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- Solarpunk Magazine October 2023 UpdatesRecent and Upcoming Magazine Issues We released Issue #11: Solarpunk … Read more
- Interview with Author Xan van RooyenEarlier this month we sat down with author Xan van … Read more
- Issue 11 and 2024 Crowd FunderSolarpunk Magazine Issue #11 has published, and the pre-launch page for our 2024 crowd funder is now live!
- Cover Reveal: STEEL TREE by Sarena UlibarriSTEEL TREE, by Sarena Ulibarri (SOLARPUNK SUMMERS, SOLARPUNK WINTERS, ANOTHER LIFE), is a science fiction Nutcracker retelling that flips the classic tale on its head…
- Imagitopia Awaits!Introducing Imagitopia—a fantasy fiction podcast and Android Press production.
- Issue 10 Available and On Sale
- Issue 10, CliFiCon, 2024 Subscriptions, and more!Summer is here and the sun is hot! Smoke blankets … Read more
- Genderpunk: A Bold New Genre of Resistance and Liberation in an Age of Rising Cishet SupremacyThe genre is characterized by its defiant spirit and its unflinching examination of gender and sexual identity in an oppressive society. However, at its heart, genderpunk is ultimately about hope, resistance, and the transformative power of self-expression, it’s about sheer and unabashed queer joy in the face of ideologies and institutions that want to wipe us out.
- Sauútiverse, Ninefox Gambit RPG, Ignyte AwardsThis past week our publisher, Android Press, revealed cover art … Read more
- Join us for CliFi Con `23!Nominations are open and tix available for CliFi Con `23.
- Solarpunk Action Week: April 22-May 1Solarpunk Action Week (SAW) is a grassroots initiative that encourages people to engage in building a better world through eco-friendly, sustainable, social justice, and community-oriented activities in line with the solarpunk ethos.
- Solarpunk-Cyberpunk Anthology +TRPG Now Live on KickstarterBack the crowd funder today and the first ever cyberpunk-solarpunk short story anthology and companion TRPG!
- The Solarpunk City is AccessibleHow do people move around the solarpunk city?
- Submit now for Grist’s Imagine 2200 climate fiction contest (no fee)Submissions are now open for Imagine 2200: Climate Fiction for Future Ancestors, Grist’s cli-fi contest.
- Solarpunk Magazine Issue #8 Now Available
- Issue 8 Cover and Author RevealTime to reveal the cover and table of contents for Solarpunk Magazine Issue #8, which releases on Tuesday, March 14, 2023.
- Solarpunk Art Contest Winners Announced!Announcing the winners of our 2023 solarpunk art contest!
- Huge Birthday Discount on 2023 Subscriptions This WeekendMarch 14 is the day we release Solarpunk Magazine Issue … Read more
- Cyberpunk-Solarpunk Anthology Cover Reveal!Fighting for the Future: Cyberpunk and Solarpunk Tales edited by Phoebe Wagner. Cover art by Hal Hefner. With stories by Cory Doctorow, Cynthia Zhang, Brent Lambert, Izzy Wasserstein, Kevin Wabaunsee, Rona Fernandez, Ai Jiang, and more
- Cover Reveal: ANOTHER LIFE by Sarena UlibarriWe’re thrilled to share the cover of an upcoming solarpunk novella from Stelliform Press: ANOTHER LIFE by Sarena Ulibarri.
- New Policy Regarding Submissions and Artificial IntelligenceSolarpunk Magazine is and remains a venue for human authors and artists to showcase their work.
- 2022 Awards EligibilityIf you’re an SFWA, SFPA, or Worldcon member, please consider nominating these amazing works, editors, and Solarpunk Magazine for relevant awards.
- Only 16 Hours Left to Back Solarpunk Magazine 2023Only 16 hours left to get in on our 2023 Kickstarter! Get or renew your annual subscription at a discount and get extra perks.
- Review of Disney’s Strange WorldIf you can set aside the fact that it was made by Disney, a corporation that is decidedly not solarpunk in its real-word values and practices, then Strange World is a movie that will go down as a classic example of solarpunk animation and storytelling.
- Season Finale: Let’s Talk Solstice, Solarpunks!In the finale of Solarpunk Presents’ first-ever season, Ariel and Christina sit down to chat together about the Winter Solstice – Christina brings the scientific knowledge, Ariel brings a few book recommendations, and we discuss traditions of celebrating the return of the sun (as we’ve experienced them in the northern hemisphere). What are your favourite solstice traditions? Do you have recommendations of good solarpunk solstice stories to cozy up with? You can tweet at us @SolarpunkP or toot at us over on Mastodon @solarpunkpresents@climatejustice.rocks and let us know.
