Nova Scotia Vol 2 anthology, edited by Neil Williamson and Andrew J. Wilson, is now available to order! It celebrates the depth and breadth of Scotland's dazzling science fiction and fantasy landscape from its haunted islands to its transformed cities and everything in between. Jenni Coutts created the gorgeous cover art.
You can order the book on its own, or buy the bundle anthology deal - both from the Luna store.
Today we'd like to introduce you to Ever Dundas and the story "Helpline Zero".
About the author:
Ever Dundas exists in Edinburgh with her husband, cat, and numerous house spiders. She’s co-founder of the Inklusion Guide and her debut novel Goblin won the Saltire First Book of the Year Award 2017. Her second novel, critically acclaimed sci-fi thriller HellSans, was shortlisted for the Scottish National Book Awards 2023. She’s working on her third novel, which is a love letter to music.
Blog: www.everdundas.com
Ever on the story:
I’m a big fan of the cut-up and erasure techniques; it’s a powerful way to engage with text, especially if those texts come from a place of power. Previously, I altered a dehumanising DWP disability benefits letter, which was very cathartic, and for Push the Boat Out’s celebration of Summerhall’s history as a vet school I cut up and rearranged website articles, transforming the Summerhall building into a living creature in need of veterinary care.
In the case of "Helpline Zero", there’s some surreal humour involved in the alteration of a vaccination appointment letter, conjuring a strange world where it’s possible to remove your face. Most of my work involves unfixed identities, so it was fun to play with that via this governmental letter, especially as the state often attempts to impose fixed identities. The techniques of cut-up and erasure are wonderful ways to defamiliarise humdrum and bureaucratic texts, transforming them into science fiction or fantasy, or turning routine horrors into a different kind of horror.
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