Margaret Killjoy: Writing The Ambiguous Utopia

Last Born In The Wilderness

This is a segment of episode 357 of Last Born In The Wilderness, “The Ambiguous Utopia: Fiction, History, & Hope In A Dying World w/ Margaret Killjoy.” Listen to the full episode: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/margaret-killjoy-2 Learn more about Margaret’s work: https://linktr.ee/margaretkilljoy Fiction, as Margaret Killjoy points to in this interview, isn’t good at providing blueprints, it’s about finding the aspiration of what to look forward to; fiction is better at asking questions than providing answers. A good piece of creative storytelling can make the reader feel what it’s like to live in the “ambiguous utopia” of LeGuin’s The Dispossessed or Killjoy’s A Country of Ghosts, and take us to a place that may be difficult for us to imagine existing otherwise, as much as we may long for it. Such a creative exercise can help us see what subtle and complex problems may arise in such a situation, hence the ambiguity of the “ambiguous utopia.” Margaret Killjoy is a transfeminine author born and raised in Maryland who was spent her adult life traveling with no fixed home. A 2015 graduate of Clarion West, Margaret’s short fiction has been published by Tor.com, Strange Horizons, Vice’s Terraform, and Fireside Fiction, amongst others. She is the author of We Won't Be Here Tomorrow, The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion, and The Barrow Will Send What it May. She is also the host of the podcast Live Like the World is Dying and Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff on iHeartRadio. WEBSITE: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness DONATE: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast SUBSTACK: https://lastborninthewilderness.substack.com BOOK LIST: https://bookshop.org/shop/lastbornpodcast DROP ME A LINE: Call [phone] or http://bit.ly/LBWfiledrop EVERYTHING ELSE: https://linktr.ee/patterns.of.behavior