- How We Build Climate Resilience: An Interview with Dr. Lisa DillingAs the changing climate increasingly disrupts our ways of life, we have three choices: do nothing, attempt to stop or even reverse climate change, and/or figure out how to withstand it. Option one is a terrible idea and the ship has (mostly) sailed on option two. But option three is how we learn to live—and maybe even thrive—in our changing world. Part of this is figuring out how to convey the information that climate researchers have gathered to the people—like farmers, water managers, and urban planners—who need to make decisions now—about things like what crops to plant, where to get water for everyone and how to allocate it, and where to plant trees—for both the near and slightly distant future. In this episode, we’re talking to Professor Lisa Dilling, of the University of Colorado, Boulder, about building networks of people through which information about regional climate predictions can flow to people and information about the needs, predicaments, and questions of people can flow to climate researchers.
- 2023 Kickstarter Live – Subscriptions Now AvailableOur 2023 Kickstarter is now live. Get or renew your annual subscription today and get extra perks.
- Shining bright in the heart of oil country: interview with Heather MacKenzie from Solar AlbertaIn today’s episode, Ariel chats with Heather MacKenzie, Executive Director of Solar Alberta, about transitioning to renewable energy deep in the heart of oil and gas country – in a just and sustainable way. Join us to learn about the history of the Solar Alberta organization, from its grassroots beginnings in neighbourhood solar projects, to dealing with (government-funded!) trolls online, all the way up to being the leading non-profit solar organization in Alberta and providing worker upskilling in a unique market.
- 2023 Subscriptions to Solarpunk Magazine Available Starting December 6thThe first 150 backers at our basic subscription tier get a 30% discount off the regular individual issue price plus other perks!
- September’s Winning Micro Fiction StoryWe should have gotten this story posted here over a … Read more
- The Soft Glow of the Deep Sea: Talking Bioluminescence with Dr. Steve HaddockYou don’t have to be a solarpunk—or a lunarpunk—to dream of bioluminescence, from twinkling phytoplankton to glowing lamps, phosphorescent fungi, and jellyfish lit up like space ships. To honor those dreams, we talked to Dr. Steve Haddock, Senior Scientist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) and leading expert on the things that glow, flash, and train headlights through the dark waters of the deep sea. Join us for this conversation about how bioluminescence works, what critters are capable of it and what they use it for, and whether or not our visions of bioluminescent street lamps stand a chance of coming true.
- Interview with Justine Norton-Kertson about BIOLUMINESCENT: A LUNARPUNK ANTHOLOGYOn this episode, Ariel sits down with Justine Norton-Kertson, editor of the forthcoming BIOLUMINESCENT: A LUNARPUNK ANTHOLOGY. They discuss what lunarpunk is in contrast to solarpunk, what inspired Justine to put together an anthology of lunarpunk fiction, and a sneak peek at some of the participating authors and the content that fans can expect to encounter!
- The Demand Utopia ProjectThe Demand Utopia Project is about the voices of everyday people, our voices, screaming for immediate change and fighting for our lives.
- Solarpunk Halloween: Micro Fiction Contest Winning StoryFor faster growth, soak slips in fresh blood for at least 1-2 days before planting. The roots are attracted to the cloy of tender meat and the pheromones in sweat.
- Interview with Dr Jayde Lin Roberts about Saving Democracy through Urban PlanningSolarpunk Presents Episode Five Solarpunk is all about vibrant, beautiful, … Read more
- Review of Vesper: A Biopunk Sci-Fi Fairytale“You don’t just get to give up when things are hard. They’re hard for all of us, but we stay, and we help each other.”
- Video: Guerrilla Gardening 101Guerrilla gardening is a form of direct action used by solarpunks and other environmentalists to beautify neglected urban land and break down barriers between nature and city environments.
- Review of Almanac for the Anthropocene by Phoebe Wager & Brontë Christopher WielandWith their new anthology, Almanac for the Anthropocene, Wagner and Wieland continue to break new ground in the solarpunk genre. And like Sunvault, this new collection of work is sure to be a core piece of solarpunk’s standard reading curriculum.
