Lemistry

LEMISTRY. A Celebration of Stanislaw Lem
Date(s)	2011-09-09
Begins	18:30
Ends	20:00
Location(s)	British Library
Participants	John Gray, Toby Litt, Wojciech Orliński, Ari Folman, The Brothers Quay. Chaired by Rosie Goldsmith
Organizer	British Library and the Polish Cultural Institute in London
Website
http://www.polishculture.org.uk

A truly great European writer, Stanisław Lem (1921-2006) transcends both Polish literature and his chosen genre science fiction. Best known for his twice-filmed novel Solaris, he was a virtuoso storyteller who packed his writing with philosophy, comedy, and allegory.

This evenings rich celebration in his honour features contributions by writers John Gray, Toby Litt and Wojciech Orliński, and film makers Ari Folman (currently filming Lem's The Futurological Congress as follow up to Waltz with Bashir) and The Brothers Quay (authors of Maska based on Lem's short story). Chaired by journalist and critic Rosie Goldsmith.

The discussion and film screenings are accompanied by a book launch of Lemistry. A Celebration of the Work of Stanislaw Lem published by Comma Press (August 2011) - a collection of essays and short stories inspired by the work of Stanislaw Lem featuring a number of new stories written by contemporary Polish writers, translated into English, as well as handful by British authors - celebrating Lem's influence. Apart from short stories inspired by Lem, the collection includes three short essays by scientists - a computer engineer, a molecular biologist, and a nanotechnologist - commenting on how accurate and ahead-of-their-time Lem's visions were. All of it is published alongside some samples of Lem’s work to prove the importance of his shorter work, re-establish his importance as a scientific visionary, and draw more critical attention to his work in general.

Presented in association with the Polish Cultural Institute in London