from Murray: Nova Mob members and friends–
May’s Nova Mob is just days away, Wednesday 1 May, which entails cries of May Day and shouts of pure joy as David Grigg and Perry Middlemiss resolve that knottiest of questions, which novel is the best science fiction novel of the 1960’s?
Apparently a shortlist or two has been shortlisted (ahem) with the evening’s discussion to involve deeper, more rigorous scrutiny. Forensics, post-mortems, that sort of thing. Says David: “My cunning plan is that Perry and I will take turns in picking a novel for our “draft” of the 10 best SF novels of the 1960s.”
Audience participation is encouraged; indeed it may well be requested by our two lead debaters. Mob members whose preferred style of engagement is to observe should feel free to continue to do so, of course.
Nova Mob 1 May 2024
Perry Middlemiss and David Grigg argue or agree.
Please share this invitation to this forthcoming meeting with like-minded friends and fans
Face to face
You are invited to an in-person Nova Mob meeting at:
Wednesday 1 May 2024 8.00pm – 9.15pm or so (Melbourne),
first floor Conference Room. Kensington Town Hall
30 – 34 Bellair St, Kensington Melbourne VIC 3031
By Zoom – simulcast
For those who prefer not to travel or are unable to attend face-to-face. Zoom session broadcast from the Kensington Town Hall. Questions or comments typed into the Zoom chat will be discussed as the opportunity permits, and you’ll have as much airtime as the other Mob members at the venue.
Wednesday 1 May 2024 8.00pm – 9.30 pm Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney time; 7.30pm – 9.00pm Adelaide time
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4177583193?pwd=VjdPL1BhSTBNclN2YnRsejN3Y1hlUT09
Passcode: nova
Meeting ID: 417 758 3193
Pre-Mob dining – at the Doutta Galla Hotel The usual pre-Mob location in Newmarket
Doutta Galla Hotel, 339 Racecourse Road, Melbourne, Victoria 3031, Australia
Table for 8 booked under the name of the Nova Mob Book Discussion group also Murray, 6.00pm for 6.30, through to 8.00pm. https://douttagallahotel.com
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Nova Mob email change of address
Please change your address book because of autocomplete.
New address is: nova@aussiebb.com.au
Previous address was: novamob@aussiebb.com.au
Please update your address book so your autocomplete doesn’t send you to the old address in error. That address, now out of date, had been scraped by nefarious types and added to some spam lists. The last straw was some phishing attempts, and last month’s email bouncing because the good guys now block those spam lists.
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The Cupboard under the Stairs
Sighted at Dymocks, new edition of George Turner’s award-winner
George Turner’s Miles Franklin Award-winning novel “The Cupboard Under the Stairs” has been sighted at Dymocks in a new edition and (how does this happen?) remaindered at the nifty price of $10.00.
(Reported by Rob Gerrand).
A sympathetic review is here:
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Norstrilia Press releases a Clute
As mentioned at his Nova Mob talk, John Clute’s investigation into the cultural legacy of dustwrappers has entered print. At Norstrilia Press!
“The first known dust-jacket to appear on a book in the UK dates from 1819.
Sadly, almost none of these jackets have survived. The one institution primarily responsible for this vandalism is the British Library, which removed dust-jackets from every book it accessioned, and destroyed almost all of them.
In The Book Blinders, distinguished critic, editor and novelist John Clute looks at 115 books whose jackets have survived out here in the real world. They escaped the burning. Each has a story to tell.”
Now available and it is a beautiful book indeed.
https://www.norstriliapress.com
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Continuum
Does anyone want to represent or publicise the Nova Mob at Continuum? And congrats to Vanessa Len!
Continuum 16: Reboot – and 62nd NatCon
After a germ-induced hiatus, we are delighted to announce that Continuum is returning to Melbourne, bigger and brighter than ever.
Continuum 16: Reboot will be held 17-19 May, 2024 at Hotel Jasper, 489 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne.”
Guests are Shannon Chakraborty, Nova Mob guest Vanessa Len, and Cienan Muir. Congratulations Vanessa!
Vanessa Len
“Vanessa Len is an internationally bestselling Australian author and educational editor. Her first novel, Only a Monster, won the 2022 Aurealis Award for Best Young Adult Novel, and has been translated into nine languages. The sequel, Never a Hero, is out now.”
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Vale John Barth; Trina Robbins
Modernist writer.
Cartoonist, scholar, designer, and activist.
Last month we farewelled several noteworthy authors and friends in an illuminating and at times joyously celebratory send-off. Without turning this newsletter into Ansible, wherein Dave Langford has lamented the size of the list of departeds, we must note two recent losses. John Barth’s works at one time took centre stage at the Nova Mob, and Wikipedia’s entry on The Sot Weed Factor provides a plot synopsis of that picaresque novel which is almost as enervating as the novel itself. Trina Robbins shifted the American comix culture to something more welcoming and less misogynist.
John Simmons Barth May 27, 1930 – April 2, 2024) was an American writer best known for his postmodern and metafictional fiction. His most highly regarded and influential works were published in the 1960s, and include The Sot-Weed Factor, a whimsical retelling of Maryland’s colonial history; Giles Goat-Boy, a satirical fantasy in which a university is a microcosm of the Cold War world; and Lost in the Funhouse, a self-referential and experimental collection of short stories. He was co-recipient of the National Book Award in 1973 for his episodic novel Chimera.
Trina Robbins (née Perlson; August 17, 1938 – April 10, 2024) was an American cartoonist. She was an early participant in the underground comix movement, and one of the first women in the movement. She co-produced the 1970 underground comic It Ain’t Me, Babe, which was the first comic book entirely created by women. She co-founded the Wimmen’s Comix collective, wrote for Wonder Woman, and produced adaptations of Dope and [Tanith Lee’s] The Silver Metal Lover. She was inducted into the Will Eisner Hall of Fame in 2013 and received Eisner Awards in 2017 and 2021.
Robbins was an active member of science fiction fandom in the 1950s and 1960s and attended sf conventions. Her illustrations appeared in science fiction fanzines like the Hugo–nominated Habakkuk. In New York in 1966 she lived in Manhattan’s East Village, where she worked as a stylist and ran a clothing boutique called “Broccoli”. Robbins’ first comics were printed in the East Village Other in 1966. In the late 1960s, she designed clothes for Mama Cass,Donovan, David Crosby, among others. She was intimately involved in the 1960s rock scene, where she was close friends with Jim Morrison and members of The Byrds. Robbins was the first of the three “Ladies of the Canyon” in Joni Mitchell‘s classic song from the album of the same name.
Robbins spoke out against the misogyny and “boy’s club” of comics creators, criticizing underground comix artist Robert Crumb for the perceived misogyny of many of his comics. As a scholar and historian, Robbins researched the history of women in cartooning. She wrote several nonfiction books including Women and the Comics (1985), A Century of Women Cartoonists (1993), The Great Women Superheroes (1996), From Girls to Grrrlz (1999), Pretty In Ink (2013), and Flapper Queens: Women Cartoonists of the Jazz Age (2020).
With thanks to wikipedia
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Nova Mob About and Contact Us
Nova Mob on social media
We’re on Mastodon — Click the invite to follow
https://mastodonbooks.net/@NovaMob
https://mastodonbooks.net/invite/YECXVBUk
Email: nova@aussiebb.com.au
May the Fourth be with you!
Murray MacLachlan
Convenor
The Adelaide Fan Review 
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