SOLARPUNK CREATURES is out now in ebook and paperback!

Stories by N. R. M. Roshak, Tashan Mehta, Justine Norton-Kertson, Lauren C. Teffeau, Rimi B. Chatterjee, and more.
 
A newly sentient AI inhabits a Roomba to escape from their research office, and a robotic dog hunts for rain in a drought-ridden world. A murder of crows disrupts production on a solar farm, and a young woman communes with a telepathic fungal network to protect a forest. A suspicious cat follows bees across the rooftops of a solarpunk city, and a rabbit hitches a ride to the Grand Canyon to fulfil a prophecy. The path toward better futures is one we must walk alongside other creatures, negotiating the challenges of multispecies justice. This speculative fiction anthology introduces a whole new cast of more-than-human protagonists: organic and digital, alien and fantastic, tiny and boundlessly large.

​A newly sentient AI inhabits a Roomba to escape from their research office, and a robotic dog hunts for rain in a drought-ridden world. A murder of crows disrupts production on a solar farm, and a young woman communes with a telepathic fungal network to protect a forest. A suspicious cat follows bees across the rooftops of a solarpunk city, and a rabbit hitches a ride to the Grand Canyon to fulfil a prophecy. The path toward better futures is one we must walk alongside other creatures, negotiating the challenges of multispecies justice. This speculative fiction anthology introduces a whole new cast of more-than-human protagonists: organic and digital, alien and fantastic, tiny and boundlessly large.

Solarpunk Creatures will be available in ebook and paperback January 16, 2024!

Cover art and design by Paul Summerfield

Introduction by Christoph Rupprecht, Deborah Cleland, Melissa Ingaruca Moreno, Norie Tamura, Rajat Chaudhuri

Stories:
“Threadloom” by N. R. M. Roshak
“Sonora’s Journey” by Kai Holmwood
“The Colorful Crow Of Web-Of-Life Park” by Sandra Ulbrich Almazan
“The Business Of Bees” by Andrew Knighton
“Night Fowls” by Ana Sun
“Water Cycle” by Lauren C. Teffeau
“Microbia” by Center For Militant Futurology
“Rabbits, Rivers, And Prickly Pears” by Justine Norton-Kertson
“Hunting For Rain” by Lyndsey Croal
“AI Dreams Of Real Sheep—More At 8” by Commando Jugendstil and Tales from the EV Studio
“An Inconvenient Unicorn” by Geraldine Briony Hunt
“Quorum Sensing” by Calliope Papas
“Flyby” by Priya Sarukkai Chabria
“Quarropts Can’t Dance” by Rodrigo Culagovski
“Thank Geo” by BrightFlame
“Our Minds Share A City” by Catherine Yeates
“Hopdog” by Rimi B. Chatterjee
“Solar Murder” by A.E. Marling
“The Wetlands Versus The Mayor” by Jerri Jerreat
“Leaf Whispers, Ocean Song” by Tashan Mehta

Artwork:
“Kelp Gardens” and “Stormwater Streams” by Yen Shu Liao
“Orange Crested Grebe” by Pamina Stewart
“Solar Powered” by Badlungs Art
“Renaissance Pisces” by Irina Tall
“Tunaakola” by ZiitaMdot
“Moth City” and “Kombucha Atoll” by Yen Shu Liao

“You’ve never come out before. I’m starting to think you live down there.”
​
“Where else would a troll live? Especially these days. The wild places are shrinking, there’s cameras everywhere, and cities are eating the globe.” A lopsided grin. “The world can change however it likes, but monsters will still live the same way they always have. It’s just a tossup if anyone else will notice.”

I sling noodles at a street food stall. My hair is constantly coated with a film of cooking oil, splashed over me in little burning droplets that dot my skin with red marks to blend with the acne—but that doesn’t matter much in the Grimes. We know the doll-skinned faces in the giant billboards are fake; no one really looks so beautiful as the people in the advertisements. They want us to think rich people can look so fabulous, but it has to be a lie. Even if they don’t have hot oil burning their greasy skin, even if they have professional aestheticians to fill their leisurely days with beauty care, even with experts to polish their abnormally straight teeth, no one can look like that.
​
In summer, the Grimes is hot. Really hot. They say our streets measure twelve degrees hotter than posh neighborhoods on the same day, not that I’ve ever been able to compare. That’s because when they divided the cities, the posh neighborhoods got things like green spaces and trees over the sidewalks, and we got cheap concrete and chemicals to kill anything that might crack it. Four generations after the war of liberation, even our weather is worse than theirs.