- Climate Grief in Conversation: Solarpunk Presents Episode FourIn this episode of Solarpunk Presents, Ariel sits down for a virtual chat with Gabrielle Gelderman, an Edmonton, Alberta-based climate grief chaplain and climate justice organizer. They talk about what climate grief chaplaincy even is, the necessity of holding communal safe spaces for grieving especially for organizers, the necessity of feeling grief in order to feel more positive emotions, and climate despair as a corollary of solarpunk hope.
- Lunarpunk Anthology Preorder+ Now!Bioluminescent, the first ever lunarpunk anthology, is now available for preorder+ on Kickstarter.
- Interview with Dr Hélène Jacot Des Combes on Climate Change and the Marshall IslandsIn this episode, Christina De La Rocha talks to Dr Hélène Jacot Des Combes, Disaster Risk Management and Climate Change Adaptation Advisor to the National Disaster Management Office of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. They discuss sea level rise, infrastructure that can adapt to climate change, and land reclamation and protection. Dr Des Combes speaks passionately about reparations (for decades of colonialism, the US’s testing of atomic weapons on the atolls of the Marshall Islands, forced relocation of the Marshallese people, climate injustice, and much more) and advocates for the Marshallese peoples’ right to their own lands.
- Cover Reveal for Marisca Pichette’s Rivers in Your Skin, Sirens in Your HairRivers in Your Skin, Sirens in Your Hair by Marisca Pichette is a fantastic collection of magical poetry that every sci-fi/fantasy reader is going to want on the their shelves.
- Upcoming GoodiesUpcoming events from Solarpunk Magazine and Android Press.
- Solarpunk Presents: Interview with John Okhiulu from the Decolonizing Wealth ProjectIn this episode of Solarpunk Presents, Ariel Kroon sits down with John Okhiulu from the Decolonizing Wealth Project to talk about the role of philanthropy in addressing racial capitalism and reparations, and how the DWP is working to change the narrative around charitable giving and wealth-transfer.
- A Ruin of Shadows by L.D. Lewisa quick and action packed read following an important transition in the life of General Daynja Édo, which touches on issues of empire and colonization, and complicity within systems of violent domination.
- Kickstarter Now Live! Voodoonauts (Re)Living MythologyThe Kickstarter is live for (Re)Living Mythology a collection of Black magical stories & poetry produced by Voodoonauts and published by Android Press.
- June Micro Fiction Winner: FAMILY HISTORYWhat happened to my mother’s home will never happen again. She, and others like her, made sure of that.
- Interview with Coral Alejandra MooreThe three-act structure and the Hero’s Journey are so much of what we’re trained to look at as a story, but it’s really just looking at story through one very small lens.
- A Review of Batman: Soul of the DragonAnother year brings us a slew of DC animated films that skip theatres to end up on digital platforms and the ever-fading home video format.
- Pirates, Fangirls, and Sailor Moon: Interview With Sam Maggs, author of Tell No Tales: Pirates of the Southern SeasThe Toronto Star calls Sam Maggs the “ambassador of the Canadian fan culture scene”, but that title betrays the versatile talent behind some of the biggest franchises around.
- Gamifying Writing: A Talk With Peter Chiykowski, Creator of The Story Engine Deck“I knew I had something special when I kept pulling the alpha off the shelf for one more prompt because I was just having so much fun with the settings I was creating.”
- Queer Romance, Selkies, and Folklore: an Interview with Molly Ostertag, Author and Illustrator of The Girl from the SeaMolly Ostertag is an acclaimed American cartoonist whose work seeks to represent the best of the queer experience.
- May 2022 Micro Fiction Winning Story“Balikbayan” by Nadine Aurora Tabing
- Alephia 2053 ReviewComing out of nowhere to the awe of cinephiles all over the Arab world, Alephia 2053 is the first animated feature film in Arabic made exclusively for adults.
- April Micro Fiction Contest WinnerDental Hygiene on Orbital Station #57, by Meg Murray
- Kickstarter Live: Utopia Awards & Cli-Fi Con 22 Early Bird Admission!Help make the first annual Utopia Awards & Climate Fiction Conference a reality!
- The Solarpunk Now! Podcast: An InterviewSolarpunk Now! is a science/tech and politics podcast highlighting radical ideas, projects, and theories for a brighter future.
- Utopia Awards & Climate Fiction Conference Announced!The first annual Utopia Awards & Climate Fiction Conference, #CliFiCon22, presented by Android Press, has been announced!
