Imagination and Identity

Today’s podcast episode surrounds the concept of imagining and one particular genre: science fiction. Although the conversation focuses on one specific genre, the subject elicits questions about what writing within a particular genre does for your work. Which genres do you write in and what ways do they help you imagine? Does writing in a particular genre open doors to reimagine reality?

 

Questions

1. How do you learn craft between workshops, writing classes/seminars, reading and practice? What do you think the right balance when it comes to learning craft? Do you ever feel out of balance and why?

2. The question Octavia Butler was often asked: What good is science fiction to Black people?” 

 

Show Notes

• Octavia Butler, Positive Obsession essay can be found here: https://www.loa.org/news-and-views/1779-octavia-e-butler-positive-obsession 
• Samuel R Delaney, The Motion of Light and Water, https://www.eileenmcginnis.com/blog/2018/10/19/turn-and-face-the-strange-samuel-delany-queering-science-fiction-queering-fatherhood
• Check out the wonderful world of Helen Oyeyemi here: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/80808.Helen_Oyeyemi 
• Robert Jordan, Wheel of Time, https://www.goodreads.com/series/41526-the-wheel-of-time 
• Crystal Wilkinson again! - https://www.crystalewilkinson.net/
• Hurston-Wright Foundation (https://www.hurstonwright.org/) has some upcoming workshops for emerging Black writers definitely worth checking out 
• Lighthouse Writers Workshop - https://www.lighthousewriters.org/ 
• Neil Gaiman, American Gods, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30165203-american-gods 
• Deep Reading taught by Michael Duszat, The Reader Berlin, https://www.thereaderberlin.com/weekend-workshop/the-deep-reading-workshop-with-michael-duszat/ - sign up for this class whenever it is on next!
• E.M. Forrester, A Passage to India (not voyage!), https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45195.A_Passage_to_India 
• Toni Morrison, Paradise, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5198.Paradise?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_14 - "They shoot the white girl first. With the rest they can take their time." - what a line!
• Eimear McBride, A Girl Is a Half-Formed Thing,  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18218630-a-girl-is-a-half-formed-thing?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=69SsZIKOJh&rank=1 
• Experimental Writing for Non-Experimental Writers  was facilitated by Porochista Khakpour  (https://porochistakhakpour.com/) via The Center for Fiction  (https://centerforfiction.org/groups-workshops-all/) 
• Brittany’s amazing VONA instructor for Fiction, Mathangi Subramanian,  https://www.mathangisubramanian.com/ 
• VONA- https://www.vonavoices.org/
• Rooted and Written Poetry Cohort - https://rooted-written.org/ led by Tonya Foster (https://tonyafosterpoet.com/)