Science and storytelling to parley in Dunedin

By Rachel O'Neill

Creative science writing is ‘an epic tale of ingenuity propelled by curiosity’ according to British author Ian McEwan. Locally, it has been gaining popular traction with readers keen to explore this absorbing corner of the literary landscape. Literary science writing has also been encouraged in recent years by competitions such as those run by The Royal Society of New Zealand, as well as publishers of popular science such as Awa Press. Next month, a unique festival sees scientists and storytellers parley in Dunedin, with guests such as Jay O'Callahan (US) featuring alongside New Zealand writers such as Arthur Meek, Bill Manhire, Fiona Farrell and Raymond Huber.

‘ScienceTeller 2011 is the first of what is intended to be a biennial event on the international calendar,’ Lloyd Spencer Davis tells me, the man behind the world-first festival. ‘There are festivals that promote science. There are festivals that promote science documentaries and films. There are festivals that promote science writing. But there has been nothing—until now—that promotes the means by which we communicate science, be it in writing, on film, in the digital realm, or any other medium,’  Davis explains.

ScienceTeller is intended to be a meeting ground for New Zealand and international scientists and the practitioners of creative storytelling. ‘For example,’ Davis says, 'one of the feature guests is Jay O'Callahan (pictured left), often referred to as ‘America's Number One Storyteller’, who has turned his storytelling skills on to a subject of science. He is currently celebrating 50 years of space exploration in a NASA-commissioned one-man performance called Forged in Stars. Another is Professor Lawrence Krauss from the USA (pictured below right), one of the world's greatest living theoretical physicists. He has re-worked his scientific knowledge into a book and captivating lecture about the first moments in the origins of the universe. Despite their different starting points, they have both ended up in this same wondrous kitchen where scientific detail is blended with storytelling genius to create special dishes for public consumption. It is the recipe for great communication.’

For Davis a festival of this kind is right on cue— ‘In a world where society is increasingly dependent on science and technology, one issue becomes paramount—how to communicate the knowledge arising from scientific research to the public so that they may make informed decisions about their lives. This is really the role of science communication—and, ultimately, storytelling, because at its heart all good science communication uses storytelling.’

The unique mix of international and local speakers makes for an exciting programme. 'Arthur Meek will be detailing the reasoning behind why he structured his play about Darwin, Collapsing Creation, the way he did to create the most effective story.’ David says. ‘There will also be a reading of the play in the Otago Museum's Animal Attic as part of ScienceTeller. Meek is no scientist, but he is able to turn his craft and art to the benefit of communicating stories about science. Similarly, poet Bill Manhire will be talking about how accidents and constraints influence stories, and author Fiona Farrell about how fiction and non-fiction influence each other. Neither are scientists, but just as their writing is influenced by science, what they have to say about writing should influence scientists when they come to communicate with the public.’

Bill Manhire is known for fostering greater links between science and storytelling, including his support of the Royal Society of New Zealand Manhire Prize for Creative Science Writing. ‘I'm interested in the way that accident is linked to creativity—in both the arts and the sciences.’ He said. ‘The moment in a poem when meaning shifts because two words, never before introduced, bump into each other, or when the need for a rhyme has unexpected semantic consequences . . .  maybe these are the equivalent of penicillin moments. Systems of constraint have something to do with it, too.’

Children’s writer Raymond Huber sees fascination as the common thread between science and story, ‘The universe is made of fascinating stories, from science and from our imagination; and it's exciting to see what evolves when I combine them in my writing. I hope my stories entertain and also give readers a sense of that fascination.’

And there will be plenty of opportunity for the imagination to reign supreme at ScienceTeller, with the series of creative competitions on offer, from Best Science Podcast to Best Science Poem. Davis is personally excited about offering activities that encourage new ways of telling science, ‘I'm personally excited by the prospects of having a festival that places the emphasis not just on stories, but the ways they are told. This is a unique event and I believe that it has the potential to really catch on internationally. November 15-19 is going to be like watching your first child being born. Of course you hope that everything goes well for the birth, but you also hold great hopes and dreams for your child’s future.’

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For the full ScienceTeller programme visit the website. To read Ian McEwan’s full article about the long history of literary science writing head to The Guardian Books page. For more information about the Centre for Science Communication at the University of Otago, New Zealand's first tertiary-based programme in science communication, and Directed by Professor Lloyd Spencer Davis click here.

Five Easy Questions with Dylan Horrocks

Dylan Horrocks is an award-winning cartoonist, writer and illustrator. His graphic novel, Hicksville (1998), received the Eisner Award (2002), a USA comic book industry award for ‘talent deserving of wider recognition’. Hicksville has also been nominated for further awards in the USA, and in France, Spain and Italy.

1. It's great to see that you're running a graphic novel workshop this summer. What's the first thing you need when starting to create a graphic novel or comic?

Pretty much the same thing you need when you're creating a novel—the ability to lose yourself in a daydream. Of course, some paper and a pencil are useful too.

2. How is creating a great graphic novel different from other forms of writing?

Sometimes I think it's not very different at all. You're telling stories, exploring ideas, building imaginary realities—but you're using pictures to do it, and that can make for a very different process. Imagine keeping a diary, but filling it with sketches and drawings alongside the words. That's all comics are—a way of opening yourself up to all kinds of language—visual as well as textual. People are often terrified of having to draw, but if you put that fear away and move beyond letters and words into lines and colours, it can feel like a liberation. Emily Perkins described it as adding an extra dimension.

3. As well as writing the award-winning graphic novel Hicksville and your own comic series Pickle, you have written/drawn for DC Comics and Vertigo. How does working for a big comic book company work?

A lot of it's fun—getting to play with iconic characters and collaborate with some very talented people. But there is a downside too. The big superhero characters like Batman and Superman are no longer just stories; they're corporate brands, properties and franchises. So you're working within a corporate structure that wants to maximise the profitability of those brands, rather than to necessarily make good comics. In fact, most of the best Batman, Superman, Spiderman and X-Men comics I've seen in recent years have been created outside the corporate system by unauthorised cartoonists who self-publish in photocopied minicomics or on the web. Work like Ed Pinsent's Illegal Batman, a beautiful, poetic meditation on solitude and sadness—and, of course, a crime under U.S. copyright law. Time to release those 80-year-old characters into the public domain where they belong!

4. We recently had you create a comic strip representation of the Book Council's Writers in Schools programme to encourge schools to participate. Can you describe your best Writers in Schools visits ?

Oh, they're all so much fun! I had a great time at one school where the assistant librarian was dressed as Doctor Who (right down to the sonic screwdriver in his pocket)—and he had an encyclopedic knowledge of comics. Then there was the young boy who took over the whiteboard and drew an elaborate battle between robots and aliens, while I carried on talking to the rest of the kids. There's nothing quite like getting a roomful of children enthused about making up stories and drawing pictures. It's like calling down lightning and filling the air with electricity. I love it!

5. What is on your bedside table?

I just finished Jonathan Safran Foer's Eating Animals, which is a harrowing, passionate essay on factory farming, meat-eating, animal cruelty and environmental destruction. It's so frightening I had to read something light on the side, so I also started H. E. Marshall's Our Island Story: A History of Britain for Boys and Girls, first published in 1905. It's a beautifull collection of all those grand historical myths that children used to be taught at school, before they were completely dismantled by more recent historians. I read a lot of history and so I know most of it's total bunkum. But I'm enjoying this enormously. I'm also fascinated by how much these stories serve as inspirational ur-tales for writers like Tolkien and his successors. Next on my list is China Mieville's Embassytown, which I'm hugely looking forward to.