- Mexican Solarpunk is Here: Song For CantalaguaSong For Cantalagua is a Mexican solarpunk adventure webcomic about Nila, a girl who sets out on a quest to solve an ancient mystery in her hometown.
- Our Shared Storm: An Interview with Andrew Dana Hudsonit’s possible that if we keep building renewables the way we’re projected to over the next decade or so, we might end up with access to way more energy than human beings have ever had to work with
- February Micro Fiction Contest Winner: “The Candidate” by Anna ZiegelhofMy mind was made up. I was going to join the historian-witnesses. My guides had tested my resolve. They had spoken truthfully to me all day.
- Fraggle Rock: A Hopeful Solarpunk-Lunarpunk FantasyFrom community and stewardship of the natural environment, to radical acceptance, hope, and the central theme of solutions to climate change and environmental damage, Fraggle Rock is without a doubt the most solarpunk show we currently have on television. Whether you’re a young kid or an environmental and socially conscious adult, this show will bring a big smile to your face.
- Review — After the Revolution by Robert EvansRoberts debut novel kept me glued to the pages—a smart, well-crafted, and action-packed military science fiction story that deals with the horrors of war through a trauma-informed lens.
- Chapbook Review: Hell/a Mexican, by Kevin Madrigal GalindoThe poems aren’t in any way science fiction or speculative. But Mr. Madrigal, whether he knows it or not, is solarpunk AF with his nourishing of people to build up their communities and better their worlds.
- An Interview with Solarpunk Surf ClubIt’s too easy to imagine the end of the world. Much easier, sometimes, than imagining a pathway to a better world. That’s why Solarpunk Futures was created.
- Doomsday DerbyEmpty lots and poor people’s homes were fed into one end of the market, high-rises were spat out the other. But parking garages, in all their brutalist invincibility, were hard to tear down or retrofit. That’s when Derby gangs like us rolled in. We squatted and tagged, built planter beds, and from the broken glass and cigarette butts birthed the totally novel institution that is Doomsday Derby.
- January’s Afro-Solarpunk Micro Fiction Contest WinnerIf only her ancestors had witnessed the arrival of the age of milk and honey.
- Interview with Jared Hudson, the Creator of Cashmere SkyAs the saying goes, conflict makes a great story. I believe having a society grow and evolve as much as the characters give more interesting layers to it.
- If This Goes On (Don’t Panic)Our editors-in-chief recently joined a couple of the hosts and talked all things Solarpunk on the “If This Goes On” podcast.
- Issue #1 Release & Launch PartyJoin us for our Issue #1 release and launch party! Streaming live from YouTube, Twitter, Twitch, and Facebook. Tuesday January 11th at 6pm GMT.
- What Would a Solarpunk Government Look Like?Solarpunk has a lot of dreams for a future we’d like to live in. Cultural and racial diversity; dignity, prosperity and a high quality of life for all; and urban greenery, artisanal everything, and solar panels galore. But what about the government?
- December’s Solarpunk Micro Fiction Contest WinnersHere are the winning stories from December’s Solarpunk Micro Fiction Contest.
- The Matrix Resurrection Brings Lunarpunk to the Big ScreenThe Matrix Resurrections creates what is—at least in my estimation—a decidedly lunarpunk world and brings the budding aesthetic and subgenre to the big screen, if not for the first time, then at least in the most high profile example to date.
- Don’t Look Up: Netflix’s #1 Movie takes on Climate DenialA film about how hilariously absurd our collective mass climate denial has become.
- Putting the Punk in SolarpunkRegardless of what form the revolution that upends the current system takes, we can’t help but see how punk it truly is to imagine and dream of solarpunk futures.
- Cyberpunk Fairy Tales Packed a Punch and Left Me Feeling HopefulEdited by Rhonda Parrish, this third installment of her “Punked Up Fairy Tales” series more than lived up to my hopes and expectations, and left me craving more cyberpunk stories.
- New Submissions Process and Themed Issue AnnouncementsOur submission windows are no longer issue-based, and we announce three themed issues.
- Solarpunk Futures: A Fun and Creative Utopian Storytelling GameThe Solarpunk Futures card game let’s players solve problems and build utopias together through collaborative and cooperative storytelling.
- Get Loads of Solarpunk Magazine Bonus Content!Join Solarpunk Magazine on Patreon for all kinds of bonus content!
