Re-Imagining the Human Body Through Literature
7-9pm, Sept 10, 2009
Old Operating Theatre Museum, SEI, London UK
Guests:
Cory Doctorow
Gwyneth Jones
Ian Watson
Matthew De Abaitua
It’s been away for a few months, but our unique literary event, The Butcher’s Shop, is back for a one-off sci-fi special on September 10, entitled Future Human. The night will focus on the science and literature of transhumanism, the process of upgrading the human body with technology; we’ll be exploring the utopian possibilities and nightmarish tensions that writers have found in transhumanism over the years.
One half of the night will be given over to a discussion of transhumanism with four special guests – Cory Doctorow (Boing Boing blog hero and author of Little Brother), Gwyneth Jones (author of the Arthur C.Clarke Award winning Bold As Love), Ian Watson (co-author of the screenplay for A.I., and a former Stanley Kubrick collaborator) and Matthew de Abaitua (author of The Red Men).
The other half of the night will be spent, as usual, chopping and dissecting stories submitted by guests in an intensive process of live editing by the BAD IDEA team – if you’d like to submit stories of 350 words or less for inclusion, written on the transhumanist theme, then send them to info@badidea.co.uk or via our Facebook page, before September 4. The two best stories will be edited live on the night, and the best five will receive a limited edition print of the Future Human poster pictured above, designed by Bryony Lloyd.
It’s in the same place we’ve always been, the Old Operating Theatre Museum near London Bridge. If you haven’t been before, this is a beautifully preserved Victorian operating theatre, with all the disturbingly wrong-headed medical equipment, pungent herbs, and scary mannequins that entails. And as usual, Hendrick’s Gin are going to be providing delicious cucumber-laced complimentary cocktails all night.
More details: It runs from 7-9pm of Thursday September 10, the admission price is £12, and tickets are available here. Tickets will also be available from the venue on the night, but places are limited, so it’s best to buy them beforehand. Tickets will be held at the Old Operating Theatre and not mailed out before the event. The address for the Old Operating Theatre Museum is 9a St. Thomas’s St., London SE1 9RY – click here for a map.
Looking forward to seeing everyone there!
