“You need each other”, writers tell artists and scientists

Six of the UK's top science fiction writers are calling for scientists and the creative community to work more closely together to improve the credibility of their work. The University of Manchester's Geoff Ryman and David Kirby are coordinating efforts to balance scientific practice and knowledge with the demands of story telling. A letter by writers Ryman, Justina Robson, Simon Ings, Alastair Reynolds Paul McAuley and Ken MacLeod appears today in the influential online arts journal The Manchester Review, published by University's Centre for New Writing. It is published alongside an essay by Ryman on the topic. The move comes as leading figures in the world of science and the arts gather at The University of Manchester this week to discuss how best to guarantee the scientific credibility of fiction, film, television and the arts. Ryman is himself a leading science fiction writer and creative writing lecturer and Kirby is a senior lecturer in science communication studies at the University's Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine(CHSTM). The academics believe Britain risks falling behind the United States where organisations such as The Science and Entertainment Exchange have been successfully operating since 2009.