- Upcoming Events for December 2021 & January 2022Solarpunk Film Screening Join Solarpunk Magazine on Saturday December 18 at … Read more
- How To Create Conflict in Solarpunk and Utopian WritingIt’s easier than you think because conflict is through character. If you start off by creating a solid character then conflict will automatically grow. Secondly just because you have a Solarpunk or Utopian world doesn’t mean there are no conflicts.
- MERP is Making Solarpunk Futures Real in the PresentThe Municipal Eco-Resiliency Project is combating climate change with urban farming, community resiliency, direct action, education, building coalitions, and organizational development through critical input and feedback by participants.
- Review of “The Future We Choose: The Stubborn Optimist’s Guide to the Climate Crisis”The closer we run out the clock on the changes we need to make to avoid catastrophic climate change and a total collapse of ecosystems, the greater our climate anxiety spikes, paralyzing us into not taking action. You could call it a death spiral. If we let it occur, that is. Here then perhaps is the book to kick us in the kiester with enough positive thinking to get us moving.
- Respecting Animal Sentience is a Key Step Toward Building UtopiaRecognizing that animals are people too, and treating them as such, is solarpunk AF.
- UPCOMING CLASS: Writing Climate Fiction in the Age of Climate DisasterClimate change is our present and our future. Writing Climate Fiction in the Age of Climate Disaster is a six session creative writing course that focuses on writing stories that center climate and climate change.
- Solarpunk and Technology: A Necessary Relationship?The short answer is yes. The long answer is also yes. But that long answer comes with a number of qualifications that will be highlighted in this article.
- Free Guy and Building UtopiaThis is a movie that lived in dystopia, but it didn’t end there. It ended with optimism, hope, and a beautiful, new, utopian world.
- Tom Hanks’s “Finch” isn’t Solarpunk, it’s a SolarflopI wanted to be able to call this film solarpunk. I wanted to like this movie and come away from it excited. Unfortunately, neither ended up being the case.
- Solarpunk Portland: Proposals to Transform a CityJust a few dozens of miles north from where I sit here typing away, a group of solarpunks is reimagining the state’s only big city through a series of proposals for metro-wide transformative infrastructure projects.
- Building Utopia Pt 3: Harmony Between Humanity, Technology, and NatureHow do we build harmony between humanity, technology, and nature?
- Sharing Our Community: Solarpunk LifeWhen I first came across these folks online I was immediately drawn in by their catch phrase, or motto if you will: “Do Good, Be Good.” Yes, exactly! Building a better world is nothing if it isn’t about doing good, and being good.
- Building Utopia Pt 2: How to Tell if the Future You’re Building is UtopianHow do we ensure the utopian worlds we are building aren’t, in fact, dystopian nightmares?
- Workers Rights are SolarpunkStruggling and rebelling against the boss is solarpunk af. This is especially true in our world today where 70% of climate change emissions come not from our homes and individual habits, but from the bosses, their companies and corporations, their institutions of power.
- Solarpunk Magazine on Oregon Public BroadcastingWhat if humans came together to solve the climate crisis? What if people from marginalized groups all felt safe in society? The solarpunk genre imagines creative answers to these questions.
- Chill Out and Rebuild the World with Cloud GardensGrab your laptop, kick back on the couch, put on some chill, ambient electronic music, and get lost in this new rewilding world building game.
- Building Utopia Pt 1: Utopia in the Age of Climate CrisisUtopianism doesn’t have be to pie in the sky and impractical. It doesn’t have to be unachievable. Real utopia can exist. We can imagine a better future and create a new world for the next generations.
- What Sets Solarpunk Apart? Alternative vs Possible FuturesRather than looking to the past and reimaging history into alternative futures, solarpunk looks directly into the future in search of something brighter.
- Rebuilding Tomorrow with Disabled Folks in the LeadIf the futures we imagine aren’t accessible, and if they don’t go out of their way to include and make space for these communities, then the worlds we are building can’t by any right be called utopian.
- One Year Later, “Recognize Fascism” is Still One of the Most Important Anthologies You Need to ReadIn a moment where rightwing extremism continues to boldly rear its ugly head, books like Recognize Fascism are vital and welcomed additions to our cultural conversation.
- It’s Not Easy Being Green: the Importance of Community SolutionsThe high price tag of going green—not to mention the unrealistic expectations that we can all live up to the purity tests involved in focusing on individual solutions—is one reason why the spotlight solarpunk places on community values and collective solutions is so valuable.
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