John Seymour

Chaz Brenchley

Sean O'Brien

Julia Darling

Chrissie Glazebrook

Margaret Wilkinson

Kevin Cadwallender

Linda France

The Book of Newcastle

Claire Malcolm

'So What Kept You?' brings together 14 of some of the most exciting writers from the UK, USA and Eastern Europe in a celebration of the influence of two short-story masters - Anton Chekhov and Raymond Carver.

New Stories Inspired by Anton Chekhov and Raymond Carver

So, what Kept You?

Adam Roberts

Frank Cottrell-Boyce

Sarah Schofield

Toby Litt

Lucy Caldwell

Julian Gough

Claire Dean

Stuart Evers

Robin Yassin-Kassab

Martyn Bedford

Zoe Lambert

Adam Marek

Joanna Quinn

Andy Hedgecock

K.J. Orr

Annie Kirby

Dinesh Allirajah

Computers are changing. Soon the silicon chip will seem like a clunky antique amid the bounty of more exotic processes on offer. Robots are changing too; material evolution and swarm intelligence are creating a new generation of devices that will diverge and disperse into a balanced ecosystem of humans and ‘robjects’ (robotic objects). Somewhere in between, we humans will have to change also… in the way we interact with technology, the roles we adopt in an increasingly ‘intelligent’ environment, and how we interface with each other. The driving motors behind many of these changes will be artificial life (A-Life) and unconventional computing. How exactly they will impact on our world is still an open question. But in the spirit of collective intelligence, this anthology brings together 38 scientists and authors, working in pairs, to imagine what life (and A-Life) will look like in the year 2070. Every kind of technology is imagined: from lie-detection glasses to military swarmbots, brain-interfacing implants to synthetically ‘grown’ skyscrapers, revolution-inciting computer games to synthetically engineered haute cuisine. All artificial life is here. Featuring scientific contributions from: Martyn Amos, J. Mark Bishop, Seth Bullock, Stephen Dunne, James Dyke, Christian Jantzen, Francesco Mondada, James D. O'Shea, Andrew Philippides, Lenka Pitonakova, Steen Rasmussen, Thomas S. Ray, Micah Rosenkind, James Snowdon, Susan Stepney, Germán Terrazas, Andrew Vardy and Alan Winfield. Supported by TRUCE (Training and Research in Unconventional Computation in Europe).

Stories From an A-Life Future

Beta-Life

The latest application of contemporary neuroscience to therapeutic work. There is an increasing clinical focus on how recent advances in neuroscience, attachment, and trauma can be applied to treating patients with a history of early neglect. Margaret Wilkinson draws on her extensive clinical expertise as a master therapist to explain the role of the mind-brain relationship in therapeutic change.

Changing Minds in Therapy: Emotion, Attachment, Trauma, and Neurobiology (Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology)

Zoe Gilbert

Robin Ince

Ian Watson

Anneliese Mackintosh

Sandra Alland

Annie Clarkson

Marie Louise Cookson

Featuring leading scientists acting as consultants on the stories, and writing scientific afterwords, bringing the theory featured in the stories to life, including Prof. Sarah Bridle (Jodrell Bank), Prof. Jonathan Wolff and Prof. Frank Jackson (the inventor of the 'Mary's Room' thought experiment). Science is always telling stories. Whether in the creation myths of evolution or the Big Bang, or in the eureka moments of science history, narrative – just as much as metaphor – is a key tool in the scientist’s surprisingly literary toolkit. Perhaps the most interesting use of story is the thought experiment, the intuition pump, that draws on the most instinctive parts of the imagination to crack otherwise perplexing problems. From Newton's Bucket, to Maxwell’s Demon, from Einstein's Lift to Schrödinger’s Cat – all are examples of 'fiction' being used at the highest level, not just to explain, but to deduce, to prove. In this unique anthology, authors have collaborated with leading scientists, to bounce literary, human narratives against purely theoretical ones, alloying together real stories with abstract ones, to produce truly extraordinary results. Full list of thought experiments: The Twin Paradox, The Grandfather Paradox, Maxwell's Demon, Laplace's Demon, Mary's Room, The Chinese Room, Schrödinger's Cat, Galileo's Boat, The Infinite Monkey Typing Pool, Einstein in a LIft, Einstein Chasing a Beam of Light, Newton's Bucket, Olber's Paradox.

Fictions and Hypotheticals

Thought X

Jessica Andrews

J. A. Mensah

Crista Ermiya

Angela Readman

Glynis Reed

Degna Stone

The original Northern Powerhouse, Newcastle upon Tyne has witnessed countless transformations over the last century or so, from its industrial heyday, when Tyneside engineering and innovation led the world, through decades of post-industrial decline, and underinvestment, to its more recent reinvention as a cultural destination for the North. The ten short stories gathered here all feature characters in search of something, a new reality, a space, perhaps, in which to rediscover themselves: from the call-centre worker imagining herself far away from the claustrophobic realities of her day job, to the woman coming to terms with an ex-lover who’s moved on all too quickly, to the man trying to outrun his mother’s death on Town Moor. The Book of Newcastle brings together some of the city’s most renowned literary talents, along with exciting new voices, proving that while Newcastle continues to feel the effects of its lost industrial past, it is also a city striving for a future that brims with promise.

Margaret Wilkinson

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