I don’t dig the event’s name, but I really wish that I could be there for it. A County Darkly: Philip K. Dick in the OC will bring together authors Gregory Benford, Tim Powers, and James Blaylock, and critics Rob Latham and Jeff Hicks to discuss the influence of Dick’s life in Orange County, California on his work. Too far away for me, but I would welcome a comment from anyone who can make it there on May 21. The details are below:
TITLE: A County Darkly: Philip K Dick in the OC
TIME: Friday, May 21, 12-2 PM
PLACE: Humanities Gateway 1030, University of California, Irvine campus
PARTICIPANTS:
Science Fiction Authors:
*Gregory Beford
*Tim Powers
*James BlaylockScience Fiction Critics
*Rob Latham
*Jeff HicksModerator: Jonathan Alexander
ABOUT: This panel presentation will consider the inter-relationship of
Philip K. Dick’s work and his life in Orange County. Spending the last
ten years of his life in the OC, Dick composed some of his most important
SF works here. In many ways, the OC is a peculiarly Dickian space, with
managed communities and a veneer of the unreal. Conversely, Dick’s late
novels (A Scanner Darkly, VALIS, and The Transmigration of Timothy Archer)
seem at least partly inspired by Dick’s life in Orange County. Our
panelists will explore such connections, bringing the work of the
century’s most noted SF author to bear on our cultural imagination of
Orange County, while also bringing our imagination of the OC to bear on
possible interpretations of Dick’s work.A light lunch will be served.
Please RSVP to Ms. Iveta Cruse at icruse@uci.edu by May Monday, May 17, 2010
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