Sci-Fi Bulletin: Exploring the Universes of SF, Fantasy, Horror and Spy-fi!

It’s May the Fourth… Star Wars Day for fans of the franchise… and London’s Science Museum is marking the event.

A new science fiction writing competition for new writers will be announced, alongside a new events series that will run alongside Science Fiction: Voyage to the Edge of Imagination, the museum’s largest ever exhibition which opens on 6 October 2022. Inspired by the Darth Vader helmet created for Empire Strikes Back, which will be displayed in the Science Fiction exhibition this autumn, the Science Museum welcomed some familiar figures to IMAX: The Ronson Theatre to mark Star Wars Day. Darth Vader, Chewbacca, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Princess Leia and a Stormtrooper visited the museum to celebrate May the Fourth (be with you).

Science Fiction is the most ambitious exhibition ever staged at the Science Museum – in more ways than one. As the exhibition will place visitors at the heart of an incredible immersive science fiction story, the Science Museum is joining forces with Hodder & Stoughton to launch a writing prize to champion new science fiction writers.

 Science Fiction Debuts will open for submissions from 4 June 2022. Applicants will need to submit 10,000 words of the opening of a novel that fits into the science fiction genre and a 500-word synopsis. Writers must be unpublished and not represented by a literary agent, and residents of the United Kingdom. The deadline for submissions is midnight, 30 September 2022. A shortlist will be announced at the Science Museum’s Lates on 26 October 2022, with the winner selected in January 2023 by a panel of authors and industry figures. The winner of the Science Fiction Debuts prize will receive £4,000, alongside a full critique of their work, a six-month-long mentoring programme with Hodderscape Editorial Director Molly Powell, and introduction to three literary agents. The runner up will receive £2,000, alongside a full critique of the work submitted, and the rest of the shortlist will receive a cash prize of £800, and feedback from the judging panel.

Complementing the Science Fiction exhibition this autumn will be an unmissable programme of events, the first of which are now available to book. Discussing the key questions around cyborg technologies, superhumans, time travel and more, industry experts will examine a selection of sci-fi topics in two separate talks at the museum: Are We Turning into Cyborgs? and Quantum Mechanics: Stranger than Fiction? There will also be a live concert from the art-pop trio Stealing Sheep and legendary electronic pioneers The Radiophonic Workshop. Tickets for a special science fiction-themed versions of Astronights, our popular sleepover for children, are also now available to book.   

Science Fiction: Voyage to the Edge of Imagination will invite visitors into a unique story-led exhibition through the world of science fiction. This unforgettable experience begins the moment you enter the exhibition’s departure lounge, ready to blast off into space. Guided through the exhibition by an artificial intelligence of unknown origin, visitors will encounter authentic items from celebrated sci-fi films, television series and literature, as well as significant scientific objects that have shaped modern life. Be dazzled by a gold-plated spacesuit from Danny Boyle’s sci-fi thriller Sunshine, discover how Star Trek’s tricorder provided inspiration to change medicine, see the vicious Xenomorph of Alien and more in this fascinating exhibition.

 Glyn Morgan, Lead Curator for the Science Fiction exhibition at the Science Museum, said: ‘Science fiction invites us to consider the world around us, our impact upon it, and to consider alternatives. Visitors to the exhibition will see examples of bright futures the genre has imagined and be confronted by some of the biggest threats to our existence as we invite them to think about how often dystopian imaginings can help us imagine and create more utopian futures. New writers are the lifeblood of any genre, but in science fiction, where reinvention and innovation is so vital, they are particularly important and I’m delighted that the Science Museum can play a small role in discovering some of the exciting new talent of the future.’

Molly Powell, Hodder & Stoughton Editorial Director, said: ‘From Arthur C. Clarke to Octavia Butler, from Star Wars to Dune, science fiction creators have long imagined and built new worlds to better understand our own, and it is vital we continue empowering them to do so, today and into the future.’

Science Fiction: Voyage to the Edge of Imagination is curated by the Science Museum and designed by Framestore, the BAFTA and Academy Award winning creative studio. The exhibition is supported by the Blavatnik Family Foundation (Major Funder) and Bridget and David Jacob (Supporters).

The live events are:

Stealing Sheep/Radiophonic Workshop: La Planète Sauvage Live Score

IMAX: The Ronson Theatre

Friday 7 October, 20.00

Price: £25

Join art pop trio Stealing Sheep and legendary electronic pioneers The Radiophonic Workshop in the IMAX: The Ronson Theatre for a dazzling audio-visual delight. Both groups will join forces to perform a live reimagined soundtrack set to the visuals of 1973 cult classic science fiction animation feature La Planète Sauvage. The performance is preceded by an on-stage conversation with The Radiophonic Workshop about their work and long career with the performers.

 Are We Turning into Cyborgs?

IMAX: The Ronson Theatre

Wednesday 26 October, 19.30 – 20.45

Price: £10

Are we already part human, part machine? In this panel discussion, speakers Dr Anders Sandberg and Dr Mahnaz Arveneh will examine the fascinating areas of cyborg technologies and transhumanism. As technologies advance at a rapid pace, they’ll question whether some of us might become superhuman, if we may be considered cyborgs already and much more. Further speakers will be announced.

Quantum Mechanics: Stranger than Fiction? Carlo Rovelli and Jim Al-Khalili in Conversation

IMAX: The Ronson Theatre

Tuesday 1 November, 19.30 – 20.45

Price: £10

From Interstellar to The Avengers and Quantum Leap to Star Trek, quantum physics has long been a touchpoint in science fiction film, TV and literature. But what does science fiction get right about quantum theory and what does it get wrong? In this special event, theoretical physicist and bestselling author Carlo Rovelli joins us via live video link for a conversation with physicist, author and broadcaster Jim Al-Khalili on-stage in IMAX: The Ronson Theatre.

Science Fiction Astronights  

14 October, 12 November and 10 December 2022

Price: £70 per person

Age: 7-11

Join us for a night of adventure amongst the museum’s most iconic objects. With workshops, shows and activities – rounded off with breakfast and a trip to Science Fiction: Voyage to the Edge of Imagination – it will be a sleepover like no other.