Bob Beard

Margaret Atwood and Hieroglyph Authors Explore Climate Fiction

July 30, 2015 in Hieroglyph

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Global Day of Action Climate March in South Africa, 2011

Science fiction often heralds a change in our collective understanding of the world. From H. G. Wells’ The Time Machine to Toho’s Godzilla, the genre has provided us guideposts as well as enormous flashing yield, slow, or stop signs to help us navigate the path forward. Today, the rapidly expanding subgenre of “cli-fi” is beginning to fulfill this dual role of helpful guide and warning signal.

Cli-fi (following the naming convention of “sci-fi”) is climate fiction, and like the Victorian and Atomic Age analogs mentioned above, it asks its audiences to imagine and react to a future shaped by forces on a global scale – in this case, the disruption of ecological and social systems through climate change and other forms of environmental degradation. (To learn more about climate change, and the role of storytelling and art to shape our responses to it, visit the Imagination and Climate Futures Initiative at Arizona State University.)

The growing popularity of this genre might also serve as a teaching moment. In a new think-piece, Margaret Atwood wonders if cli-fi might “be a way of educating young people about the dangers that face them, and helping them to think through the problems and divine solutions?” It’s a noble goal, and many of Atwood’s fellow authors are rising to the challenge.

Medium.com’s digital magazine Matter is publishing a series of cli-fi short stories and essays by authors, scientists, reporters, and others, responding to Atwood’s challenge of grappling with a world shaped by climate change. You’ll see some familiar faces too, including Hieroglyph contributors Bruce Sterling and Charlie Jane Anders and Hieroglyph editor Ed Finn (seriously, that guy is everywhere).

We’re super excited about these ideas, and we look forward to exploring them with you. To that end, we’ve set up a new cli-fi conversation on the forums as a space for all of us to discuss, unpack, interpret, and share our big ideas around the intersection of climate change, human civilization, and speculative storytelling. See you on the boards!

 

Image courtesy of Oxfam International, used under a Creative Commons license.

Author
Bob Beard is a fan of fandom. From Browncoats to Bronies, SCA members, Trekkers, Steampunks and more, Bob is passionate about understanding the performance and identity practices within various fandoms as well as creation of experiences for members of these groups to publicly advocate for themselves and their ideas. Bob is a Marine Corps veteran and double alumnus of Arizona State University, with a master's degree in Communication Studies and a bachelor's degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with a humanities emphasis.

The Hieroglyph Reading List: Tell Us Your Favorite Visions of the Future

July 28, 2015 in Hieroglyph

A few days ago, a Hieroglyph community member directed our attention to a poster in their library called The History of Science Fiction, by the artist Ward Shelley. In the image, Shelley maps the genealogy of science fiction and all of its branches and sub-genres to create a tentacled amoeboid. It’s exactly the kind of thing our staff geeks out over.

Our friends over at Slate published a wonderful interview with Shelley a while back, wherein he describes his process for creating the map and his discovery that the development of science and the science fiction stories that describe it are frequently linked. Certainly, this notion is at the core of Project Hieroglyph – how we might engineer the future through the stories we tell today and how science fiction sometimes translates to science fact at an increasingly incredible rate. Some of the ideas put forth in the Hieroglyph anthology and this very website are amazingly prescient while some others might be closer than we think, as we wait for technology to catch up with our imaginations.

The good news is that there’s no lack of imagination or sources of inspiration. Over on the Project Hieroglyph forums, our community is talking about the stories, books, and fictional universes that have shifted our perspectives and might act as a launch pad for future innovation. We’ve compiled a great list so far, including volumes from Stephen Baxter, Ursula LeGuin, and Shirō Masamune…in addition to the many requisite mentions of The Foundation Trilogy (yes, it’s worth every ringing endorsement).

It’s a great start to be sure, but as Shelley’s poster demonstrates, science fiction is an expansive genre and we’ve only just begun. That’s why we’re looking for your help. For the next few weeks, the Hieroglyph team will be crowdsourcing a list of inspiring science fiction stories. We’re not necessarily looking for a top 100 list, but rather a discussion of books and stories with ideas so grand that they haunt our imagination with possibility. After all, some of the most thrilling and unexpected ideas and visions of the future might appear in books that never crack the “best of” lists.

We invite you to join the conversation and share your opinions with the rest of the wise and well-read Hieroglyph community. Tell us why our omission of Zelazny is so egregious or why we need to get our hands on everything by Octavia Butler right now. It’s a fun discussion with fellow science fiction readers, and you’ll no doubt emerge with more suggestions to add to your “to-read” stack. Plus, everyone who contributes to our growing list will be entered into a drawing to win a copy of the Project Hieroglyph anthology just for weighing in.

So what are you waiting for? Sign up, or just head over to the forums, and start sharing today!

 

Photo courtesy of Wonderlane, used under a Creative Commons license.

Author
Bob Beard is a fan of fandom. From Browncoats to Bronies, SCA members, Trekkers, Steampunks and more, Bob is passionate about understanding the performance and identity practices within various fandoms as well as creation of experiences for members of these groups to publicly advocate for themselves and their ideas. Bob is a Marine Corps veteran and double alumnus of Arizona State University, with a master's degree in Communication Studies and a bachelor's degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with a humanities emphasis.