International Science Fiction Reshelving Day (ISFRD) is a day each year when science fiction and fantasy readers reshelve all the books that should be in the science fiction section of bookstores but which are not.

For example, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood explores dystopic future in which the United States has been replaced by a theocracy named Gilead, in which women do not possess even basic human rights. Science fiction, right? Not in most bookstores, at least in the United States.

ISFRD is the day when we quietly take these books from where they are shelved in bookstores and reshelve them in the science fiction section. We also place a bookmark in each book, letting readers know that the book was moved and why, and encouraging them to check out other SF books.

Yes. We move books from where they are to where we believe they belong. And we bookmark them so people know why (and so the booksellers can easily put them back so we don’t annoy too many people).

When a genre fiction book is shelved as general fiction, it does a disservice to two types of reason. Those who enjoy genre fiction may not find the book and non-genre readers may not recognize that they might enjoy other books of that genre.

In addition, it reinforced the notion that non-genre books are somehow better than genre books. It does this by suggesting, however passively, that the misshelved genre books are good enough to have escaped the genre sections of the bookstore.

We do not expect to stop misshelving, but we hope to bring attention to the problem. Consider it an act of protest.

Indeed. We know that not everyone will be comfortable moving books around, whether for fear of getting in trouble or just not wanting to annoy bookstore workers. With that in mind, we have some suggestions for alternative techniques for those who want to help, but don’t want to move books.

You can the pdf anytime you like. Alternative bookmarks for non-bookmovers will be available soon.

I suppose that would be fair, but as someone who reads mostly science fiction and fantasy, I don’t get as annoyed with their misshelving problems. Sorry.

As mentioned above, many people believe that general fiction books are better, in some way, than genre books. Some authors take this belief to heart and insist their books are not science fiction or fantasy, despite the evidence of their own words. Publishers think more monetarily and see that, generally, mainstream books make more money. It is also possible that the author, editor, or publisher realizes that some of these books may not do well in the genre section for another reason. Genres, especially science fiction and fantasy, have rich histories and novels that choose to ignore that history can look foolish. As John Clute notes, “any SF reader who looks at [P.D. James'] The Children of Men recognizes that the book is indeed SF, but also that it is very bad SF.”

Yes and no. ISFRD is about reshelving science fiction and fantasy books in bookstores. On the other hand, bookstores generally label the science fiction and fantasy section as simply “Science Fiction.” Since that is where the books in question are going, we went with that term for the name. It’s also shorter, which doesn’t hurt.

November 18th is Margaret Atwood’s birthday.  Given how well respected Atwood is as a writer and how vehemently she has denied belonging in the science fiction section, ISFRD seemed like an appropriate birthday present.

We’ll let her speak for herself:

“A lot of science fiction is fantasy. It’s people flying around on dragons, other worlds of strange life forms. Some of them are quite well thought through, they know what the strange creatures eat, they know that life could be sustainable. Others are just having fun.

“Oryx and Crake is not science fiction. It is fact within fiction. Science fiction is when you have rockets and chemicals. Speculative fiction is when you have all the materials to actually do it. We’ve taken a path that is already visible to us. In 1984 and Brave New World, you could see all the elements that were farther down that particular path. I don’t like science fiction except for the science fiction of the 1930s, the bug-eyed monster genre in full bloom.”

Ansible reports that in 2009, Atwood “told her Edinburgh Book Festival audience that she doesn’t write ’sci-fi’ because her books don’t contain ‘talking squid’.” Also in 2009, she told the New York Times that her books don’t fit the science fiction genre “since there aren’t aliens and spaceships and the other usual things.”

Her perspective has not been well received within the science fiction community:

• Ursula Le Guin addressed it for the Guardian: “She doesn’t want the literary bigots to shove her into the literary ghetto.”
• Robert J. Sawyer commented on it on his blog: “Margaret Atwood doesn’t like to be called a science-fiction writer. Tough beans, says I.”
• Ansible notes Stephen Baxter’s response to the squid comment: “Yikes, it’s all my fault then; I did have talking squids in outer space, in my novel Time. Get a life, woman!” with Jeff VanderMeer adding “I do agree that the disreputable ‘talking squid in outer space’ subgenre is giving sf a bad name. On the other hand, talking squid in a fantasy or postmodern fantasy story are not only acceptable — they’re expected! At least, by me.”

None of this kept Atwood from accepting the Arthur C. Clarke award in 1987 for The Handmaid’s Tale. The award is given to the best science fiction novel from the previous year that is first published in the United Kingdom.

On the other hand, in 2005, in an apparent fit of contradiction, she wrote:

• ‘Aliens have taken the place of angels’ for the Guardian