Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Tribute to Michael Moorcock
This last weekend at the Nebula Awards, Michael Moorcock was officially named the 25th Grandmaster of the Science Fiction Writers of America. My pal John Picacio was asked to give a tribute speech before Moorcock was introduced, the full text of which John's now put online at his blog.
John solicited testimonials about Moorcock from a heavy hitting group of writers--Neil Gaiman, Jeff Vandermeer, Jeffrey Ford, China Mieville, and Alan Moore, to be precise--and for some reason deigned to have me be the "and puppet show..." in that lineup. I am only glad he didn't put my little tribute after the pyrotechnics of China's quote.
In any event, here is my contribution to John's speech, read aloud before the attendees of the Nebula Awards banquet, God, and all his angels while I fidgeted self-consciously in a borrowed chair...
(pictured above, L to R, back row: Kyrinn S. Eis; Chris Roberson; Sanford Nowlin; Linda Moorcock; Traci and John Picacio; foreground, seated: SFWA Grandmaster Michael Moorcock)
John solicited testimonials about Moorcock from a heavy hitting group of writers--Neil Gaiman, Jeff Vandermeer, Jeffrey Ford, China Mieville, and Alan Moore, to be precise--and for some reason deigned to have me be the "and puppet show..." in that lineup. I am only glad he didn't put my little tribute after the pyrotechnics of China's quote.
In any event, here is my contribution to John's speech, read aloud before the attendees of the Nebula Awards banquet, God, and all his angels while I fidgeted self-consciously in a borrowed chair...
"I was never quite the same after discovering the novels of Michael Moorcock in my suburban high school library. Elric, Cornelius, Bastable, and the rest of the multiversal gang expanded my brain into dimensions that I didn't even know existed. I wasn't the first to fall under his spell, and I won't be the last. As writer and editor Moorcock has changed the nature of fantasy itself, expanding the definition of what fantastic literature is, and the uses to which it can be put. He is the brightest light in my own personal constellation of influences and inspirations, and I continue to labor in his shadow."And here's a photo ganked from John's blog, taken a short while before the ceremony.
(pictured above, L to R, back row: Kyrinn S. Eis; Chris Roberson; Sanford Nowlin; Linda Moorcock; Traci and John Picacio; foreground, seated: SFWA Grandmaster Michael Moorcock)
# posted by Chris Roberson @
9:05 AM
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You crack me up, man. Your words were an essential part of the puzzle, and much appreciated, especially on the short notice that you and the other authors gave them. I seem to remember this blurb from Mike a few years back -- "“Chris Roberson is one of that bold band of young writers who are taking the stuff of genre fiction and turning it into a whole new literary form -- a form for the 21st century." I don't think Mike shoots stuff like that out for just anyone....
Believe me....you belonged. :)
Believe me....you belonged. :)
FWIW, I though all the testimonials were fantastic; honest and from the heart. And the delivery was good, too, if I might say so.
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