Sunvault: Stories of Solarpunk and Eco-Speculation
edited by Phoebe Wagner & Brontë Christopher Wieland
Table of Contents
Foreword: On the Origins of Solarpunk
Andrew Dincher
Editors’ Note
Phoebe Wagner & Brontë Christopher Wieland
Hand Over the Future
Clara Ng
Please
Chloe N. Clark
The Boston Hearth Project
T.X. Watson
Speechless Love
Yilun Fan, trans. S. Qiouyi Lu
Strandbeest Dreams
Lisa M. Bradley and José M. Jimenez
Facing the Sun
Bogi Takács
Teratology
C. Samuel Rees
Eight Cities
Iona Sharma
Radio Silence
Carlin Reynolds
The Sailor-Boys
Brandon O’Brien
Dust
Daniel José Older
The Death of Pax
Santiago Belluco
light sail star bound
joel nathanael
Synthesis: This Shining Confluence
Bogi Takács
Solar Powered Giraffes
Jack Pevyhouse
Pan, Legs Resting
Sireesha Reddy
Last Chance
Tyler Young
The Desert, Blooming
Lev Mirov
The Seven Species
Aleksei Valentín
The Trees Between
Karyn L. Stecyk
Boltzmann Brain
Kristine Ong Muslim
Solar Flare
Christine Moleski
Fairy Tales & Other Species of Life
Chloe N. Clark
The Road to the Sea
Lavie Tidhar
The Reset
Jaymee Goh
Pop and the CFT
Brandon Crilly
You and Me and the Deep Dark Sea
Jess Barber
Thirstlands
Nick Wood
Solar Child
Camille Meyers
Through the Glass
Leigh Wallace
recursive
Bethany Powell
The Colors of Money
Nisi Shawl
The Herbalist
Maura Lydon
Sunharvest Triptych
Sara Norja
A Catalogue of Sunlight at the End of the World
A. C. Wise
Her Own Captain
Likhain
About the Contributors
About the Editors
Acknowledgements
Books by Upper Rubber Boot
Copyright Information
Foreword: On the Origins of Solarpunk
Andrew Dincher
As a genre, science fiction (SF) has a contentious history. Some would argue that the genre began with the utopian narratives of Early Modern Europe such as Sir Thomas Moore’s Utopia, while others argue that it began with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. On the other hand, some would argue that SF was a unique creation of the late 19th century, beginning with the works of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, then skyrocketing (pun intended) to popularity in the 1930s with the creation of magazines like Weird Tales, Amazing Stories, and Astounding Science Fiction.
Regardless, SF has a unique ability to speculate on the future of human, and in some cases other than human, existence. Though it would be a mistake to say that all SF examines the negative outcome of human civilization in dystopian and post-apocalyptic narratives, many of the most widely-read SF stories highlight the struggles of humanity in an already apocalyptic or dystopian world.
In steps solarpunk, a new movement in SF that examines the possibility of a future in which currently emerging movements in society and culture such as the green movement, the Black Lives Matter movement, and certain aspects of Occupy Wall Street coalesce to create a more optimistic future in a more just world. In the words of Sir Isaac Newton, however: “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.” Like Newton, the solarpunk movement stands on the shoulders of giants—giants of science fiction.
By its very nature, SF pushes the boundaries of the imagination; speculating on the future, altered pasts, and wildly discordant presents. Throughout the 1950s and into the early 1960s, an era commonly referred to as the “golden age” of science fiction, SF writers speculated on possible worlds and, in a more general sense, adhered to plausible hard SF stories. Authors such as Arthur C. Clarke, Robert A. Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, and Alfred Bester all wrote hard SF with an emphasis on the possibilities of the future. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, however, SF began focusing more on the soft sciences with a movement now known as the “new wave.”
Authors such as Samuel R. Delany, Philip K. Dick, Harlan Ellison, James Tiptree, Jr., and Joanna Russ (just to mention a few) were some of the forerunners of the new wave. They wrote stories that focused more on the human condition in technologically advanced worlds and focused less on science and technology. This is not to say that authors such as Heinlein and Clarke didn’t also discuss the human condition and that authors such as Delany and Russ didn’t think about technology. But rather there was a shift in the overall tone of SF moving towards the social sciences.
