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February Events

February 8th, 2012 · No Comments

Our February Reading takes place this coming Saturday (Feb. 11th) and features three much loved West Coast writers: K.W. Jeter, Jay Lake & Rudy Rucker. We are delighted to have them all together. Doors will open at 6:00pm, with the readings starting at 7:00pm. Q&A and signing will follow.

K. W. Jeter is an American science fiction and horror author known for his literary writing style, dark themes, and paranoid, unsympathetic characters. Jeter attended college at CSU Fullerton, where he became friends with James P. Blaylock and Tim Powers, and through them, Philip K. Dick. Jeter was actually the inspiration for the character named Kevin in Dick’s novel, Valis. Many of Jeter’s books focus on the subjective nature of reality in a way that is reminiscent of works by Dick.

Jeter wrote an early cyberpunk novel, Dr. Adder, which was enthusiastically recommended by Philip K. Dick. Jeter was also the first to coin the term “Steampunk,” in a letter to Locus magazine in April 1987, to describe the retro-technology, alternate-history works that he published along with Blaylock and Powers. His steampunk novels were Morlock Night and Infernal Devices. In addition, Jeter has written novels set in the Star Trek and Star Wars universes, and a number of authorized novel sequels to the 1982 film, Blade Runner, which in turn was adapted from Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. He currently lives in San Francisco with his wife, Geri; we are delighted beyond words to welcome him to SF in SF!

Jay Lake: Joseph E. Lake, Jr. is a science fiction and fantasy writer, born in Taiwan, and grew up there and in Nigeria. In 2003 he was a quarterly first place winner in the Writers of the Future contest. In 2004 he won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in Science Fiction. He lives in Portland, Oregon and currently works as a product manager for a voice services company. Jay has appeared in numerous publications, including Postscripts, Realms of Fantasy, Interzone, Strange Horizons, Asimov’s Science Fiction, Nemonymous, and the Mammoth Book of Best New Horror. He is an editor for the Polyphony anthology series from Wheatland Press, and was also a contributor for the Internet Review of Science Fiction.

His created universes have garnered him a strong following, both as readers, and as followers of his blog, Jay Lake-Writer. His novels include the City Imperishable books, the Mainspring trilogy, Green, and Endurance. These and his singular short story collections, such as Greetings from Lake Wu and The River Knows Its Own, all mean that many people follow him around at conventions wearing Hawaiian shirts. Jay has also become an icon in another way by publishing his uncompromisingly honest experiences of living with, and surviving, cancer. A complete list of over 700 posts is available online here. We are delighted to welcome Jay back to SF in SF.

Rudy Rucker is a writer and a mathematician who worked for twenty years as a Silicon Valley computer science professor, and published a number of software packages. He is regarded as contemporary master of science fiction, twice receiving the Philip K. Dick Award. His thirty published books include both novels and nonfiction books on the fourth dimension, infinity, and the meaning of computation. A founder of the cyberpunk school of science-fiction, Rucker also writes SF in a realistic style known as “transrealism.” His 2006 Mathematicians in Love is an example of a transreal novel. His early cyberpunk 4-book series was republished in 2010 as The Ware Tetralogy. Rucker’s 2007 novel, Postsingular, and its sequel, Hylozoic, were both a return to the cyberpunk style.

Rucker’s autobiography, Nested Scrolls, was published in 2011, as was his novel of the afterlife, Jim and the Flims. In his spare time, he is also a talented artist, with several exhibitions to his credit, and also is the editor for the science fiction webzine Flurb. It comes as no surprise to learn he is the great-great-great-grandson of the philosopher G. W. F. Hegel.

There is also a local flavor to our February movies. On Wednesday Feb. 15th we will be showing Impossible Dreams, based on the Hugo Award winning story by Tim Pratt. Tim will be present to introduce the film. The backup feature is Harlan Ellison: Dreams With Sharp Teeth, a biographical documentary staring Harlan Ellison as himself. The supporting cast includes Robin Williams and Neil Gaiman. Doors will open at 6:00pm, with the films starting at 7:00pm.

Both events take place at The Variety Preview Room Theatre
The Hobart Bldg., 1st Floor — entrance between Quiznos and Citibank
582 Market Street @ 2nd and Montgomery
San Francisco, CA 94104

Don’t Drive — BART/MUNI Montgomery Street station is right at our front door, and parking in San Francisco sucks!!! Street parking ($3.50 per hour) is metered M-Sat., til 6PM; find a parking garage here.

Tags: Jay Lake · K.W. Jeter · Rudy Rucker