We have meetings every Sunday usually at 8pm, either in person or online (Zoom). In person meetings will mostly be at 8pm upstairs in Geek Retreat (27 New Inn Hall St, OX1 2DH).
See below for details, and sign up for the ousfg-announce mailing list to receive a reminder and details for each meeting, including the Zoom connection details. Meetings will also be advertised on the OUSFG Facebook page (the Zoom link for online meetings will be posted on Facebook shortly before each meeting, so look there if you don't have it.)
Also remember that Sunday is the first day of the Oxford Week, so please check the dates if you are unsure.
10 Oct | Sunday | 1st Week | 3pm in person | Chat | Afternoon in the park. Come along to the University Parks between 3pm and 5pm on Sunday to meet the crew and fellow geeky freshers, see what we get up to, and maybe play some silly games. We'll meet near the Keble Road entrance (around here). Look out for us in bright green OUSFG T-shirts. |
10 Oct | Sunday | 1st Week | 8pm Zoom | Chat | Library meeting. If you prefer to meet us online, or would like a virtual "tour" of our library of 600 books, join us between 8pm and 10pm on Sunday on Zoom to chat about life, the universe, and everything. Especially books. (Disclaimer: library not all visible; borrowing books may be difficult due to COVID restrictions; literary quality of some books not guaranteed.) |
17 Oct | Sunday | 2nd Week | 8pm Zoom | Discussion | Desert Planet Books. What are the ten SF and Fantasy books most worth reading and why? OUSFG's traditional first meeting of the year asks you to nominate and vote for your favourite books to establish our ten favourite books for the year! Audience contributions are encouraged, but no worries if you are new to SFF or just feeling a bit shy! This is an excellent place to find out about books that you may not have yet come across, and hopefully introduce the society to hidden gems that we have not heard of. |
24 Oct | Sunday | 3rd Week | 8pm Geek Retreat | Discussion |
Collaborative storytelling discussion, Tentacular Vikings
takes a theme and runs with it as we all work together to write a story.
Previous stories have involved
the real reason the world ended in 2012,
humanity's role in a proxy war between planetary gods,
the St Giles' Fair's role in keeping freshers from disappearing into parallel dimensions,
and finally an explanation for why we keep crashing on that dratted desert planet.
Oh yes, and tentacular Vikings. |
31 Oct | Sunday | 4th Week | 9pm Geek Retreat | Game | Werewolf is a party game about finding a murderous traitor among our number – and perfectly themed for Hallowe'en! We have our own version of the rules, carefully honed over many years. We will meet at 9pm (note unusual time!) upstairs in Geek Retreat (27 New Inn Hall St, OX1 2DH). |
7 Nov | Sunday | 5th Week | 8pm Zoom | Discussion | Philosophy and Science Fiction. Science Fiction is full of philosophical ideas –think The Matrix, Blade Runner, and more. Join Kiran, OUSFG's resident philosopher, for a discussion of SF and philosophy. |
11 Nov | Thursday | 5th Week | 8pm Zoom | Quiz | OUSFG will be taking part in the Oxford Geek Quiz. Please join us and help us compete for the crown of 'the one wot won that year'! You can sign up for this event here to receive Zoom connection details (not OUSFG's usual Zoom room). Also check out the WhoSoc termcard. |
14 Nov | Sunday | 6th Week | 8pm Geek Retreat | Author | M. G. Harris, author of successful children's SF adventures (and OUSFG alumnus) will be speaking to us. |
21 Nov | Sunday | 7th Week | 8pm Geek Retreat | Discussion | Adapting Science Fiction and Fantasy Across Media. Is the book always better than the film? If so, why? Join us to discuss how science fiction and fantasy work differently across film, television, books, comics, games, and more, even when they're telling the same story. |
27 Nov | Saturday | 7th Week | In person | Lunch | We hope to get together for a meal out. If the weather remains OK, perhaps even outdoors. Details TBD, closer to the event. Let us know if you are interested, and what form you would be comfortable with. |
28 Nov | Sunday | 8th Week | 8pm Geek Retreat | Discussion | The next Wondrous Device will be....? Led by Colin, OUSFG's resident mad scientist, we will be discussing improved space travel and other breakthrough technologies which might seem barely removed from magic to Arthur C Clarke's generation. For example in an electrically conducting fluid such as seawater, electric eels appear to have something much closer to Larry Niven's Slaver Power than either Clarke or Niven may originally have thought possible. |
5 Dec | Sunday | 9th Week | 8pm Zoom | Discussion | If you missed Werewolf earlier in the term (or have acquired an insatiable blood-lust, requiring more), we have an online app to allow us to play over Zoom. So that's what we're doing for our last meeting of the term! |