Several pivotal SF novels, however, focused heavily on ecological and environmental themes. Frank Herbert’s Dune, a transitory novel that fits somewhere between the new wave and the golden age, explored the idea of a galactic struggle for “Spice,” a substance that expands consciousness allowing for precognition and faster than light travel. Dune also dealt with the ecology of an entirely desert planet and the struggles of human civilization to survive and adapt in a harsh and unforgiving world.
Similarly, other SF authors have dealt with ecological and environmental issues in their fiction. Ursula K. Le Guin, a new wave writer, deals with environmental and ecological topics in several of her works. “Vaster than Empires and More Slow,” for instance, is a short story that discusses the possibility of an alien planet covered with vegetation that is, in and of itself, a single thinking, living, sentient being. Kim Stanley Robinson, who is currently writing environmental SF, in his novel 2312, sets up a dilemma in which humanity is able to terraform other planets such as Mars and Venus, but is yet unable to heal the wounds done to Earth through climate change. All of the ice on Earth has melted and New York—a still functional city—has been flooded, making it a “Super Venice.”
These authors also tend to deal with social issues involving the environment. 2312 follows many of the conventions that will be used by solarpunk authors by dealing with environmental justice and imagining a solar system in which humanity has found a way to be responsible with its environment. It could almost be considered a solarpunk novel, but since it pre-dates solarpunk, its place in the canon is unclear. Regardless, 2312 is a perfect example of what solarpunk embodies.
Out of these various incarnations and phases of evolutionary twistings and turnings, solarpunk has emerged. As a genre, it sits atop the shoulders of past science fiction visionaries. No one can know exactly what this new genre is destined for, but its origins are clear.
Editors’ Note
Phoebe Wagner & Brontë Christopher Wieland
In the fall of 2015 when we first met, we immediately bonded over a love of genre work in all its forms. But something was missing from the work we were reading. While discourse on the environment dominated the media and our thinking (we had just begun Iowa State’s MFA in Creative Writing and Environ
ment), we didn’t see these global concerns addressed in the SF we were consuming. Often, the environment was an antagonist, already destroyed to the point of no return, or simply not a consideration. So we began our search for work that treated the environment as a central concern and attempted to find solutions to environmental needs.
We found many burgeoning styles of environmental SF, but none fit our sensibilities like solarpunk. The term traces back to a small, inspired Tumblr community around 2014, but the movement has since blossomed. Solarpunk emphasizes innovative interaction with both our communities and our environment; socio-environmental thought and creation, rather than merely survival in a decaying world, inspire the solarpunk attitude. When we discovered the genre, no unifying collection existed to introduce solarpunk to the wider SF community. We wanted a venue where artists of all brands could convene to share their ideas and interpretations of the environment in their communities and beyond, and that’s what we hope Sunvault: Stories of Solarpunk & Eco-Speculation has facilitated.
The stories, poems, and art gathered here represent this effort to offer solarpunk to the world for interpretation and dialogue. We didn’t know what to expect when submissions opened, and that’s what excited us. To be the first to witness the birth of a new wave of solarpunk and solarpunk artists is a great honor. After reading over two hundred submissions from across the world, we have done our best to select the most interesting, inventive work inspired by solarpunk and the changing, growing world around us all. We are happy to see these stories represent a vibrant spectrum of ideas, solutions, and places.
If there’s one thing we hope Sunvault accomplishes, it’s that these selections inspire artists to interact with their environments in novel, creative ways while inspiring readers to seek out solutions for social and environmental problems in their communities. May the conversation continue to bloom from here.
In true solarpunk fashion, this project has been a community effort from start to finish. The generous support of the SF and online communities, as well as families, friends, acquaintances, and more, made Sunvault possible by funding the book’s Kickstarter campaign, providing resources and kind counsel to two budding editors, spreading the word about our submissions, and so much more. Thank you all.
Our gratitude finds life in these pages.
Hand Over the Future
Clara Ng
Please
Chloe N. Clark
Mother says remember
she says the Earth was once an hourglass
and we kept turning and turning
it until its shape twisted,
formed something strange
Mother says be witness,
as she plaits our hair, she says
spread these stories out into the wilds
of planets far beyond the stars we
know, the ones we name easily
Mother says dream deep,
taste the edges of the rivers
that no longer run, their bodies
thick with sludge, mouths
coughing up refuse
Mother says honor the dead
but don’t be lost in them,
those birds whose skeletons
spread across shores, those
landscapes left wanting
Mother says push
forward, promise to keep
moving, seeking, dreaming,
imagine that there is something
left that we have to give
The Boston Hearth Project
T.X. Watson
Arrival-Date: Wed, 16 Mar 2022 20:17:37 -0400 (EDT)
Query: Application essays
Hi Kim,
I’m applying to X.S.U. in large part for your record of support for digital activism and human rights, and I want to confirm that your reputation is reflected in your administrative policies.
