Book Chat: Meet the Mieville Authors, Part 2!

The Bibliothèque held another fun & informative Book Chat presentation today, this one called "Meet the Mieville Authors, Part 2." Many thanks to our attendees today and last week!  

Today we covered the remaining six Victorian-era folks - phew! We developed this event in conjunction with Mieville's Literary Street Fest at Grasshopper Street, still running through Aug. 24 - go visit! The site is beautiful and the merchant market has lots of lovely unique items for sale!

Bibliothèque Book Chat: "Meet the Mieville Authors, Part 2" - Photo by Farzy

The second batch of sims that our founder Perryn Peterson added to Mieville were all in place by 2011. These were: 

• Poe (named for Edgar Allan Poe)
• Lovelace - surprise! (named for Ada Lovelace - sim later renamed)
• Kipling (named for Rudyard Kipling)
• Stevenson - surprise! (This sim was named for Robert Louis Stevenson — alas, the sim is defunct)
• Dickens (named for Charles Dickens)

Finally, Lovelace was redesigned and renamed (sometime between 2012 and 2014) as:

• Chesterton (named for GK Chesterton)

The presentation today covered a LOT of territory. These people led very interesting lives and produced great works, and each had a style of their own. 

So.... how well do YOU know these Mieville authors?  It's time for our fun facts and quiz!

• Only three of the above were actually Victorian authors through and through. Can you name which ones?
• One of the people here was not a literary author at all! Do you know who that is?
• Three of the people here were best-known during their lifetime for a different profession, NOT for being an original creative writer (short stories, poetry, novels). Who are they and what were their professions?
• Two of the people were not successful in their lifetimes but achieved much fame, recognition, and honors after death. Can you name them?
• Someone here had a major fall from grace and their literary reputation is in decline. Gasp - who is it?!

Do you have any favorite authors here? What works of theirs have you enjoyed?

Let us know if you have answers / comments - just reply to this post! We will love to hear from you!

The Bibliothèque at Mieville Twain has books by all of these authors except one — that being the person who didn't write any books! All of our Victorian-era literature is up on 2nd Floor of the Bibliothèque.  You can also use our card catalog to see which books we have and where they are located in our two very full buildings!

        Bibliothèque's card catalog - Photo by Farzy

We will be offering more Book Chats in the future; one is definitely in the works for Mieville's upcoming Renaissance Hunt! Please stay tuned! If there is interest and time, I may be able to repeat session(s). I love doing these Book Chat events. 🥰📗📘📕🥰 Best to you all!

Your friendly Mieville librarian & historian,

~ Farzaneh

Book Chat: Meet the Mieville Authors!

The Bibliothèque held a fun Book Chat presentation this past Saturday called "Meet the Mieville Authors." Much like the classes that Perryn used to do, lots of info and illustrations were shared on the Victorian-era authors for whom the original five Mieville sims were named. This event was offered in conjunction with Mieville's first-ever Literary Street Fest, hosted by Grasshopper Street!

      Bibliothèque Book Chat: Meet the Authors, Aug. 12, 2023 - Photo by Silver

In case you're a bit rusty or newer to Mieville, the five original sims were: 

• Doyle (named for Arthur Conan Doyle)
• Verne (named for Jules Verne)
• Wells - surprise! (This original sim was named for H.G. Wells, later renamed "Lakes")
• Shelley (named for Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
• Twain (named for Mark Twain)

All of these five sims were in place by 2009! Perryn's original idea for Mieville was to create a Victorian Steampunk community. Reviewing the five authors here, here are a few fun facts and questions: 

• Only two of the authors were actually Victorian authors through and through! Do you know which ones?  
• Shelley is the only remaining Mieville sim that was named for a woman. Do you know any previous Mieville sim(s) named for a woman?
• Only two of these authors actually wanted to be literary authors and enjoyed writing. The others did not think their writing was their most important work! Who were the two who wanted to be literary authors?
• Can you name which of the authors became famous public intellectuals during their lifetime?
• Besides the names, does anyone know any explicit connections between the sims and their namesakes? For example, was there anything particularly Sherlock Holmes-y going on at the Doyle sim, or Frankenstein-y stuff at Shelley? 
• And have you read any of these authors? Do you have a favorite? 

Let us know your questions & answers to any of these - just reply to this post! We will love to hear from you!

We had a lot of fun and learned a lot about each of these authors, their lives and works, narrative strategies, and so on. And I'll put in a plug for the Bibliothèque: we have books by all of these authors in our collections, ready for you to read and enjoy right here in SL! Visit us — you'll find them up on 2nd Floor of the Bibliothèque, plus you can also search our card catalog for other titles! 🥰📗📘📕🥰

I'm working on Meet the Mieville Authors, Part 2 (sequel!) so we can learn about five more Victorian-era authors for whom Mieville sims past and present have been named - stay tuned!! If there's interest, I may offer reprise presentations too. Just let me know!

Your friendly Mieville librarian & historian,

~ Farzaneh