Graves Room

A pleasant room in St Johns College, with big fucking French windows.

Geoff Ryman 'performed' most of his short story 'V.A.O.' here, before it had been published.

Almost had a Science Fiction Bums (and Comp Soc?) meeting here with Cory Doctorow; someone asked for directions, putting the porters onto us and the meeting had to be held on the grass outside. Why exactly weren't we allowed to use the room, again?

Right, basically SJC (and possibly other colleges too, officially) requires advance warning and some cash (around £20) if outside speakers are coming. We have known this in the past, but have avoided making our meetings too obvious by not bringing along many outsiders. I'm not sure if this is an aversion to college being used for money-making purposes (we're none-profit) or for insurance reasons (although how having Cory Doctorow, who could probably pass for a post-grad, and twenty random blokes sitting in a room is different from having twenty-one random mates of mine in a room, which is considered acceptable, is beyond me). Anyhow, we probably shouldn't use this room for author meetings for a few terms, as the porters are likely to have my name on a list of shifty-looking types for a while. MF

We've got a file on you! -- MI5?, feat The St John's Porters

Directions

The Graves Room is in Sir Thomas White Quad.

1. Enter college through the main gate on St Giles.
2. Exit the Front Quad through the passage on the left, between hall and the chapel.
3. Go through the next quad
4. Go past the Bee Hive and the SCR? (currently covered in scaffolding)
5. Go through the passage into Sir Thomas White Quad (tall and concrete).
6. There are steps slightly behind you and on your right, leading down to a sunken lawn. Go down them.
7. The Graves Room is at the end of the building on the far end of the lawn, and has French windows.

Category OUSFG Location