Last night saw the first event of the Afrofuturism season at the Watershed. The main item was a screening of Sun Ra: A Joyful Noise, a rare film about the amazing jazz musician, Sun Ra. The film was preceded by a short discussion involving Edson Burton, the curator of the Watershed events, and two guests from across the pond: Ytasha Womack and Floyd Webb. Sadly they were only able to attend by Skype, and the sound quality wasn’t always great, but I was very happy to get to hear Ytasha at last. I highly recommend her book, Afrofuturism, and am still distraught that it just missed out on being a finalist for Best Related Work this year. I know a lot less about Webb because he works mainly in film, but he certainly knew his black SF.

Sadly I had to leave to catch a train part way through the film. I also missed out on the dance party that was staged after the film by some of my colleagues from Ujima Radio. I’ll also miss out on Courttia Newland’s flash fiction workshop because I’ll be in Cheltenham tomorrow. However, I hope to be at BristolCon’s Fun Palace events on Sunday, and I see that there’s a film about George Clinton in the evening. Also, next Wednesday Edson will be in my studio to talk about Afrofuturism. I can guarantee that there will be plenty of that funky stuff.