Future Continous

The winner of the literary prize “Future Time” in 2019 was the scientific journalist and writer Elena Kleshchenko , author of the story “The Verment of the hanged” (the text can be found on the network: [ 1 ]). Note that her book “DNA and Her Man” recently entered the short list of the Enlightener Award.

The theme of scientific and fiction stories stated by the organizers this year is a supplemented personality and the results of the use of body and consciousness development technologies. More than a thousand authors from 31 countries competed. The main prize amounted to 500 thousand rubles, the finalists received 100 thousand rubles. The Organizer of the Prize is the Charity Fund "System", established by the investment company AFK System.

The correspondent of the TRV-FLOW Maxim Borisov asked questions to the winner about the prize and science fiction in general.

- Tell us, please, how did the idea come to participate in the competition? How long have you been working on the story? It was written specifically for the competition?

- Specially, although the idea appeared long before the competition. I work on the PCR.News portal, and my duties include the selection of scientific news for the tape. So every morning I am looking for the most interesting publications on molecular biology and medicine, this is my dream work. At some point, I saw the publication in Nature Medicine about Google-Oski with special software, which helped to recognize human emotions to children with an autistic spectrum disorder [ 2 ]. I thought that she would not refuse the glasses that explain this strange world to me. Then I thought that this device should be very difficult, that it is a good adviser - it should seem alive and reasonable to a person. And the more time this device will be in use, the more human -like features will acquire itself, and from here obvious plot opportunities follow. However, I don’t know when I was going to write such a story if they had not chosen a “supplemented personality” with the theme of the competition. This could not be missed. This summer I had little free time-on the scientific and medical portal with a news feed there is no concept of “work ended”, in addition, my book was nominated for the “enlightener”, and I also helped a little “chemistry and life”. Therefore, the story was written in the evenings in the first half of August, almost until the last hour before the deadline.

-What were inspired when writing, are there any roll calls with ideas from other works, stylistic and genre parallels? (It seemed to me that there is something from Cyberpan ...)

- There is probably parallels. We cannot write about the interface of the brain brain and not to remember the founders, starting with the “neuromant” or, say, “The Girls who were connected” by James Tibutri Jr.-this story, for a minute, was written half a century ago. However, I tried, as far as possible for a biologist of non-membrane orientation, to peep less in fiction and again more in scientific magazines. The difference between the NF and the so-called entourage fiction, in my opinion, lies here: even if science fiction writers have arranged everything right at home, it is better to construct their world on his own. In addition, we, unlike the founders, live in the era of a neurocomputer interface, I myself wrote about these works as a scientific journalist. For a fantastic plot, this is at the same time good and bad: more texture is available, less opportunity to surprise.

- What is more important to you from your classes - scientific popularization or fantasy? How natural is this combined, helps - or do these classes interfere with each other? And scientific work is already finally in the past?

- I have a scientific work in the last millennium, from the department of molecular biology of the biofacment of Moscow State University, I have passed into “chemistry and life” in the nineties, since then only scientific journalism. Scientific is more important in the sense that this is a profession, a work book, a salary, this is what I like to do and brings recognition, these are people who look at the world just like me. In general, as for the salary, very few fantasy writers in the Russian-speaking space are exclusively fed their literary work. But I love science fiction. This is a joy, it is a different view of the world that serious people cannot afford, those for whom “fantasies” is something inappropriate. I love both the reader and I didn’t abandon it, although I honestly say, sometimes I was going to.

- What genres in science fiction do you prefer as a writer as a reader? (I had previously read your novel “Bird over the City” - and this is clearly “City Fantasy.”) Did I have to get myself over for the competition? Will there be a continuation in this direction? Did a new impulse give the contest in this sense?

-This is the fact that they know me as the author of fantasy and female yum-fanta, symptomatic. I always loved science fiction and always tried to write, from the high school of the school. But the reaction of publishers and critics to these attempts can be characterized by the words “chain of failure” and “one disorder”. But with fairy tales, historical and urban fantasy, everything turned out differently. I am sending a story to a large publishing house, without any connections and acquaintances, at the official address - it is taken to a collection, I write a fun book about city werewolves - applause and success, I write a fairy tale about the professor of Snape (I do not think that to write fan fictions, I love stylization) - like, Cher, repost, and for many I am still the same Kleshchenko, who wrote Severoshchenko, who wrote Severoshchenko, which wrote Severzhenino, which wrote Snape and a disgusting potion ”, and not the author of something about DNA there. Even the long -suffering “heirs of Faust”, who have not been issued on paper, nevertheless read and love, this year the novel received the “Running along the waves” in special minimization. And only the NF is an enchanted place where it does not dance in any way. Either someone jinxed me, or her.

