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How do people move around the solarpunk city?

Submissions are now open for Imagine 2200: Climate Fiction for Future Ancestors, Grist’s cli-fi contest.

Time to reveal the cover and table of contents for Solarpunk Magazine Issue #8, which releases on Tuesday, March 14, 2023.

Announcing the winners of our 2023 solarpunk art contest!

March 14 is the day we release Solarpunk Magazine IssueContinue reading “Huge Birthday Discount on 2023 Subscriptions This Weekend”

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

We’re thrilled to share the cover of an upcoming solarpunk novella from Stelliform Press: ANOTHER LIFE by Sarena Ulibarri.

Solarpunk Magazine is and remains a venue for human authors and artists to showcase their work.

If 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 get in on our 2023 Kickstarter! Get or renew your annual subscription at a discount and get extra perks.

If 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.

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.

As 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.

Our 2023 Kickstarter is now live. Get or renew your annual subscription today and get extra perks.

In 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.

The first 150 backers at our basic subscription tier get a 30% discount off the regular individual issue price plus other perks!

We should have gotten this story posted here over aContinue reading “September’s Winning Micro Fiction Story”

You 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.

On 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 Project is about the voices of everyday people, our voices, screaming for immediate change and fighting for our lives.

For 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.

Solarpunk Presents Episode Five Solarpunk is all about vibrant, beautiful,Continue reading “Interview with Dr Jayde Lin Roberts about Saving Democracy through Urban Planning”

“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.”

Guerrilla 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.

With 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.

In 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.

Bioluminescent, the first ever lunarpunk anthology, is now available for preorder+ on Kickstarter.

In 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.

Rivers 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 events from Solarpunk Magazine and Android Press.

In 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 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.

The Kickstarter is live for (Re)Living Mythology a collection of Black magical stories & poetry produced by Voodoonauts and published by Android Press.

What happened to my mother’s home will never happen again. She, and others like her, made sure of that.

The 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.

Another 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.

The 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.

“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.”

Molly Ostertag is an acclaimed American cartoonist whose work seeks to represent the best of the queer experience.

“Balikbayan” by Nadine Aurora Tabing

Coming 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.

Dental Hygiene on Orbital Station #57, by Meg Murray

Help make the first annual Utopia Awards & Climate Fiction Conference a reality!

Solarpunk Now! is a science/tech and politics podcast highlighting radical ideas, projects, and theories for a brighter future.

The first annual Utopia Awards & Climate Fiction Conference, #CliFiCon22, presented by Android Press, has been announced!

Song 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.

it’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

My 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.

From 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.

Roberts 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.

The 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.

It’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.

Empty 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. 

If only her ancestors had witnessed the arrival of the age of milk and honey.

As 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.

Our editors-in-chief recently joined a couple of the hosts and talked all things Solarpunk on the “If This Goes On” podcast.

Join us for our Issue #1 release and launch party! Streaming live from YouTube, Twitter, Twitch, and Facebook. Tuesday January 11th at 6pm GMT.

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? 

Here are the winning stories from December’s Solarpunk Micro Fiction Contest.

The 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.

A film about how hilariously absurd our collective mass climate denial has become.

Regardless 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.

Edited 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.

Our submission windows are no longer issue-based, and we announce three themed issues.

The Solarpunk Futures card game let’s players solve problems and build utopias together through collaborative and cooperative storytelling.

Join Solarpunk Magazine on Patreon for all kinds of bonus content!

Solarpunk Film Screening Join Solarpunk Magazine on Saturday December 18 atContinue reading “Upcoming Events for December 2021 & January 2022”

It’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.

The 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.

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.

Recognizing that animals are people too, and treating them as such, is solarpunk AF.

Climate 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.

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.

This is a movie that lived in dystopia, but it didn’t end there. It ended with optimism, hope, and a beautiful, new, utopian world.

I 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.

Just 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.

How do we build harmony between humanity, technology, and nature?

When 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.

How do we ensure the utopian worlds we are building aren’t, in fact, dystopian nightmares?

Struggling 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.

What 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.

Grab your laptop, kick back on the couch, put on some chill, ambient electronic music, and get lost in this new rewilding world building game.

Utopianism 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.

Rather than looking to the past and reimaging history into alternative futures, solarpunk looks directly into the future in search of something brighter.

If 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.

In 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.

The 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.

Given the moment that solarpunk is currently enjoying here in the present, it seems like an good opportunity to examine nine reasons why we believe solarpunk is, in fact, the future we are both waiting for and creating together.

It is not too late to ensure a future for many generations to come. We must take responsibility for the environmental choices we make and the destructive systems we create, and understand that it is action on our part that will lead to positive, sustainable change.

community and individuality aren’t opposites. They don’t need to be in competition. They don’t have to be, and we can’t allow them to be at odds with each other. We can create healthy local communities rooted in democracy and diversity, composed of individuals whose self-reliance and DIY spirit contribute to and make the community stronger, communities that are spaces where those who might need more reliance on others, for any number of reasons, can also contribute and thrive.

Lunarpunk is a relatively new and still underdeveloped subgenre born, or rather in the process of being born, out of solarpunk as well as science fiction and fantasy more broadly.

Solarpunk is an excellent example of a space where speculative literature and art come together with present day, real-world activism in a shared purpose to build, create, and be disruptive.

We just posted the third episode of our Solarpunk FuturesContinue reading “Solarpunk Magazine Launch Update #9”

Wow, wow, wow. The last two days have knocked usContinue reading “Solarpunk Magazine Launch Update #7”

Here. We. Go. Our Kickstarter has launched! Check it out.Continue reading “Solarpunk Magazine Kickstarter Launches!”

Solarpunk Magazine envisions a new world through fantastic speculative fiction.

Solarpunk Magazine envisions a new world through fantastic speculative fiction.

Solarpunk Magazine envisions a new world through fantastic speculative fiction.

Solarpunk Magazine envisions a new world through fantastic speculative fiction.