24. What do the letters "PJF" after Steven Brust's name mean?
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This article is from the rec.arts.sf.written FAQ, by Evelyn C. Leeper evelynleeper@geocities.com with numerous contributions by others.
24. What do the letters "PJF" after Steven Brust's name mean?
PJF = Pre-Joycean Fellowship
The name is modelled on that of an artist's group named the
Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. A number of writers have appended it
including Brust, Emma Bull, Will Shetterly, Jane Yolen, Pamela Dean and
Neil Gaiman (this is not an exhaustive list). Many, but not all of
them are members of Minneapolis Fantasy Writer's Group, the
Scribblies.
In the words of Pamela Dean, here is roughly what the PJF is trying to
do:
"... we are trying to undo the separation of the so-called popular
values and traits in literature (which probably include straight-
forward narration) and the so-called literary values and traits
(which probably include stream-of-consciousness writing). We don't
always succeed; we don't always try; we don't feel that writers
doing other things are evil. But we are trying to reunite, in our
work, the popular and the literary. Every one of us has a different
definition of those terms and a different notion of how what we are
trying to do should be accomplished."
Will Shetterly adds:
"Good FAQ, but, uh, what's this Minnesota Fantasy Writer's Group? The
Scribblies are either just the Scribblies, or they're the Interstate
Writer's Workshop (which isn't true anymore since all the current members
are in Minnesota, but that was our excuse for calling ourselves the
Scribblies)."
And later:
"I keep fighting the impulse to discuss this semi-seriously. I think I've
lost. Unfortunately, I wrote a couple of messages which I discarded and a
couple which I posted, and I can't remember what was in which. So here's
the very latest attempt at the full history of the PJF:
I may be wrong, but I believe the name was my invention. It was primarily
a joke inspired by the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. A number of us were
fond of talking about how frustrating it is that bookstores, academics,
and readers have a tendency to divide stories into the categories of
fiction and literature, or story and art, or fun and serious work. We like
the stuff that does both, like (everyone's favorite, especially Pamela
Dean's) Shakespeare, who includes fart jokes for the rich and powerful and
poetry for the people (and vice versa, of course). We tended to think this
tendency to contentedly divide writing into two camps blossomed after
Joyce, whose work has a great deal for the educated reader, but can be
rather frustrating for the ignorant one. Keep in mind that when I either
created or agreed to the title of PJF, I did that as someone who likes
Joyce's writing a great deal (I haven't tried FINNEGANS WAKE, and am in
no hurry to do so). In retrospect, it might've been better to use James
than Joyce, or it might've been better to accept the label of
"post-modern," which describes our intentions as well as any label. But
also keep in mind that this was never meant to be a serious movement; it
was an excuse for a few friends to get together and argue about books. We
only succeeded in having one meeting at a bar, where we had fun but didn't
really talk about books much, and then it would've all been forgotten if
Steve hadn't decided to put "PJF" after his name on one of his books, just
as some of the PRB did when signing their paintings. So it's an
accidentally serious group that's still primarily a joke."
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