SF by the Bay Sci-Fi Festival: Radio Play “Ghost Town Mortuary” | SF

SF’s Brand New (Free) Sci-Fi Festival | Feb. 1 – April 30 Ron Walotsky Courtesy of SF Public Library SF by the Bay, a celebration of Bay Area science fiction and fantasy, includes over 30 programs, including author talks, live dramas, lectures, panel discussions, a “filk” music concert (songs inspired by sci-fi and fantasy), book displays, a costume contest and diverse film screenings, including landmark films with a local flair: THX 1138 and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Additionally, the Main Library will feature an exhibit of rare books, magazines and art drawn from the Main Library’s J. Francis McComas Fantasy and Science Fiction Collection, a reference collection of more than 3,000 books and magazines. McComas was the co-founding editor of New Jersey-based publication Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. SF by the Bay: Science Fiction & Fantasy Festival February 1 – April 30, 2020 San Francisco Public Library All events free and open to the public More Details Program Highlights SF by the Bay Exhibit Reception and Aelita, Queen of Mars with live piano accompaniment Feb. 15, 10 a.m., Main Library, Latino Hispanic Community Room Join us for the opening reception for the SF by the Bay exhibit with Gordon Van Gelder, publisher of Berkeley’s Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, as well as co-sponsors SF in SF, Locus magazine, Tachyon Publications, Borderlands Books and other special guests. The reception will be followed by a screening of the silent film Aelita: Queen of Mars with introduction and live piano accompaniment by acclaimed concert pianist Frederick Hodges. Author Talk: Black Speculative Fiction Feb. 19, 5 p.m., Main Library, Latino Hispanic Community Room Bay Area writers and poets will speak about their influences, share current works-in-progress, and reveal their 2020 visions. Join the conversation as they center diverse perspectives from the Black Speculative Literary Arts landscape. Speculative genres presented may include fantasy, science fiction, myth, faerie tales, climate fiction, horror, and eco-poetry. Panel discussion and Q&A moderated by Audrey T. Williams, Oakland-based oral storyteller, activist, writer and poet. Documentary and Discussion of Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin with director and panel Mar. 28, 2 p.m., Main Library, Koret Auditorium Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin is a feature documentary exploring the remarkable life and legacy of the late feminist author Ursula K. Le Guin. Best known for groundbreaking science fiction and fantasy works such as A Wizard of Earthsea, The Left Hand of Darkness, and The Dispossessed, Le Guin defiantly held her ground on the margin of “respectable” literature until the sheer excellence of her work, at long last, forced the mainstream to embrace fantastic literature. The film will be followed by Q&A and panel discussion with the director Arwen Curry, Phil Gochenour, Debbie Notkin and others. SF & Fantasy Costume Contest Apr. 12, 12 p.m., Main Library, Koret Auditorium The Library hosts its first Science Fiction & Fantasy Costume Contest. Fans of science fiction, fantasy and cosplay are urged to participate and to cheer their favorite costume entries. Live Podcast: Our Opinions Are Correct Apr. 16, 5:30 p.m., Main Library, Latino Hispanic Community Room Annalee Newitz, a science journalist who writes science fiction, and Charlie Jane Anders, a science fiction writer who is obsessed with science, will host their podcast Our Opinions Are Correct live at the Main Library as part of the SF by the Bay celebration. They will explore the meaning of science fiction and how it’s relevant to real-life science and society. Film: THX 1138 Apr. 23, 1 p.m., Main Library, Koret Auditorium Film: Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home Apr. 30, 12 p.m., Main Library, Koret Auditorium Saturday, March 28, 2020SF’s Brand New (Free) Sci-Fi Festival | Feb. 1 – April 30Anthony Boucher (1911 – 1968) was a renaissance figure in 20th-century pulp and genre fiction. Author of such classic tales as The Quest for Saint Aquin and The Compleat Werewolf, he co-founded, with J. Francis McComas, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. In honor of Boucher’s many achievements, Steven Black and Randal S. Brandt will discuss the life and career of this Bay Area powerhouse in imaginative fiction and will perform one of his San Francisco-based radio plays, The Ghost Town Mortuary. Radio Play: Ghost Town Mortuary Saturday, Mar. 28, 2020 at 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm Koret Auditorium, Lower Level Steven Black is the Head of Acquisitions and Randal Brandt is the Head of Cataloging in the Technical Services Department of UC Berkeley’s Bancroft Library, where Randal Brandt works as the curator of the California Detective Fiction Collection Upcoming SF’s Brand New (Free) Sci-Fi Festival | Feb. 1 – April 30 Events Sun 3/1 SF by the Bay Sci-Fi Festival “20/20: You Decide How It Ends” | SFTue 3/10 SF by the Bay Sci-Fi Festival: Women and Speculative Fiction | SFSun 3/15 SF by the Bay Sci-Fi Film Lecture: Cities of the Future | SFThu 3/19 Sci-Fi Festival: Free Concert “Music From Middle Earth to Tatooine” | SFWed 3/25 SF by the Bay Sci-Fi Festival: Panel Discussion about Philip K. Dick | SFWed 3/25 SF by the Bay Sci-Fi Festival Free Movies: Impostor and A Scanner Darkly | SFThu 3/26 SF by the Bay Sci-Fi Festival Book Reading: The First Star Trek | SFSat 3/28 SF by the Bay Sci-Fi Festival: Zombie Apocalypse & the Utopian Tradition | SFSat 3/28 SF by the Bay Sci-Fi Festival: Radio Play “Ghost Town Mortuary” | SFSun 3/29 SF by the Bay Sci-Fi Festival: The Golden Age of Science Fiction | SFThu 4/9 SF by the Bay Sci-Fi Festival Free Movie: Blade Runner | SFSun 4/12 Sci-Fi Festival: Science Fiction & Fantasy Costume Contest | SFThu 4/16 SF by the Bay Sci-Fi Festival Free Movie: Time After Time | SFThu 4/16 SF by the Bay Sci-Fi Festival Podcast: Our Opinions Are Correct | SFSun 4/19 SF by the Bay Sci-Fi Festival: Tachyon Publications Anniversary | SFWed 4/22 SF by the Bay Sci-Fi Festival: A Talk with Steven Black & Don Herron | SFThu 4/23 SF by the Bay Sci-Fi Festival Free Movie: THX 1138 | SFThu 4/30 SF by the Bay Sci-Fi Festival Free Movie: Star Trek IV “The Voyage Home” | SFDisclaimer: Please double check event information with the event organizer as events can be canceled, details can change after they are added to our calendar, and errors do occur.