Russell Blackford's News: Publications and Events

(For an update, with the very latest news in my life and career, you should visit the "Latest Update" section of my main page.)

30 November 2007: My book chapter on "Australian Science Fiction" has now appeared in A Companion to Australian Literature Since 1900,  edited by Nicholas Birns and Rebecca McNeer, and published by Camden House.

5 November 2007: I have an article in Australian Rationalist # 77 (October 2007), entitled "The New Atheism rocks". This discusses the recent plethora of books by Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, Michel Onfray, and others attacking the foundations of religious belief. I think it's a healthy social development for religion to be subjected to such critique, and I discuss why.

31 August 2007: I have received a copy of the latest issue of The Monist, a prestigious refereed journal in the field of academic philosophy. This issue of the journal has been delayed considerably, since its formal date is October 2006. It contains my article  "Dr. Frankenstein meets Lord Devlin: Genetic Engineering and the Principle of Intangible Harm," citable as The Monist 89 (2006): 526-47.

24 March 2007: I have had a couple of short articles - peer review commentaries - published in The American Journal of Bioethics. In the January issue of AJOB - Neuroscience I have an article about the philosophical concept of personhood, while the Feburary issue of AJOB has a piece about one of my favourite topics, the intellectual impoverishment of slippery slope arguments against such innovations as therapeutic or reproductive cloning.

25 February 2007: It's now almost three years since I began my doctoral programme at Monash, so the time has come to wrap up the dissertation. My big news this week is that I've been able to get an extension of six months on my scholarship, which will take me through to 19 September. That may sound like plenty of time, but I'll need to get a good draft finished a long time before then, so I'm actually feeling some pressure right now. With luck, it'll all be done soon, and I'll be working on turning it into my next book.

16 November 2006:  The Literary Encyclopedia, an online reference work, has published my article entitled simply "Science Fiction" - my effort to write the definitive short account of the science fiction genre. Actually, at nearly 4000 words, it gave me enough room to refer to a wide range of texts and to grapple in at least some detail with the difficult issues relating to the definition of the genre (and why it has been so hard to define), science fiction's relation to fantasy and the literary mainstream, its history, and its attitudes to science and technology.

5 November 2006: Things have been quiet here of late. But I'm pleased that my article "Sinning against Nature: The Theory of Background Conditions" has now appeared in the November issue of The Journal of Medical Ethics. I argue against the restriction of new technologies on the ground that they somehow "sin against nature"; there are some sophisticated versions of the idea these days, but they should not influence public policy.

24 March 2006: I have just accepted an invitation to join Science Fiction Studies, arguably the world's leading academic journal in its field, as an editorial consultant.

19 March 2006: I've accepted an appointment to the Scientific Advisory Board of the Lifeboat Foundation, an organisation devoted to the safe adoption of new technologies that could pose existential risks to humanity's future. I'm in good company with a set of astonishingly eminent people, including two Nobel Prize winners.

15 March 2006: My article "Stem cell research on other worlds, or why embryos do not have a right to life" has appeared in the March 2006 issue of The Journal of Medical Ethics. The same journal recently accepted another article, "Sinning against nature: the theory of background conditions."

15 October 2005: Kong Reborn released! My new novel, Kong Reborn, was released in the US on 10 October 2005 and will be released in the UK in late November. The cover art looks magnificent, and the timing has ended up coinciding well with the new Peter Jackson remake of King Kong, soon to be in cinemas. Kong Reborn, however, is not technically a tie-in to the new movie. It is a sequel to the original 1933 King Kong, set in the present and near future.

5 October 2005: Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy: Themes, Works, and Wonders. I've been browsing in my copy of the new three-volume Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy, which recently arrived. This contains, among a wealth of other materials, a total of sixteen 1000-word entries by me surveying the F&SF fields. My entries are those on the Terminator movies, the Mad Max movies, the Rama books, Samuel R. Delany's Triton, and a dozen "themes": "Babies", "Biology", "Cloning", "Cycles", "Death", "Decadence", "Far Future", "Marriage", "Mutation", "Nudity," "Overpopulation", and "Technology".

10 August 2005: Kong to printer! Kong Reborn has now gone to the printer, and is still scheduled for release in October 2005. Watch this space for more news.

12 July 2005: More bad news, unfortunately. Byron Preiss, the President of ibooks, which published my New John Connor Chronicles trilogy, was killed in a car accident on Saturday 9 July. Byron was struck down at the peak of his powers and this was a terrible tragic event. My deepest sympathy goes to all his family, friends, and colleagues.

24 March 2005: My article "Human Cloning and 'Posthuman' Society" has appeared in the January issue of the Monash Bioethics Review. I argue that the case against human cloning, based on issues of social degeneration or psychological identity issues, is weaker than commonly believed.

10 January 2005: Kong Reborn scheduled! My new novel, Kong Reborn, has now been scheduled for publication in October 2005. I'll announce more news here as the date approaches.