My questions are:
Is the application evaluation process confidential?
How seriously do you take information security at X.S.U.?
Do you retain a database of applications after you make your decision?
Thanks,
Andie Freeman
Zie/Zir
halogen@fmail.com
§
Arrival-Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2022 11:19:06 -0600 (MDT)
Re: Query: Application essays
Hi Andie,
Thank you for writing. In response to your questions:
Yes, the application process is confidential, and our evaluators are strictly instructed not to share any details. Furthermore, the identities of evaluators are as a rule not connected with specific applicants, so there would be no way for a third party, for example a court, to compel an admissions staffer to speak with certainty that they could get specific information about your application. We take this confidentiality seriously, and the consequence for breach of confidentiality is termination.
X.S.U. takes information security very seriously, and will match the level of security you prefer. If you would like, we can receive your application through encrypted email rather than the form on our website.
Normally we keep full applications on record for 5 years after they’re received. At your request, we can expunge the majority of that data and retain only a basic set of necessary administrative information and our decision.
I hope these answers cover your concerns.
Best wishes,
Kim Ellis
kellis@xsu.edu
844-387-6962
§
Arrival-Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2022 16:08:09 -0400 (EDT)
Re: Re: Query: Application essays
Hi Kim,
My application is attached.
Thank you so much,
Andie
attachment: 20220314-XSUapp-Andie-Freeman
[abridged]
Essay question: When have you worked well as part of a team?
§
When I was 15 I won my first national gaming competition. This was not team-based. I played LiveFire 2190 competitively for most of my teens, and I got very good. As a result of my performance in the 2017 Nationals I was invited to try out for a position on an e-sports team who were going to compete in a new hybrid e-sports game called FREON. It was a quasi-alternate-reality arena puzzle-and-shooter game that involved one or more players per team in a complex physical arena, and a player at a control panel. The arena players wore Augmented Reality kits (they called them F.A.R. kits, for FREON Augmented Reality) and the control players would operate the kit’s display to give our arena players detailed instructions on how to solve dynamic problems. Control players always had access to more information than arena players, so the communication element was vital.
There were three of us on the team: me, the control player, our arena player Conrad, a kind of sketchy white boy who got picked because he was good at gymnastics, and our team captain, Kay St. Anne, who apart from playing e-sports was an activist for homeless queer youth in Boston.
By the time things played out we had been able to practice with the equipment for several months, and played a few matches, but FREON got cancelled before the end of its first season due to poor viewership. Conrad threatened to sue the network, which was embarrassing for everyone involved. After that, he went home.
At this point I had already committed to a gap year after high school, and I had nothing to do. Fortunately, Kay offered to let me stay with her and do activist work so I had something to put on my resume for the space I’d reserved for “E-sports championship.”
Kay lived in an old retrofitted church, with a windmill on the spire and transparent solar panels in front of the stain-glass windows. There were always eight or nine people living there, though the specifics varied. Kay and
some other tech geeks used the basement as a hacker space, and she let a group of other volunteers use the kitchen to make food to give away almost every day. They fed us, too, but I’m pretty sure Kay paid for a lot of the supplies.
What I did with Kay was the most rewarding and important thing I’ve done so far in my life. To explain why, I need to establish two things:
The rate of winter deaths of homeless people in Boston has been increasing every year since climate change has made weather patterns more and more erratic. The city was never equipped to protect the homeless during polar vortices, and it was getting worse, not better. There had been no new construction of homeless facilities, and two closures, in the last five years.
The city of Boston built, and was about to open, a new living building: the Hale Center. It was a big fifteen-story Art Deco Revival temple with a custom-engineered closed ecosystem. It was basically a first class hotel, set up so that business people and politicians wouldn’t have to go around interacting with the actual city. And it’s the most thoroughly self-supported Smart Building to date in Massachusetts.
We thought it would go to better use as a house for the city’s homeless, so we decided to take it over.
If you want to confirm, google the Boston Hearth Project. For mainstream news my favorite write-up about it is on The Guardian’s website, but overall the news is only really good for confirming that it happened. You won’t see my name in any articles, although I am credited in the Hearth Project website as a volunteer.