Lasting Labours
Virtual Futures presents Near-Future Fictions on the theme of 'Lasting Labours.'
Due to society’s advancement, changing economic systems, and shifts in what the population demands, the world of work will change seismically in the near future. Some jobs will become obsolete, others will change radically, and new roles will emerge. The changes, though, will not be limited to work alone. New industries may be born, new methods of exchange introduced, or entirely new economic systems developed.
Our authors will show us what goods we may be trading with, what currency we may be using, how industries may be created or altered, or what roles we may be employed in (if at all) by the time the future becomes the present.
Join us for an evening that incorporates original reading, performance and live art as Virtual Futures continues its mission to reassert the significance of science fiction as a tool for navigating the increasing technologization of society and culture.
Authors & Contributors
Allen Ashley: "Like Clockwork"
Ambience Factory
CB Droege: "Special Installation"
David Turnbull: "The Lamenting of Mermaids"
Nick Hunt: "Leaving the Fold"
Paul Currion: "Qualiapocalypse"
Siobhan McVeigh: "PostReality"
Stephen Oram: "The Blockchain Blues"
Ted Hayden: "A Collection of Objects from a Destroyed City"
Curators
Allen Ashley is a British Fantasy Award winner. He is the author or editor of fourteen published books, the most recent of which is an updated, revised version of his novel The Planet Suite (Eibonvale Press, 2016). He is also known as a poet, singer, event host and cultural critic. He works as a creative writing tutor, with five groups currently running across North London including the advanced science fiction and fantasy group Clockhouse London Writers. He is currently overseeing an editing project on behalf of the British Fantasy Society.
Stephen Oram writes science fiction and is lead curator for Near-future Fictions at Virtual Futures. He enjoys working collaboratively with scientists and future-tech people; currently, he’s the cultural partner in a collaborative project with scientists at King’s College, London – they do the science he does the fiction. He’s been a hippie-punk, religious-squatter and an anarchist-bureaucrat; he thrives on contradictions. He is published in several anthologies and has two published novels, Quantum Confessions and Fluence. His recent collection of sci-fi shorts, Eating Robots and Other Stories, was described by the Morning Star as one of the top radical works of fiction in 2017.