12 December 2004: My article "Should We Fear Feath? Epicurean and Modern Arguments" has appeared in a new anthology entitled The Scientific Conquest of Death: Essays on Infinite Lifespans, produced by the Immortality Institute, and available through Amazon. I argue that we fear death more than we should, but that we should not console ourselves with false assurances of the benefits of mortality.

8 October 2004: My story "The Sword of God" has been reprinted in The Best Australian Science Fiction: A Fifty Year Collection, edited by Rob Gerrand. This also contains, as an introduction, my historical survey of Australian SF, "Australian Science Fiction: A Feast of Wonder." The Best Australian Science Fiction will be published officially in November 2004.

"Idol." Meanwhile, a new story, "Idol", appeared in the Fall 2004 issue of the American internet subscription magazine Oceans of the Mind. "Idol" is a sequel to one of my best-known stories, "Lucent Carbon."

29 July 2004: My article "Try the Blue Pill: What's Wrong with Life in a Simulation?" has appeared in Jacking In to the Matrix Franchise (ed. Matthew Kapell and William G. Doty, published by Continuum in New York).

10 July 2004: I'll be spending the next few months in teaching the philosophy subject "Time, Self and Freedom" at the Caulfield Campus of Monash University. I now have a page (including a philosophy-related CV), on the web site of Monash's School of Philosophy and Bioethics: see http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/phil/postgraduate/blackford/.

I am also hoping to wrap up Kong Reborn, and to finish a few smaller writing projects.

7 June 2004: My article "Liberty and Paternalism: A Reply to Tom Frame" has been published in the June 2004 edition of Quadrant. The original debate relates to surrogate motherhood, but this article goes further to argue the general case for liberty against the more oppressive kinds of state paternalism.

17 April 2004: Back to the truth mines. I have recently commenced a doctoral program in the School of Philosophy and Bioethics, Monash University. Obtaining a second Ph.D (this time in philosophy) may seem a little excessive. However, I made a decision that one of the most important things to me at this point of my life is gaining the credibility in philosophy that a doctorate will give me. I also expect to learn much and to enjoy my program of study, which relates to issues appear to arise from human enhancement technologies, such as genetic engineering.

17 April 2004: My essay "The Myth of Human Dignity" has now been published on the Betterhumans web site. I argue that the concept of "human dignity" is a blunt tool for analysing bioethical issues (despite its value as a way of reminding us how similar we all are under the skin, regardless of race or ancestry).

26 March 2004: My short essay "Debunking the Brave New World" has been published on the Betterhumans web site. The essay sets out my case that modern biotechnology is not putting us on the path to a Brave New World such as described by Adous Huxley (for a more detailed discussion of the issues, see my article "Who's Afraid of the Brave New World?", referred to above on this page).

1 March 2004: "Mutants, Cyborgs, AI and Androids." This essay has just been published in the prestigious literary journal Meanjin (Vol. 63, No. 1). It explores what it means to be human in a world where we may be able to transform ourselves, or create new kinds of intelligent beings, through advanced technology.

31 January 2004: Jacking into the Matrix.

The Matthew Kapell/William Doty essay anthology, Jacking into the Matrix Franchise: Cultural Reception and Interpretation, is now at the copyediting stage and can already be ordered from Amazon. The book includes my essay: "Try the Blue Pill: What's Wrong with Life in a Simulation?"

30 January 2004: My story "The Name of the Beast was Number" has now appeared in the anthology Microcosms (ed. Gregory Benford; DAW, 2004). The story is about the implications of creating an artificial universe, with evolved intelligences, within a cybernetic environment.

The Wilson Quarterly has recently published an article reporting on my own Quadrant article "Sisyphus and the Meaning of Life". Publication of a report in The Wilson Quarterly pleases me very much, since it recognizes my article, which deals with Albert Camus and the idea of the absurd, as an important contribution to the international world of ideas.

17 January 2004: Norman Talbot. Unfortunately, I have some sad news. I have just returned to Melbourne from the funeral of Dr Norman Talbot, who supervised my doctoral work, completed in the 1980s. Norman died suddenly in Newcastle, NSW, on 8 January 2004. He was 67. Norman had been one of the most important intellectual influences in my life, as well as a dear friend. He also supervised the doctoral work of one of my other closest friends: writer, editor, and critic Janeen Webb.

27 November 2003: My fantasy story "The Sword of God", an extract of which appears on this site, has been reprinted in the anthology Forever Shores, edited by Peter McNamara and Margaret Winch (Wakefield Press, Adelaide). This is a beautiful book, featuring stories by some of the leading Australian science fiction/fantasy authors. The other writers include Damien Broderick, Isobelle Carmody, Terry Dowling, Rosaleen Love, Carmel Bird, Leanne Frahm and Lucy Sussex. Wakefield's web site is: www.wakefieldpress.com.au.

6 October 2003: I have updated some parts of this website that needed a good overhaul, including the links, and especially the Favourite Things page, which now has a lot of material, some of it serious, some of it less so, on books, movies, and philosophy.

27 September 2003: I have returned to Australia, after an enjoyable trip to Canada and the U.S. Times of Trouble has now been released, completing the New John Connor Chronicles trilogy, though there are possible plans for more books in continuity with this version of the Terminator universe. Watch this space.

