The Spoons That Are My Ears!

A month or so ago, a charity anthology was published with the theme of ‘anti-Fascism’. It’s a big theme, almost certainly too ambitious for any anthology to deal with properly or even in part. Also there’s bound to be a certain lack of clarity as to what fascism constitutes; and how can a worthwhile opposition be mounted against something that lacks strict definition? And yet... The theme of Never Again is still one of the most important of any anthology that has come to my attention in recent years. I believe that one of its editors, Joel Lane, has stated that genre fiction is among the most reactionary of all kinds of fiction, and I'm sure he's right in that assessment. But why is genre fiction so reactionary?

The ultimate problem, I fear, is that a form of 'fascism' (with a lowercase ‘f’) is a basic part of human nature. I suspect that a form of 'socialism' is also a basic part of human nature but I conclude that the fascist part is stronger and more elemental than the socialist part. So the first step in opposing fascism requires an effort of conscious will against our own dark emotional drives; and this fight must take place before the greater outer struggle can commence. I am in constant struggle with my own emotions and urges. True morality consists in using your reason to overrule your emotions when your emotions are inappropriate -- an extremely difficult task that causes angst. Without angst any moral decision isn't really moral. The struggle is internal first, external later. For me it means overcoming my own hotheadedness and impetuosity.

We need to ask: what good will such an anthology as Never Again do? What effect will it have? Will it convert any readers with fascist tendencies to a more tolerant outlook? Very unlikely. So what is the point of it? And what is the point of writers saying they they "support" the cause of this book? My own view is that the main good that will come of this anthology is that the editors, contributors and readers will have “nailed their colours to the mast” -- in other words made a clear unambiguous statement of intent (their opposition to fascism). That's not much of an achievement really, but it is something; and every such statement in the world of genre writing is important.

While this anthology was in the process of being compiled, a rather unpleasant incident occurred which has soured me towards certain corners of the writing world. A brace of small-time writers attempted, rather clumsily, to sabotage the book. Ask yourself why anyone would want to sabotage a project devoted to combating fascism? The obvious conclusion is that the writers in question must be fascists. That makes sense: it’s something I can understand. But no, it turned out that those writers wanted to sabotage the project because they hadn’t been invited to contribute to it. Imagine that! Unable to contribute to a cause they claimed to believe in, they tried to derail the cause, simply because of egotism and narcissism. That’s a rather absurd irony and needless to say I have decided to have nothing more to do with those responsible for such behaviour.

The above photograph of Never Again was sent to me by Allyson Bird, the other joint editor of the anthology. I have an eccentric rule that I like to use unique photographs of the books that I try to promote, rather than the publisher’s own images. I don’t know why I invented that rule for myself but I intend to stick to it. Never Again is published by Gray Friar Press and features 23 stories by such authors as Ramsey Campbell, Joe R. Landsdale, Stephen Volk, Nina Allan and Gary McMahon. My own story ‘Rediffusion’ is also a part of the mix. All profits from sales go to The Sophie Lancaster Foundation.

I talk about some of my favourite anti-fascist stories in more detail here.