This story featured in an anthology that was deliberately and defiantly put together by editor Farah Mendlesohn in response to the Terrorism Act 2006, which was terribly worded and at the time seemed an obvious threat to artistic expression. Seventeen years later, as people remain generally and justifiably concerned by acts of terror, the conversation around ‘free speech’ has somewhat shifted. Latterly there is a school of shallow libertarianism, with its roots in US politics, that seems mostly troubled by threats to free speech, so younger readers may be surprised by this anthology of mainly left-leaning voices calling for a creative protest against the so-called socialist government of the day.
In my opinion, the ‘culture wars’ right now are nothing but a distraction. Most people are in support of free speech, but its suppression can take many forms, including finding dead cats to dominate the narrative.
Back in 2006 though, this anthology was a rallying cry in science fiction circles for those who would battle against a dumbing down of our literature, alongside a dumbing down of society.
This story by Chaz Brenchley was one of my favourites in this fantastic anthology. Brenchley fuses prose and poetry to create a story that depicts the tragedy of the protagonist in words as chiaroscuro does in art. A girl called Shami is a celebrated martyr depicted in “her pomp, in her clothes, in her skin”, sounding almost like a superhero in her costume, while also foreshadowing her violent death. The story is set in a technological future, where citizens are divided into high grade and low grade, to the dissatisfaction of those who find themselves low. Shami is young, and her friends, to some extent are like regular teenagers watching their multimedia screens and thinking about how to be famous, how to get the numbers – and by numbers Brenchley means viewing figures and numbers of victims simultaneously, of course.
Chaz writes beautifully, and deserves to be more widely known as an author.
First published in Glorifying Terrorism, Rackstraw Press, 2006
A Personal Anthology 