In one of the tales from the thick forests of Germany, a princess saves a prince from, of all things, an enchanted stove, then loses him again when she spends too long saying goodbye to her family. The quest to win back her beloved from his new fiancée is a familiar pattern in fairy-tales. But where other young women are helped by the sun, moon, and winds, or an old crone, in this story she is helped by three toads in a cottage. The conclusion has it that with the breaking of the enchantment the toads are revealed to be the children of kings.

The story is wrong on two points. One is the number of toads—there was only one. The other is how the tale ends. I should know: I was there.

We are still considering submissions of short fiction (up to 7,000 words) and artwork for the Solarpunk Creatures anthology! Submissions close October 31, 2022.

Full guidelines are here: https://www.worldweaverpress.com/blog/call-for-submissions-solarpunk-creatures

​Read below for more insights about what the editorial team is looking for!

Optimistic and inclusive representations of better futures. Solarpunk embodies new ways of doing and being, which integrate ecology, technology, ethics, aesthetics, creativity, and justice. It makes space for beauty as well as practicality; it imagines abundance and delight, as well as care and restitution. A mosaic of concepts and tools, solarpunk virtues include sharing, cooperation, multispecies justice, connections, conviviality, care, decolonisation, degrowth, commons and commoning, and more, while striking a balance between individual freedom and social cohesion. Solarpunk tries to bring out the best in people, to tell stories of healing, of changing minds, of restorative justice. Solarpunk rejects the dystopian post-apocalypse—the privileged don’t get to give up on humanity, and humanity doesn’t get to give up on other species.

Mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, invertebrates, trees, plants, fungi, etc.—all of the many different species we share our planet with.
​
We will consider stories and art about robots and AI, aliens lifeforms, mythological beings, dinosaurs or other extinct animals, and any other “unreal” creatures, if they take a solarpunk approach, but we hope to fill the bulk of the anthology with stories and art that center more realistic approaches to multispecies interactions and multispecies justice.

​Christoph Rupprecht, professor for sustainability based in Matsuyama (Shikoku) Japan

What kind of stories he’s looking for in Solarunk Creatures:

Solarpunk has its heart in the right place when it comes to being green/eco-oriented, but people CAN’T build our better futures alone. We need to collaborate with other species. I hope to get stories (and art!) that tell of renewal, hope, change, and reckoning through non-human senses, taking readers along on adventures outside of the everyday, and in the process hopefully fostering understanding, sympathy, respect, and maybe a sense of potential partnership with more-than-humans. I’d love to have as wide a variety of protagonists as possible, from animal to plant to fungi to microbe to non-living.
 
Melissa Ingaruca Moreno, Researcher, Designer, Futurist in multispecies & smart urbanism

What kind of stories she’s looking for in Solarunk Creatures:
​
I would like to see radical political imaginaries. The fight for a solarpunk future—not a world that magically turned out better, but the stories of resistance, transformation, and dismantling of the industrial-capitalist complex. Or the coexistence/tension of solarpunk worlds with cyberpunk worlds (where capitalist corruption, surveillance, and technological authoritarianism remain). In that way, I would also love to see how we deal with the scars of loss (climate impacts), colonialism, capitalism, speciesism, and how we heal bodies, communities and land. I also would like to see stories of human non-human entanglements, stories around decentralized approaches to economies, maker spaces, common pool resources, more-than-human cognitive systems for cities. I’m also really curious to discover new aesthetics of naturecultures expressed in music, art, sensorial experiences that are possible in these worlds, or even new languages or ways of communication.
 
Rajat Chaudhuri, fiction writer, activist, editor

What kind of stories he’s looking for in Solarunk Creatures:

I will be looking for stories which creatively and/or ingeniously situate non-human creatures at the centre (as a major plot point, main character, decisive helper/s, etc.) while engaging one or more of the ideas that drive solarpunks. I would also like to see how writers address colonisation of Nature and over-consumption, rewilding etc. by employing solarpunk tools, foregrounding multispecies connections and through a radically imaginative lens.
 
