A Roof of One\u27s Own: Widow Walking in the Anthropocene

A nonfiction work that explores widow\u27s walks in a time of climate change on the coasts. This piece walks the lines between speculative fiction and lyrical essay

Teaching Speculative Fiction in College: A Pedagogy for Making English Studies Relevant

ABSTRACT Speculative fiction (science fiction, fantasy, and horror) has steadily gained popularity both in culture and as a subject for study in college. While many helpful resources on teaching a particular genre or teaching particular texts within a genre exist, college teachers who have not previously taught science fiction, fantasy, or horror will benefit from a broader pedagogical overview of speculative fiction, and that is what this resource provides. Teachers who have previously taught speculative fiction may also benefit from the selection of alternative texts presented here. This resource includes an argument for the consideration of more speculative fiction in college English classes, whether in composition, literature, or creative writing, as well as overviews of the main theoretical discussions and definitions of each genre. In addition, this work includes a short history of speculative fiction, bibliographies of suggested sample themes for each genre, sample course syllabi and assignment/activity suggestions, and strategies for obtaining and using hard-to-find texts for prospective teachers

An Exploration of Alternate Realities: Women\u27s Contemporary Speculative Fiction

Speculative fiction was one of the last genres of fiction to receive a strong female presence. Until very recently, women authors had a select few genres available to them including romance, mystery, and children’s fiction. This is surprising when we consider that one of the earliest and important works of speculative fiction is Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. One appeal early speculative fiction had on female readers and writers was its element of escapism. Women have often taken a submissive role, behind men. The escapism offered in speculative fiction showed what could be, if things were different, often to the betterment of women. The works of three authors including Octavia Butler, Marion Zimmer Bradley, and Anne Rice are used. The thesis provides a thorough analysis of trilogies written by all three authors. It is argued that these writers use speculative fiction as a window into worlds of alternative roles of power and independence to women whom are denied these roles. These three authors examine changes in social structure based on race, gender, sexual preference, and androgyny

Exploring the Intersectional Experiences of Minority Female Authors of Speculative Fiction

This creative thesis seeks to understand how the intersectional experiences and history of minority female authors of speculative fiction have impacted the content, style, and response to the works they produce before incorporating the understanding of that background into a speculative fiction short story. Representing diverse voices through the paradigm of intersectionality, which posits that social identity is a function of multiple, interwoven factors such as race and gender and the relationship of those aspects of social identity with wider social power structures, is a way of acknowledging the role of minority female authors in the speculative fiction genre. The first portion of this thesis describes the historical representation of minority female authors in speculative fiction and its relationship to the emergence of four waves of feminist thought in mainstream American society and how the social forces that facilitated those outbreaks of feminism also infiltrated the genre of speculative fiction from the 1970s to the present day. The background component of this thesis also includes a review of the backgrounds themes of three current authors of speculative fiction, Nalo Hopkinson, N.K. Jemisin, and Benjanun Sriduangkaew, extracting some general themes and examples of intersectionality within their bodies of work. The conclusion of the first section discusses the nature of the creative work which comprises the second component of the thesis

To Boldly Go: Guiding Your Patrons To the Best of Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature

Learn about the best resources to provide expert reader’s advisory services for patrons who read speculative fiction. The presentation will cover reference materials, internet resources, and free sources of the latest in speculative fiction available online

Why speculative fiction? A few side notes on former and contemporary readings

Works of speculative fiction are among the most often chosen cultural texts. Article indicates several possible reasons of their popularity, such as breaking stereotypes and thinking patterns, inspirations for new solutions, tales of traditional values, chances to immerse in the world of imagination. Dressing an attractive “costume” and speaking an understandable “language”, speculative fiction tells about matters important to the audience. It helps not only to “get away” from reality, but also to reconcile to it and to shape it.Works of speculative fiction are among the most often chosen cultural texts. Article indicates several possible reasons of their popularity, such as breaking stereotypes and thinking patterns, inspirations for new solutions, tales of traditional values, chances to immerse in the world of imagination. Dressing an attractive “costume” and speaking an understandable “language”, speculative fiction tells about matters important to the audience. It helps not only to “get away” from reality, but also to reconcile to it and to shape it

Speculative Fiction in Native American Indian Literature: Active Resistance to Female American Indian Stereotypes

Native American authors who are actively seeking to disrupt patriarchy and colonial narratives tend not to write in the literary genre of speculative fiction, which is a literary form that often serves to subvert Indigenous identities through colonial pedagogy of racial, sexual, and gendered clichés. I argue that the Native American voice, both male and female, is a form of active resistance to the master narrative, and those voices are changing how Native American Indian communities view their histories and identities through contemporary speculative fiction. I also assert that Native American authors are examining the multiplicities and conflicts of their identities through the genre of speculative fiction, which cultivates new critical theories for Native American literatures. Through an extensive literary review of Blake Hausman’s novel, Riding the Trail of Tears, and a textual reading of the female protagonist, Tallulah Wilson, I suggest that commonly held stereotypes of Native American Indian women are undergoing a radical and empowering movement through speculative fiction narratives

​Plenty​: a speculative fiction

This project, a hypertext science fiction story entitled “Plenty,” aims to explore our relationships to labor, leisure, and technology. Hypertext, a form of interactive fiction, resembles a choose your own adventure story, but incorporates digital elements which wouldn’t be possible on the printed page. Set in a fully automated, post-scarcity world, the story aims to spark reflection and critique of current systems of labor and global capital. The work also exists in conversation with a broader framework of game critique, including examinations of interactivity, immersion, and ludology

Hilary Word

Originally from Jackson, Mississippi, Hilary earned her undergraduate degree in history from Tougaloo College. As a life-long fan of speculative fiction, mythology, and folklore, Word has always been fascinated with the concept of the real versus the “unreal” and the supernatural. Thesis project: “Post-Soul Speculation: An Exploration of Afro-Southern Speculative Fiction”https://egrove.olemiss.edu/csscgrad_portraits/1004/thumbnail.jp

Nonhuman findings from the laboratory of speculative sociology

This work of speculative fiction and commentary describes a laboratory focused on human sense and affect. The laboratory is alive with computational capacity, recursively elaborating and generating data. The very notion of recording data is radically reconceived through this speculative fiction, as it points toward a new materialist sens/ability and new forms of social science