, June 17, 2019 at 7 p.m. Where: Carnegie Library Lecture Hall; 4400 Forbes Ave, Pgh PA 15213
A book signing will follow the lecture. A selection of backlist titles and the author’s current book will be available for sale from Classic Lines.
Tickets are available at Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures. Price includes a hardcover copy of Fall; or, Dodge in Hell.
The 23rd Annual PARSEC SF/Fantasy/Horror Short Story Contest opened for submissions on January 1, 2019. The theme this year is NOIR. This can be conveyed in the setting, plot, characters, dialogue…the only limit is your imagination. Submit here: http://parsecink.com/contest/
Closes April 15, maximum 3500 words. No entry fee.
The Parsec Holiday Party will be this Saturday, December 8, 2018 from 4pm-10pm at Greg’s house [2966 Voelkel Avenue, Dormont PA 15216].
So come one and come all, to enjoy fine conversation and games, look over the books, and taste the food. (People usually bring a dish or snack to share.)
Voelkel Avenue is parallel to the Red Line trolley. If you take that, get off at Potomac, walk away from Molly’s Pizza and the gas station, then turn right onto Voelkel. 2966 is at the far end of the block, near Hillsdale Ave. Look for the 10 foot dragon wearing a Santa hat.
A new and unique outreach initiative will be a partnership with local literary non-profit Parsec. Aiming to facilitate the cultural shift through storytelling, the upcoming edition of Parsec’s annual fiction anthology Triangulation will consist of short stories centered around the theme Dark Skies.
Roughly half of the stars visible in the 1990s can no longer be seen in Pittsburgh’s night sky. The stars aren’t going anywhere — so why can’t we see the Milky Way? Light pollution — the presence of artificial light that interferes with the natural darkness of nighttime — is on the rise in Pittsburgh.
…Stephen Quick of the School of Architecture’s Remaking Cities Institute and Diane Turnshek of the physics department will lead a project using quadcopter drones to create a high-resolution light pollution map of Pittsburgh, as the city seeks to evaluate the light pollution impact of new street lamps. In addition to the International Dark Sky Association, Quick and Turnshek will be working with the City of Pittsburgh and the Amateur Astronomers Association of Pittsburgh to implement the project and raise awareness for issues of light pollution within the city. …
Aiming to facilitate the cultural shift through storytelling, the upcoming edition of Parsec’s annual fiction anthology Triangulation will consist of short stories centered around the theme Dark Skies. Additional information about dark sky initiatives in Pittsburgh can be found at pghconstellation.com and idapgh.org.
Location:
Carnegie Mellon University
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
McConomy Auditorium
University Center
Campus map: Map
Free parking in the East Campus Garage next to the University Center.
(Push button for ticket and use it when you leave, no charge on weekends.)
The Partners in Speculative Fiction student club and Parsec will sponsor NY fantasy author Lara Elena Donnelly (Amberlough, Armistice), hosting a two-hour, genre writing workshop for the public from 1 – 3 pm, a book signing from 3 – 4 pm, then one more author talk from 4 – 5 pm. Amberlough is a 1920’s European burlesque spy novel, a politically charged thriller and a love story between two very different kinds of men. Ms. Donnelly is a graduate of Clarion and Alpha, the SF/F/H Workshop for Young Writers and currently resides in Harlem, in a tower named after Ella Fitzgerald.
[The Calculating Stars, the Fated Sky, Tor Books 7.3.18]
Date: Sunday, July 29, 2018 Time: 2:00 – 4:00 pm
Book synopsis: A meteor decimates the U.S. government and paves the way for a climate cataclysm that will eventually render the earth inhospitable to humanity. This looming threat calls for a radically accelerated timeline in the earth’s efforts to colonize space”
Mary Soon Lee, a well-loved poet and member of Parsec, has published a book containing the entire story about King Xau as told in poems. The first fifth of the book, “Crowned,” was published in 2015 by Dark Renaissance Books.