Deborah Cleland, Visiting Fellow at Australian National University, political advisor

What kind of stories she’s looking for in Solarunk Creatures:

I think some of my favourite stories from Multispecies Cities spoke to the ways we would deal with all the problems/sadnesses that would still arise in a solarpunk world—conflict, heartbreak, loss, senescence, misunderstandings and mistakes—but with this backdrop of possibility. I’m also hoping for hybrid creatures, maybe ones that fall outside of traditional understandings of companion animals, for example.
 
Norie Tamura, environmental scientist/social scientist of fishery and forestry

What kind of stories she’s looking for in Solarunk Creatures:
​
DIY technology, not large scale and/or industrial.
A new relationship between nature and human or non-human.
Multinational or stateless atmosphere.
Especially interested in contributions from Japan.

Check out these solarpunk stories with a multispecies focus:

Multispecies Cities: Solarpunk Urban Futures
https://www.worldweaverpress.com/store/p176/Multispecies_Cities.html

“Secret Powers” by Anya Markov
https://grist.org/fix/climate-fiction/imagine-2200-secret-powers/

“The Mammoth Steps” by Andrew Dana Hudson
https://longnow.org/ideas/02022/08/31/the-mammoth-steps/

“Afterglow” by Lindsey Brodeck
https://grist.org/fix/arts-culture/imagine-2200-climate-fiction-afterglow/

Which of your characters would you most like to meet in real life, and where would the two of you hang out?
 
I would love to meet Tuvin, who is a Jegudun who we meet in Shards of History. Jeguduns are sort of like real life gargoyles, protecting the Taakwa Valley and the people who live there. They’re intelligent and kind and funny, and even though they look fierce, they’d just as soon invite you in for tea.
 
As for where we’d hang out, that would probably be along the Columbia River Gorge where Tuvin would have plenty of room to show off his flying skills. And, it’s just a beautiful place with lots of views and plenty of waterfalls, lots of great hiking. I wouldn’t mind hiking to the top of a waterfall if Tuvin would be kind enough to carry up some goodies for a picnic.

Favorite snack or drink while writing?
 
That depends on the time of day! If I’m writing in the morning, coffee is my go-to. I make my own, add some Splenda (I know, it’s probably slowing killing me, but I avoid sugar as much as possible for reasons) and some whole milk, or creamer if we have it. There are lots of great coffee roasters in the Pacific Northwest, so there are plenty of tasty coffees to choose from.
 
If I’m writing in the afternoon or evening, either tea or Coke Zero are my choices. If it’s not too late, I go for the caffeine. Otherwise, herbal tea it is, again with whole milk and Splenda, along with honey. Right now I’m working my way through a local blackberry honey.

Call for Submissions: Solarpunk Creatures
 
Open for Submissions: October 1 – 31, 2022
Story Length: up to 7,000 words
Payment:
Fiction: $0.03 per word (USD)
Art: $100 (USD) for previously unpublished art; $50 (USD) for reprint art
 
To imagine and build better futures, we’re championing a new wave of inclusive storytelling that centers nonhuman characters and positive multispecies interactions. Whether the setting is urban or rural or a space station, we’re looking for stories and artwork that put human-nonhuman or even nonhuman-nonhuman relations in the spotlight. We encourage creators to imagine nonhuman main characters, and we welcome narratives that acknowledge the agency of multispecies actors, both in the worldbuilding and in the plot. Because this is a solarpunk anthology, stories that acknowledge the realities of climate change and address those challenges through uplifting possibilities will have the best chance.
 
We’re defining “creature” broadly, so let us see your depictions of wild animals as well as domesticated ones, of intelligent fungi or plastic-eating bacteria, of lakes and rivers granted personhood. Reconsider the traditional tropes of alien first contact and sentient AI, and envision them in a way that doesn’t replicate the same old oppressions and assumptions of human dominance. We’re looking for work that acknowledges humans as one species in a larger ecosystem, for human characters who strive for cooperation with (rather than dominance over) other creatures, for settings that reflect a sustainable balance of nature and technology.
 
This is a sequel-in-spirit to Multispecies Cities: Solarpunk Urban Futures, which reimagined our urban spaces as less anthropocentric. Read those stories to get a sense of what our editors will be looking for. We also adore Becky Chambers’ Monk and Robot duology, and would love to see stories and artwork in that tenor.
 
