Jan 15

Jan 15 The Ambiguous Utopia: Fiction, History, & Hope In A Dying World / Margaret Killjoy

Anarchist writer, musician, and podcaster Margaret Killjoy returns to the podcast to discuss the political act of writing fiction and imagining the “ambiguous utopia.” I ask Margaret to define what hope is or can be, and how her work communicating the stories of radical individuals and movements during pivotal moments throughout history on her podcast, Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff, can help us (re-)frame contemporary struggles for liberation, justice, and peace in the world today.

If I were to summarily describe this wonderful discussion with Margaret Killjoy, it is about the radical political act of imagining utopia. Utopia is a vision; it is something we strive towards, not a destination arrived at. Any utopian vision worth its salt unambiguously understands the human condition contains multitudes; within each of us is the fascist and the anarchist, the propertarian and the communist, the sacred and the profane—all beautifully, dangerously contradictory.

Fiction, as 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.”

Tied to this subject of speculative fiction and utopian visions is the very real histories of revolutionary movements and the committed individuals who constituted them—the courageous, perceptive, stubborn, fierce, violent, nonviolent radicals that struck when the iron was hot and made best the times they happened to be alive in, building solidarity and organizing against the forces reigned against them.

And finally, we address the topic of hope—as a term, a sentiment, a state of being. Our times are troubled; where does hope fit? Is that even the right question? Hope is a subject that pervades the discussions that make up this podcast, either overtly as a topic of discussion, or as something unspoken that animates sentiments imparted. Hope is human—a blessing or curse, depending on who you ask. With past and present horrors in full view, what role can hope play in our lives as the world we were born into dies?

Bio:

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.