Apocalypse fiction rarely
includes characters with disability, chronic illness and other impairments.
When these characters do appear, they usually die early on, or are secondary
characters undeveloped into anything more than a burden to the protagonist. Defying Doomsday will be an anthology showing that disabled
characters have far more interesting stories to tell in
post-apocalyptic/dystopian fiction.
Defying
Doomsday will be edited by Tsana Dolichva
and Holly Kench, and published by Twelfth Planet Press in
mid 2016. Defying
Doomsday is currently crowdfunding via
Pozible. To support the project visit: http://pozi.be/defyingdoomsday
What
Flavour of Apocalypse?
by
Tsana Dolichva
Apocalypses come in all forms. And yet, if someone
says “post-apocalyptic wasteland” I automatically picture a pretty similar
scene, not matter the context. The image in my mind is of a barren landscape,
probably a bit desert-like, maybe with some ruined buildings dotting the
horizon. Why is that the default? I’m not sure. It’s not that I haven’t read
stories where the world floods, or superstorms wreak havoc on the Earth, or
climate change sends Earth into a deep freeze. And that’s not even touching on
the creative ways aliens can kill us all, or the more permanently cataclysmic
astronomical events that could destroy all life on Earth.
So why is the barren landscape what pops into my mind
in the absence of other settings? I’m starting to wonder if it’s not a legacy
of the Cold War. Did the fear of a nuclear holocaust imprint itself so strongly
on our collective consciousness that it’s still our go-to apocalypse scenario?
Maybe it’s just me, and maybe it’s a product of the specific places and times
where I’ve spent my life, but I write this as someone who has lived something
like 85% of her life post-Cold War.
That’s not to say that nuclear apocalypses aren’t a
perfectly valid choice of setting, although I do prefer it when the background
behind them is well thought through.
The truth of the matter is there are many different
possible scenarios that destroy the world as we know it and the possible
permutations are endless. From the mundane (see above) to the cataclysmic
(Earth being torn apart) to the weird (the laws of physics suddenly stop
working and neutrinos start reacting — I will never forgive you for that,
2012). We want to give authors the opportunity the explore all sorts of scenarios
with all sorts of characters.
For Defying
Doomsday we’re also looking for stories with disabled or chronically ill
characters, but that doesn’t mean the apocalypse needs to take a back seat.
Author Bio:
Tsana Dolichva is a Ditmar
Award nominated book blogger. She is editing the anthology Defying Doomsday with Holly Kench, the managing editor of Visibility
Fiction. As editors and readers
of science fiction, who also live with disability and chronic illness, Tsana
and Holly have often noticed the particular lack of disabled or chronically ill
characters in apocalypse fiction. They are excited to share Defying
Doomsday, an anthology showing that people
with disability and chronic illness also have stories to tell, even when the
world is ending.
To support the anthology or
to preorder a copy of Defying Doomsday, visit: http://pozi.be/defyingdoomsday . Your support is greatly appreciated! You
can find out more about Defying Doomsday
at the website or follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
About Defying Doomsday:
Defying Doomsday is an anthology of
apocalypse-survival fiction with a focus on disabled characters, which will be
edited by Tsana Dolichva and Holly Kench, and published by Twelfth Planet Press in mid 2016.
Apocalypse
fiction rarely includes characters with disability, chronic illness and other
impairments. When these characters do appear, they usually die early on, or are
secondary characters undeveloped into anything more than a burden to the
protagonist. Defying Doomsday will be
an anthology showing that disabled characters have far more interesting stories
to tell in post-apocalyptic/dystopian fiction.
The
anthology will be varied, with characters experiencing all kinds of disability
from physical impairments, chronic illnesses, mental illnesses and/or
neurodiverse characters. There will also be a variety of stories, including
those that are fun, sad, adventurous and horrific.
The
stories in Defying Doomsday will look
at periods of upheaval from new and interesting perspectives. The anthology
will share narratives about characters with disability, characters with chronic
illnesses and other impairments, surviving the apocalypse and contending with
the collapse of life as they know it.
Defying Doomsday is currently
crowdfunding via Pozible. To support the project visit: http://pozi.be/defyingdoomsday
About the Campaign:
Defying Doomsday will be funded via a
Pozible campaign, with the assistance of a Crowbar grant from Arts Tasmania.
The campaign will run from April 1 2015 to May 1 2015, with a funding goal of
$13,000 to cover production costs, reward items, and the funds to pay authors a
professional market rate. You can support the campaign here: http://pozi.be/defyingdoomsday
Twelfth Planet Press:
Twelfth
Planet Press is an award winning Australian publisher, championing
underrepresented voices in speculative fiction. In 2011, Alisa Krasnostein won
the World Fantasy Award for her work with the press, and Twelfth Planet books
and stories have won the Shirley Jackson, WSFA Small Press, Aurealis, Ditmar,
Chronos and Tin Duck awards.
Links:
