Jul 20, 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Centre for Stories

• Add to Calendar
• Add to Google Calendar

The SFF (Science Fiction, Fantasy, Speculative Fiction) Collective is a group that meets regularly to discuss topics relating to SFF books and share book recommendations across the genre.

What’s in a language? Whether travelling to alien planets, dystopian futures or fantasy worlds, what do the languages the inhabitants speak tell us about who they are? And who we are?

This meeting of the SFF Collective will explore Constructed Languages (otherwise known as conlangs) and their role as world-building devices in many popular SFF titles. Perhaps the most famous of all conlangs is Quenya, the language of the elves in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings series. But Tolkien is not the only one to have experimented with the concept. George Orwell created Newspeak for his classic 1984, Robert Jordan created Old Tongue for The Wheel of Time series, and Anthony Burgess created Nadsat for A Clockwork Orange. Conlangs have gained even more popularity in recent years thanks in part to TV and movie adaptations that expand on the languages presented in their text counterparts, the most notable of which is the Dothraki language from George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series.

Other authors and books to consider for this session include but are not limited to: Native Tongue (Suzette Haden Elgin), Cat’s Cradle (Kurt Vonnegut), Pale Fire (Vladimir Nabokov), Dune (Frank Herbert), Embassytown (China Mieville), Watership Down (Richard Adams), Babel-17 (Samuel R. Delany), The Dispossessed (Ursula LeGuin), and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (Robert A. Heinlein).

Language is not just a form a communication, it is a way of making meaning and of understanding the world in which we live.

Although this is a free event, RSVP is essential.

• 

  Prema Arasu

  Expand Bio Collapse Bio

  Prema Arasu is a PhD candidate in Creative Writing at the University of Western Australia. Their research is practice-led with a focus on gender in fantasy, science fiction and speculative fiction. They hold a BA (Hons) in English and Cultural Studies from UWA and a Master of Letters in Modern and Contemporary Literature and Culture from the University of St. Andrews. Prema has both academic and creative publications in the areas of fantasy literature and speculative fiction, queer and feminist postmodernism, the body, performance art, and diaspora studies. They are currently involved in a number of projects aimed at making the WA arts scene more diverse and inclusive.

Help us do more

We’re on a mission to create a diverse, inclusive, and cohesive society through the art of storytelling. Join us in supporting emerging artists and sharing powerful stories from across our community.

Support Us