2011 Meetings - A Quick Summary

We had 12 official meetings of the club this year, an unofficial meeting in the Coach House before the January meeting, and a guest lecture in October by horror author Ramsey Campbell (not forgetting his previous attendance in January).

The topics for the year have already been listed on the old 2011 calendar page, but they were:-

Jan Ramsey Campbell Guest Lecture - The Works of H P Lovecraft
Feb First Contact
Mar Post-Apocalypse
Apr Psi Powers
May The Works Of Ray Bradbury
Jun Children In SF & Fantasy
Jul Adaptations
Aug The Works of J G Ballard
Sep Dystopias
Oct The Works of John Wyndham
Nov Colonisation
Dec The Unmissables

Early Start

Since the January meeting took place so late in the month this year, we decided to hold an unofficial meeting a fortnight before, in the Coach House. So in January, we actually had two meetings.

The first half of the year had enjoyable meetings, covering the various topics described above - the "first contact" and "post-Apocalypse" genres, the themes of psi-powers (telepathy, telekinesis, ESP, mind control and psionics in general) and the works of Ray Bradbury.

June.

We had some ... drama in June. Sadly, not a lot could be done to prevent what followed, namely the splitting of the club into two factions - the main club, still going strong to this day thus far, and TEBS, the unofficial "rebel" group.

The split became permanent not long after the meeting, sadly - some might maintain that it was for the best, and others believe that a good spirit had been maligned to the point where he had no option but to leave. I'll leave the ultimate verdict on this matter to posterity, but I'd personally welcome Graham Weaver at any meeting of the library club in future as I carry no personal animus towards Mister TEBS.

Due to a combination of the June drama, and of unforeseen circumstances arising separately in the life of our former President Bernard Smith, he then decided to stand down and hand over the reins to myself - the current President and blog maintainer. July saw the creation of this blog to run separately from the TEBS site, and the meeting of the month with the theme of "Adaptations."

Afterwards, the club began to settle back into its regular routine, with my stated goal of minimising the admin bit bearing some positive fruit from August onwards. Since the topics for the year had been settled since 2010, the club had little choice but to finish the year with the topics listed above.

The topic of "Dystopias" in September prompted disagreement as to whether or not some settings comprised a dystopia, specifically the Mega-City One setting of Judge Dredd. A quick examination of the genre revealed that a lot more dystopias existed than people imagined, leading to the personal conclusion that - apart from being a really popular choice for a setting - a dystopia is really a utopia ... for somebody else, and definitely not the reader.

Focus on Authors

Some of the 2011 meetings focused on specific authors and their works: H P Lovecraft in January, a meeting ably helmed by guest speaker, the magnificent horror author Ramsey Campbell; Ray Bradbury, author of Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles and Something Wicked This Way Comes among others, came under scrutiny in May; the spotlight fell on J G Ballard in August, and we covered the works of John Wyndham in October.

Rounding Off The Year

The last two meetings, covering "Colonisation" and "The Unmissables," came upon us with disturbing speed, rounding off 2011 before we knew it. After a satisfying December meeting wherein we each had out chance to talk about the SF or Fantasy book that we really could not do without, we wrapped up club business for 2011 with a festive pint sunk at the Bull & Stirrup afterwards. I had tea ... eventually.

Final Roundup

This club has had its dramas, and it has suffered losses and changes, emerging a little slimmer and with a sense of more than a little loss; but it has survived a drama which could have torn it apart, and as of the end of 2011 it was as strong as it has ever been, with new visitors appearing seemingly every month. Some stay; others only stay a short time, like Ellie Lee and Hannah Taylor. Some members, we thought would be here forever, like Bernard Smith and Graham Weaver and his friend.

And some people found themselves, in 2011, doing things they never thought they'd be doing, but it was all for the club.

Conclusion: Looking Ahead

As 2012 looms, a new series of meetings has gone down in the calendar, beginning January 28th with "The Works of Olaf Stapledon." This time last year, we'd planned on hosting an unofficial meeting in the Coach House the fortnight before the official club meeting - now, planning for a repetition of this event in January 2012 is unnecessary because we have TEBS meetings to go to instead.

Whatever happens, the club is bigger than any one of its members. As long as at least one person wants to turn up and talk about SF or fantasy books, there should be a club for them to go to.

I hope, therefore, that I'll be here on December 2 next year, having not only celebrated one full year as President of the club (July '11 to June '12) but a full year of the club in 2012, my second full year as a member, and that I'll still be President at that time, blogging a summary of the club's 2012 meetings and looking forward to 2013.

Or to the start of the Sixth Age and the arrival of Shadowrun, whichever comes first.

Season's Greetings to one and all. Hope everyone who partook enjoyed the mince pies, supplied compliments of the Management.