CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOPS / FANTASTIC REALMS

A wave of hope

An antidote to dark genre fiction is emerging, with the emphasis on people power. Alex Davis looks at the emergence of hopepunk, and gives you advice on how to write it

READING LIST• Katherine Addison – The Goblin Emperor • Ryka Aoki – Light from Uncommon Stars • Olivia Atwater – Half a Soul • Sarah Reese Brennan – In Other Lands • Octavia E Butler – Parable of the Sower • Becky Chambers – The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet • Joyce Chng – Water Into Wine • Sarah Gailey – Upright Women Wanted • TJ Klune – The House in the Cerulean Sea • Mary Robinette Kowal – The Calculating Stars • Elizabeth Moon – Remnant Population • Simon Morden – Bright Morning Star • Nnedi Okorafor – Binti • Alexandra Rowland – A Conspiracy of Truths • Laini Taylor – Strange the Dreamer • RJ Theodore – Flotsam • Andy Weir – Project Hail Mary • Martha Wells – All Systems Red

What comes to mind when you think of genre fiction? You might imagine the creatures of horror skulking through the darkness with malicious intent, the dystopian visions of the future presented by so much modern sciencefiction, or maybe the blood and thunder of the battlefield and the shadowy court machinations that we have observed in recent fantasy. But let’s keep in mind that not all genre fiction has to be infused with those darker flavours – and it’s only of late that we have seen a new breed of genre fiction on the horizon in the form of hopepunk, the main topic of our article today.

If you’re a long-time reader, you might also have seen me comment on the profusion of ‘punk’ genres that have come along in the trail of cyberpunk and steampunk, only a handful of which have ever caught on to any degree. The previously named are subgenres of science-fiction with a very distinctive flavour, and for me hopepunk is coming towards the point where it has the same recognisability and body of work as some of its better-known counterparts – or at least better-known for now! That note of caution I have previously sounded does still hold true, because a lot of branches of ‘punk’ will never quite catch fire, but hopepunk feels like one that is going to stick around for some time yet.

So let’s step out of the darkness and into the light with our exploration of hopepunk…

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