The first option is that something is wrong with me and it is better to write-after another major failure, I examined very seriously and came to some conclusions. But with science fiction in the Russian Federation, too, something is wrong. I have been asked about this several times, I will answer again: it seems to me that the reason may be a fall in the prestige of science. Fiction is a genre that calls the reader to a wonderful country, as Alexander Green said. Middle -earth, Earthmorye, afternoon of the Strugatsky brothers or the eerie future of Alfred the Bester - not always in that country everything is benevolent, but it is interesting. Science in Russia has long ceased to be an interesting country, not for me, for the reader. Something, on the one hand, is dull and threatening (GMOs, “continuous chemistry”, Chernobyl, a collider with a black hole, continue to taste), on the other hand-a prestigious industry with low salaries. Absolutely failed setting. And by the way, in states where people perceive science more positively, and the situation with the Sin-Fixes is different. I know examples when people younger people write fantastic stories and even a large form immediately in English. Not from the conjunctural reasons, but simply it seems more natural, in English it is easier. Sadness, but they act in a sense correctly.

Now the perception of science in Russia has begun to change, that the enlighteners have already felt on themselves and what they - that is, we - contributed as much as our weel. Let's hope that it will reach the science fiction writers, and then their task will not miss the wave. And withstand competition with scientific, of course. I do not want to name numbers, but my book about DNA is sold much better than any of my fantastic books.

- What do you think of other works entering the competition?

- While I managed to read only Andrei Stolyarov, I liked it. It is interesting that his advice is served by a supercomputer, one for the whole state, and in my story - personal devices. When I read, I thought that both options should exist in the future-both the omniscient and personal guardian angels, the peak of the evolution of the smartphone, the account on the social network and the Google Disk. And, perhaps, these “angels” sometimes, or not sometimes, will play against the supreme supercomputer. Take, for example, a well-known story with Roskomnadzor and Telegram and approximate it into the future ... But, by the way, Andrei Stolyarov, a man more and more, on his Facebook writes that the future depicted in the winning stories does not cause any interest or sympathy ”[ 3 ]. This is a problem.

- What else can you focus on modern NF?

- In my opinion, the best foreign samples. For stories from the competition, including mine, so far early. Peter Watts, Paolo Bachigalupi ... Also, if anyone did not have time to read the foreign NF of the previous decades, now is the time. And that is, people who did not read Gibson. I have already listed samples of our new NF in one of my previous materials for the TRV-hobby [ 4 ], since then it has not been added much. On the other hand, as you know, an attempt to copy black swan itself does not become a black swan, so you do not need to copy. The authors who could write NF and do it in their own way-when and if it becomes interesting, necessary, in demand-we have. As they say, Lois Budzhold in the Cryiojoy, when the work is located, there are people for her, there is peace on that.

Laureates of the competition. Photo by A. Konstantinov Photo by A. Konstantinov Photo by A. Konstantinov Elena Kleshchenko with her husband, Andrei Konstantinov

- Will this competition lead to a surge of interest in the NF or is it a single, strange and hopeless attempt?

- Continuation, of course, is waiting. The project is not completed, next year there will be a new competition, the winner, as I understand it, is supposed to work in the jury. I hope that next year the stories will be stronger. Many experienced authors are skeptical to new competitions, there were precedents that the contestants promised miracles, huge bonuses and glory, and all ended with zilch. Our science fiction writers, those who have not yet abandoned this hobby, are disinterested and enthusiastic, are ready to competently compete for a symbolic prize, but when they promise and deceive, this is disgusting, and no one loves this. Having burned in milk, they blow on the water: as luck would have it, one fraudulent competition, sensational a couple of years ago, was science fiction. However, now the “Future Time” contest has passed twice, the awards were awarded, the 2018 collection has come out, it seems, we can believe that everything is serious. I would venture to assume that the freebie has ended and in 2020 it will be more difficult to win.

-What did you like in the organization of the competition, what could be done differently, are you waiting for any continuation?

- The organization’s organization impressed clear observance of terms and in general clarity. The presentation ceremony was perfectly directed, I liked that we heard the opinion of every referee. I would like to know more about how the selection of stories in Long List is going on-I am the coordinator of the fiction contest “Chemistry and Life” and I know well that this is a non-trivial task. And I would issue a provision on the competition not in the form of an official document, but in the form of a classic FAQ, questions-answer for the most confused and late for the deadline. Again, from the experience of the coordinator: outwardly, a simple case of uploading a file into a competitive form has many rakes. Who knows how many creative personalities did not get to Long due to technical errors.

I must say that this is not the first attempt to revive the Russian NF in my memory, and in several I personally participated. In short, there was a kind will, there were smart organizers and gifted authors, but the environmental resistance was felt. Neither echo, nor response, no smile in response, nothing, with the exception of friendly likes. This time the sensation is different. As if someone is really interested in what is happening. I hope that it does not seem to me. If you dream-suddenly something will move in the world and society, a sufficient number of interested people will gather together, and what happened, for example, with fantasy in the 1990s: a surge of interest, the literary “Cambrian explosion”, the mass emergence of a new one. Most, as it always happens, is rejected by a natural selection, but something will remain for a long time.

Elena Kleschenko
Talked by Maxim Borisov

Prize site:
Bf.Sistema.ru/futureTense2019