Imagine a Future
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“I’m always writing about the same thing, which is the human condition.” — Terry Brooks, fantasy author, WorldCon 2025 Hello friends, I’m writing this from WorldCon—the World Science Fiction and Fantasy convention—in Seattle Washington. I’ve listened to some interesting panels and talks so far: on Indigenous futures, on Afrofuturism, on the unsung heroes of the space program and magical systems in fantasy, plus some indie publishing business panels. I’ve talked with writers and readers both, and the thing I’m thinking about now is how to live in multiple worlds at once Science fiction and fantasy literature both talk about living in alternate worlds, straddling and building cultures, and creating actual worlds. This speculative literature talks about cultures based in mythology, and cultures based in science. The reality is of course, that all cultures are based around what it means to be human. And that’s a core question for us all, isn’t it? Strangely, the thing that got me thinking about this wasn’t so much the panels or the conversations. What got me thinking about living between or among multiple worlds is the environment of the conference itself. WorldCon is in a huge convention center. Just navigating the space and all the people makes me tired. This made me wonder: how often do we allow ourselves entry—or push ourselves—into alternate worlds? What does it take for us to do that? Does this activity energize us or enervate us? Are we excited and interested, or bewildered and fearful? Or are we some combination of all of the above? Most of us lead ordinary lives. We brush our teeth and wash our hands. We go to sleep. We work. We talk with friends or family. We read books and listen to podcasts… We’re doing all of this—the making of tea and the making of beds—in tandem with grocery prices that rose by close to 40% in one month. We’re doing this in the midst of the National Guard and police and immigration agents roaming the streets brutalizing and kidnapping people. We’re doing this in the midst of multiple genocides happening. I could go on, but you understand, I’m sure. Now, it is a sign of my privilege and my particular cultural upbringing that I have not had to live in such a state on a daily basis for most portions of my life. Some people have lived in a war zone since birth. Others have had their culture stolen and stripped from them since long before their birth. But… What does it say about humanity that somehow, so many have navigated these alternate and often conflicting realities and managed to survive? Humans have managed to create. We have shared food and stories with each other. We have shared ideas and culture with each other. All of that, my friends, is what is required of us right now. We need this ability to live in sometimes divergent or clashing realities while sharing our dreams and fears with each other and holding out for a vision of a future where converging realities and cultures do not have to clash, but instead, form something new. Something beautiful. We still have the ability to make this real. That is what the literature of the fantastic reminds me of, every time I open a book and let myself be transported into someone else’s imagination. There is a future worth dreaming, my friends, as long as we still breathe. What do you think about that? Best wishes — Thorn
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T. Thorn Coyle
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