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Brewing Community is a series of guest posts in which readers, writers, artists and fans are invited to share their experiences of community. Whether online or in person, these groups bring a great deal of support and sometimes stress to their members. The aim of Brewing Community is to share the joy and find ways to brew stronger communities.

The series first ran in 2015. In returning to it after several years, I wanted to focus on how these experiences of community may have changed in recent years, and how people would like to see them change, as well as delving into what books and media have brought comfort in difficult times.

My first guest is, to borrow his own phrase, a force for Genre Goodness. Paul Weimer is a prolific, Hugo-nominated reviewer. I’ve had the very great pleasure of working with him both at The Skiffy and Fanty Show and now at Nerds of a Feather. He’s the sort of person who builds community wherever he goes — introducing people and enthusiastically sharing their work — and he has been a fantastic mentor to me.

( Interview with Paul Weimer )

A 2021 double Hugo Finalist (Best Fan Writer and Best Fancast) and the 2017 Down Under Fan Fund Delegate from North America to Australia and New Zealand, Paul Weimer has been exploring and talking about genre since the early days of blogs. Having honed his genre reviewing and criticism skills at the award winning SF Signal blog and podcast, Paul Weimer now writes for (and podcasts at) The Skiffy and Fanty Show, SFF Audio, Nerds of a Feather and Tor.com. He is the writer of “What I did on my Summer Vacation: The 2017 Down Under Fan Fund Report”, which set a record for number of photos in a fan fund report of any type in addition to documenting the National SF conventions of New Zealand (Lexicon 3) and Australia (Continuum 13). And of course, a visit to Hobbiton amongst many other adventures.

Paul Weimer lives in a city lying between Minneapolis and St. Paul in Minnesota, USA, where the long winters provide plenty of time to read as well as plan his photographic adventures. He is best found on social media sites, from Twitter to Instagram to Discord under the name princejvstin, and his website is http://www.princejvstin.com

The Down Under Fan Fund is designed to promote connections between fandoms in Australasia and North America. This year DUFF will send one delegate from Australiasia to Worldcon in San Jose in August. Voting is open to all interested fans, regardless of nationality. It closes 31 March.

Marlee Jane Ward is the sole candidate this year and joins me today for an interview.

First and most important: what’s your favourite beverage?

If we’re talking alcoholic, I’m a cider kind of gal. Non-alcoholic – I’m a coffee drinker. It’s lucky I live in Melbourne.

How did you get started in Australian SFF fandom?

I became huge fan of Aussie SFF in my YA days, there was some great stuff coming out in the nineties, so I cut my teeth on Isobelle Carmody, Victor Kelleher, and Gillian Rubinstein. The highlight of my last few years was the Speculative Fiction Festival at the NSW Writers Centre in 2017, getting to spend time with Cat Sparks, John Birmingham, Margo Lanagan, Garth Nix – I was fangirling so hard, I didn’t even care. I started taking writing seriously because I was so inspired by the Aussie SF scene, especially at the NSWWC Spec Fic festival in 2013, where I met so many writers I’d been reading and hearing about for years. I’ve tried to make it to Continuum every year since I’ve lived in Melbourne – it’s a great con and I love being part of the SFF community here.

What Australian speculative fiction have you recently loved?

Ida by Alison Evans. I was so into that beautiful, quiet, evocative story. I liked Cat Sparks’ Lotus Blue, especially the vivid landscapes. I adored Jane Rawson’s From the Wreck, I love how her work integrates genres like it’s nothing. And of course, my partner Corey J White’s novella Killing Gravity, aside from my obvious bias, it’s such a rad story, right up my alley.

You’ve been very open about your journey with mental illness. What are your thoughts on the way mental illness is portrayed in science fiction?

Honestly, I don’t see it much. I could be reading the wrong books, but I don’t know. It seems like a forgotten aspect of life when it comes to SFF. Could that be because of stigma? I guess that’s why I’m so open about it, to normalise it and start on erasing the stigma. I want to see people managing and thriving with mental illness, because that’s my story, and everyone wants to see bits of themselves in fiction.

What’s coming up next for you?

I just finished the third book in my Mirii Mahoney series, I’m working on some short stories, writing a memoir I’m not sure I’ll do anything with, planning my next novel, and generally trying to keep afloat as a writer. When I think of the future, it’s just pacing myself out to write more books, which doesn’t leave room for a lot else!

What are you most looking forward to about WorldCon 76?

Making new friends! Seeing old friends. Learning new things and discovering new authors. I’m especially looking forward to the specific creative buzz you get from being around creative people – I think that’s the thing I like the most about cons.

Marlee Jane Ward is a writer, reader and weirdo from Melbourne. She’s a Clarion West alum and her short fiction can be found at Terraform, Aurealis, Apex, Interfictions, and more. Her debut novella, Welcome To Orphancorp won the Viva La Novella Prize and the Victorian Premier’s Award for YA Fiction. She likes cats, babes, and making a spectacle of herself.

Mirrored from Earl Grey Editing.