SCIENCE FICTION MADE IN MEXICO: MINIBÚKS SEASON 1
Although there are still those who think that the existence of science fiction in Mexico is unlikely, the genre has an old tradition with strong explosions of good health. The "Syzygies and Lunar Squares" by Manuel Antonio de Rivas, a fable of a trip to the moon dated in the 1770s, was used as evidence for the heretical charges against the friar. A late cyberpunk scene was very active in the late nineties. And there is much to be told (and discovered) in the intervening centuries. Concentrated in Mexico City, Puebla, and the country's northern border, science fiction in Mexico may well be characterized by the comment of MJ Schwarz: "Maybe we don't produce much science or technology, but we do suffer from it." Concerned about labor issues, science fiction in Mexico seems to have well-founded suspicions about high-tech futurism, more occupied by the ways in which technology will be used to control both individuals and the population than by its celebratory and utopian uses, although this trend may be changing now that this genre becomes dominant in the market. Neither soft nor hard, it is above all sharp.
In 2009, the UABC-Tijuana Workshop (e) Media dedicated its first “season” of Minibúks —flipbooks that fit in the back pocket of your pants— to science fiction made in Mexico, and published nine different minibúks with 23 stories by science fiction by Mexican authors from different periods.
The T (e) M students chose the stories and designed the mini-books. One thousand copies of the 9 books were printed and distributed free of charge at conferences and various events. Bernardo Fernández BEF illustrated all 18 covers in less than a month, and kindly donated them to the project. All the authors gave their stories. The series proved to be a useful and entertaining history of science fiction in Mexico, with stories ranging from 1810 to the first decade of the 21st century, especially the winning stories of the science fiction contest organized by T (e) M for the collection. .
The nine thousand minibus flew. Even though CECUT reissued them in 2011, they are now very difficult to find.
A digital edition that brings together all the original material will be published soon.
