infinity plus
fictions: health and social care re-imagined
an infinity plus project
Launched 21st July 2020; publishing one new story a month for a year
Four SF authors, one artist, twelve stories – exploring near-future issues in health and social care.
Disease tourism, uses of virtual reality in care, widening adoption of self-diagnosis apps... Four authors and one artist, working with the Future Care Capital charity, explore a range of near-future scenarios in health and social care. Starting in July 2020, one story a month takes a key issue and examines its implications for people on the ground: patients, carers, practitioners and all those close to them. Thought-provoking and challenging, Fictions: Health and Social Care Re-Imagined presents world-class fiction intended to inspire debate and new thinking among practitioners and policy-makers.
Information about the project, and about the charity's work, can be found on the Future Care Capital website's Projects area.
| Fictions: the stories | |
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| Fictions contributors: | |
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Keith Brooke's first novel, Keepers of the Peace, appeared in 1990. Since then he has published eight more adult novels, six collections, and close to 100 short stories. For ten years from 1997 he ran the web-based science fiction, fantasy and horror showcase infinity plus, featuring the work of around 100 top genre authors, including Michael Moorcock, Stephen Baxter, Connie Willis, Gene Wolfe, Vonda McIntyre and Jack Vance. His most recent novel, Harmony (published in the UK as alt.human), is a big exploration of aliens, alternate history and the Fermi paradox, shortlisted for the Philip K Dick Award. Keith is editor and coordinator of the Fictions project. |
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Anne Charnock is the author of four novels, published by 47North, including Dreams Before the Start of Time, winner of the 2018 Arthur C. Clarke Award. Her debut novel, A Calculated Life, was a finalist for the 2013 Philip K Dick Award and the 2013 Kitschies Golden Tentacle award. The Guardian featured Sleeping Embers of an Ordinary Mind in "Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Books of 2015". Anne's novella, The Enclave (NewCon Press), won the 2017 British Science Fiction Association Award for Short Fiction. Her writing career began in journalism, and her articles appeared in The Guardian, New Scientist, International Herald Tribune, and Geographical, among others. |
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Vincent Chong is a freelance illustrator and designer living in the UK. Since 2004 he has worked for clients around the world on a wide variety of projects ranging from book and magazine illustration to concept art for film and TV. Vincent has been a recipient of multiple British Fantasy Awards and also a World Fantasy Award for Best Artist. Check out his art and learn more about him at www.vincentchong-art.co.uk and http://vincentchongart.wordpress.com, and follow him on Instagram @vincentchongart. |
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Stephen Palmer is the author of seventeen genre works, including Memory Seed (Orbit 1996), Glass (Orbit 1997), Beautiful Intelligence (2015), Tommy Catkins (2018) and The Conscientious Objector (2019, described by the Guardian as "Stunningly inventive ... a thought-provoking and thoroughly offbeat alternative history of the first world war"). His short stories have been published by Wildside Press, Spectrum SF, Newcon Press, Solaris, PS Publishing and others. In 2019, Newcon Press published a collection of short stories, Tales From The Spired Inn, set in the world of Memory Seed. |
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Liz Williams is a science-fiction and fantasy writer living in Glastonbury, England, where she is co-director of a witchcraft supply business. She has been published by Bantam Spectra, Tor Macmillan and Night Shade Press, and her work appears regularly in Asimov's Science Fiction and other magazines. She has been involved with the Milford SF Writers' Workshop for 20 years, and also teaches creative writing at a local college for Further Education. Her novel Banner of Souls was shortlisted for the Philip K Dick Award, along with three previous novels, and the Arthur C Clarke Award. |
Future Care Capital is a UK charity whose main aim is to drive debate and policy formation in the areas of health and social care. As part of this, they fund relevant projects, including this story series, and are active in advising in parliament and elsewhere:
"The charity aims to facilitate and stimulate a national debate around health and social care provision. As a provider of insight and analysis, FCC will use campaigns, policy papers and a supporting programme of events to inform public policy. FCC also has a keen interest in how technology can transform health and social care outcomes, which will be a focus of its policy activities and wider partnership work."
All stories will be published free online on the FCC website.
Contact:
Principal contact for all press and media queries, etc, is the project's coordinator and editor, Keith Brooke (contact Keith Brooke).
Contributors and members of the FCC team are available for interview.
