Fusion - Joan Lennon

I like fusion.  I like the way unlikely, different things bump up against each other and result in something else that is unlikely and different in a different and unlikely way.

I like Bardcore (as of really recently, as I didn't know it existed before then) - a fusion of medieval and pop (or in this case country) music:

I like Newen Afrobeat - a heady mix of Fela Kuti and Brazilian music:

In my own writing, I'm interested in the places where poetry and prose meet and mingle.  At the moment, I'm working on a narrative poem about 3 women living on Fair Isle at different times, and my narrative poem Granny Garbage is a post-apocalyptic science fiction monologue.  MY YA novel Silver Skin has been described as a historical fantasy science fiction adventure romance, which is a mouthful that always makes me smile.

But, in recent years, when doing author events in schools or festivals, I've found I'm being asked more and more questions about genre, frequently to the approving nods of attendant teachers.  What genre do you like to write?  What genre do you like to read?  What's your favourite genre?  

When I try to answer with suggestions that I don't really think about genre that much, or that maybe it's more to do with shelving problems than with books themselves, I haven't had a lot of approving nods.  But I don't start to write a genre.  I start to write a story.  And that usually means a fusion of all sorts of things.

So, fellow readers and writers, what do you think?  What role does genre have to play in your world of books?  Let's talk!

Joan Lennon's blog.
Granny Garbage.
Silver Skin.