Robot FRIENDs, The New Scientist Book Club, & Genre Night at The Leaf Bookshop!

Hey, pals!

I’ve got some really exciting things to share with you: an exhibition about robot friends that I’ve been waiting for months to yap about; Every Version of You being the New Scientist Book Club read for November, which is just wild and special; and a fun event at The Leaf Bookshop, where we’ll be chatting all things genre fiction!

When senior curator Jemimah Widdicombe reached out to me in late 2024 to help with research for a new feature exhibition at the National Communications Museum, it was an instant yes. I was lucky enough to join an early-stage workshop where we conjured up a maelstrom of wacky ideas about robot friends.

A year later, it’s so cool to see those early themes echoing throughout the exhibit. Attachment, companionship, delight, intimacy, ritual, bodies: these are the ideas that anchor FRIEND and make it such a unique experience.

FRIEND isn’t about humans dominating machines or machines dominating us. Rather, it’s about how robots can make us *feel*…and how that might make us better people.

If you visit the exhibit, you’ll find my piece, A Hideout for Runaway Robots, next to Pepper, the extremely sweet and wise humanoid robot. I wrote four mini-stories featuring four robots (KiMo, Rii3, DAWEI, and Callisto). You can also access my stories via the NCM’s Knowledge Hub.

Within FRIEND, you’ll also find a Furby chorus, cute furry robots to pat and be nibbled by (yes), a Doomscroll dream machine, a giant teddy bear having an existential crisis, Olympic shooter Kim Ye-Ji’s shooting glasses and elephant towel (!!), and so much more.

FRIEND is showing until April 2026. You can find out more and get tickets here.

Phew, I can’t believe I got to type that. It’s incredibly exciting and nerve-wracking to be the November read for the New Scientist Book Club. I got to write a piece titled “If you could upload your mind to a virtual utopia, would you?” for the New Scientist about the science of uploading (or lack of!), how I was inspired by the Ship of Theseus conundrum, and whether I’d upload myself.

You can read an extract from my book here and sign up to the New Scientist Book Club if you’re interested. I’ll be doing an interview with them later this month!

Genre fiction is such an important but sometimes overlooked part of literature. This event is all about celebrating science-fiction, crime, fantasy and romance. These wonderful genres give us whole new worlds to explore, happily ever afters to swoon after, unbelievable concepts to ponder and mysteries to keep us on the edge of our seats.

I’m so excited to chat about sci-fi at this cosy event at my local bookshop! Plus, there’ll be drinks and nibbles. You can grab a ticket here or in-store. Hope to see some of you there!

I hope you’re all well, and not being completely inundated by the busyness of November. Every year, I forget how this month creeps up and then jumps on top of you—everyone trying to get everything done before December downtime and end-of-year shenanigans. Here’s your friendly reminder to put aside that to-list (or better yet, tear it up), choose a chair (preferably near a window, or even outdoors), and sit for five minutes, doing nothing. I promise you, it’s worth it.

Until next time,

Grace