Star Pavilion Saturday 2023

Ever wondered how science becomes fiction? Join poet, playwright and essayist Lisa Minerva Luxx, screenwriter, editor and author Courttia Newland and award-winning physicist Dr Rob Appleby as they come together in conversation with publisher Ra Page to discuss Collision: Stories from the Science of CERN.

This short story collection published by Manchester independent publisher Comma Press is a unique collaboration pairing a team of authors with physicists at CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research. From the possibilities of interstellar travel using quantum tunnelling to first contact with antimatter aliens, the trio talk about exploring these scientific steps through fiction and essays.

Collision: Stories from the Science of CERN is available at all good independent book shops
and the Comma Press website here: https://commapress.co.uk/books/collision

Lisa Minerva Luxx is a poet, playwright, essayist, and political activist of British and Syrian heritage. Her work is broadcast on Channel 4, BBC Radio 4 and TEDx. Her poetry and essays are also published worldwide. Her short stories are published by Comma Press, who will be publishing her short story collection Sun Son in 2024.

Courttia Newland is an editor, screenwriter, and author of eight books including his much- lauded debut, The Scholar. His most recent novel, A River Called Time, was longlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize.

Dr Rob Appleby is a Reader of physics at the University of Manchester, a member of the Accelerator Physics group and of the Cockcroft Institute. His primary research interest is the physics of particle accelerators, including the motion of particles and new accelerator concepts, and he has worked for many years on the Large Hadron Collider and particle accelerators for cancer treatment. He has previously been a consultant on Comma’s Litmus and When It Changed anthologies.

Ra Page is the CEO and Founder of Comma Press. Ra has been recognised by the h100 Awards for the last two years running (2019/2020) for his contribution to the Publishing & Writing industry in the UK, and was included in The Bookseller 150 list in 2020, their annual guide to the book trade’s most influential figures.

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