16 August 2003: I now have my provisional programming for TorCon 3. To see the program items I am on, go here, or visit the programming area of the convention's site, here: http://prog.torcon3.on.ca/schedule/

Who's Afraid of the Brave New World? My May 2003 Quadrant article, "Who's Afraid of the Brave New World?", is now online.

1 August 2003: Jacking In To The Matrix Trilogy: I am working on an article, "Try the Blue Pill", for a new book on the Matrix series of movies. Jacking In To The Matrix Trilogy is being edited by Matthew Kapell and William G. Doty. It will be finalized in December 2003, after the release of the third movie, The Matrix Revolutions. Check out the web site for the book:

http://www-personal.umd.umich.edu/~kapellm/Matrix.html

22 July 2003: Times of Trouble remains on track for an official publication date in late August 2003 (it is being advertised for release in September).

I will be leaving Melbourne on 23 August 2003 for a month in Canada and the United States. The main point of the trip, apart the fact that I actually need a vacation, is to attend the World Science Fiction Convention in Toronto, at the end of August. When I know what program items (panels) I am on, I will provide the information here.

Terminator 3: The new Terminator movie, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, was released in Australia on 17 July 2003. I went to see it straightaway, of course, and enjoyed it very much. It is a good, entertaining movie, and, without saying more, it leaves the possibility of a fourth movie wide open. Admittedly, I don't really see Terminator 3 as the equal of its predecessors, and I am a little surprised at some of the breaches of timeline and character continuity. I may be hypersensitive to such issues after working hard to get these things right in my New John Connor Chronicles trilogy, but I'm sure lots of purists will agree with me. Still, it's a worthy addition to the franchise. If you haven't already, go and see it, and feel free to let me know what you thought of it. I am not involved with Terminator 3 in any way, so I am happy to hear anyone's opinion, pro or con.

3 June 2003: My story "Lucent Carbon" has been reprinted in an anthology entitled Wonder Years: The Ten Best Stories from a Decade Past, edited by Peter McNamara. This contains the editor's choice of the best ten Australian science fiction stories of the past decade, plus two stories that made a huge impression on him in the 1980s, Damien Broderick's "The Ballad of Bowsprit Bear's Stead" and Terry Dowling's "The Man Who Walks Away Behind the Eyes".

It feels good to have "Lucent Carbon" back in print, and appearing in such fine company. The opening pages of "Lucent Carbon" can be found elswhere on this site.

The May 2003 issue of Quadrant has my article "Who's Afraid of the Brave New World" as its leading piece. This article is as close as I have been able to come to a definitive statement of some of my views on bioethical issues. At some point, I will post it on this site. I am grateful to Quadrant for its continued support of my work.

5 May 2003: Book 2 of the New John Connor Chronicles series, An Evil Hour, has just been published by ibooks (May 2003). Book 3, Times of Trouble, has been delivered to the publisher for release in August.

I have been appointed as an Honorary Research Associate in the School of Literary, Visual and Performance Studies, Monash University, with effect from 1 March 2003.

"Dave's Diary", a short story by my wife, Jenny Blackford, received an honourable mention in the Children's Division of the Aurealis Awards for genre literature, announced in Melbourne on 28 March 2003.

I am still scheduled to attend Torcon 3, the 61st World Science Fiction Convention, to be held in Toronto, Canada, 28 August to 1 September 2003. I'm looking forward to catching up with old friends and making new ones.

As of 22 April 2003: My article "There's madness in the Raelians' method" has appeared in The Australian, 30 December 2002, page 11. The article is in both the electronic and print versions of the newspaper. The article discusses the claims made by Clonaid and the Raelian cult that they have successfully produced a child by human cloning.

Other recent publications include: "Beyond the Frankenscientist: Biotech and Biomedical Themes in Australian Science Fiction." Biotechnological and Medical Themes in Science Fiction. Ed. Domna Pastourmatzi. Thessaloniki: University Studio Press, 2002: 335-50. "Stranger Than You Think: Arthur C. Clarke's Profiles of the Future." Prefiguring Cyberculture: An Intellectual History. Ed. Darren Tofts, Annemarie Jonson, and Alessio Cavellaro. Sydney: Power Publications, 2002; co-published Boston: MIT Press, 2003: 252-63. The Pastourmatzi book is the proceedings volume for an international conference on science fiction and biotechnology which I attended in Greece in October 2001. My new novel in the New John Connor Chronicles series, An Evil Hour, has been delivered to the publisher, ibooks, and is still on target for publication in May 2003. My horror story, "Smoke City", has appeared in the new anthology Gathering the Bones, edited by Jack Dann, Ramsey Campbell and Dennis Etchison. The Australian edition of Gathering the Bones has been published by HarperCollins (Sydney). American and British editions of the book will follow. The cover of the American Tor edition is pictured. I will be attending Torcon 3, the 61st World Science Fiction Convention, to be held in Toronto, Canada, 28 August to 1 September 2003. I'm looking forward to catching up with old friends and making new ones. Back to Home