Submissions from authors outside of the United States are highly encouraged, as well as from authors of marginalized identities. We aim to curate a diverse, inclusive, and international table of contents. Stories must be in English; translations are welcome, provided the original author has given permission.
 
Simultaneous submissions are okay, so long as you let us know if it sells to another market before we can make a decision. Please send only one story or one work of visual art.
 
How to submit:
 
Fiction: Send story as a .doc, .docx, or .rtf to [email protected]. Use the subject line SOLARPUNK CREATURES: [STORY TITLE] and include a brief cover letter in the body of the email. (Please do not summarize your story.)
 
Artwork: Send art as .png or .jpeg attachments with a DPI of 300 or higher to [email protected]. Use the subject line SOLARPUNK CREATURES: [ARTWORK TITLE]. While both color and black and white will be considered, please note that all artwork will be printed in black and white in the paperback.

Questions? Leave a comment below or email [email protected].

​Need inspiration? Check out the solarpunk anthologies we've already published!

This seems as good a space as any to announce that World Weaver Press is now on an indefinite hiatus. Most of our books will remain on sale, but at this time, we have no future titles planned. Trenchcoats, Towers, and Trolls: Cyberpunk Fairy Tales and Mothers of Enchantment: New Tales of Fairy Godmothers, both published earlier this year, may be our final releases.

When I took over World Weaver Press in 2016, my goal was to follow through on the promises the previous owner had made to the authors and editors who had trusted us with their creative projects. With varying degrees of success, I did that, and a little bit more. Our books have reached readers all over the world. Stories in our anthologies have been translated into other languages, quoted in critical essays, and assigned in classrooms. I'm especially proud of the books that have made it onto SFF award lists: Bite Somebody by Sara Dobie Bauer, 2017 Imadjinn Award for Best Paranormal Romance Novel; “The Partisan and the Witch” by Charlotte Honigman in Skull and Pestle: New Tales of Baba Yaga, 2020 WSFA Small Press Award; Multispecies Cities: Solarpunk Urban Futures, nominee for Best Utopian Anthology/Collection in the 2022 Utopia Awards.

Even though we're (probably) not publishing any new ones, World Weaver Press books still have a long life ahead of them, so please continue to leave reviews, share your favorites with your on- and offline networks, and pick up the ones you've been meaning to check out. Below, you can see which titles readers were most excited about in the first half of 2022!

Thank you to Android Press and all of the folks involved in the 2022 Utopia Awards for acknowledging World Weaver Press in your nominations! We're nominated in two categories: Best Utopian Curator, and Best Utopian Anthology/Collection, for Multispecies Cities: Solarpunk Urban Futures, edited by Christoph Rupprecht, Deborah Cleland, Norie Tamura, Rajat Chaudhuri, and Sarena Ulibarri.

We're big fans of many of the other works and creators included in these categories, as well! Check out the full list of nominees at android-press.com/2022-utopia-award-nominees and be sure to check out the first ever Climate Fiction Conference on October 1, 2022 to find out the winners!

Guest Blog by Kelly Jarvis

Every girl dreams of having a fairy godmother.

But what happens when your fairy godmother is a witch? This is the question lurking behind my story for the Mothers of Enchantment: New Tales of Fairy Godmothers anthology. “A Story of Soil and Stardust” blends elements from traditional Cinderella and Vasilisa the Beautiful tales, casting Baba Yaga, the terrifying witch of Slavic folklore, in the fairy godmother role.

I first learned about Baba Yaga through the anthology Skull and Pestle: New Tales of Baba Yaga. Described as a ferocious old woman with a hooked nose and long, bony legs, Baba Yaga can be found living deep in the woods in a broken-down hut that runs around on chicken feet. She flies through the air in a mortar and pestle, has a trio of horsemen to do her evil bidding, and satisfies her voracious appetite by devouring the flesh of children, adding their skulls and bones to the grisly fence that surrounds her forest property.

Kelly Jarvis (she/her) is the Special Projects Writer for Enchanted Conversation: A Fairy Tale Magazine. Her work has appeared in Eternal Haunted Summer, Mermaids Monthly, and Blue Heron Review. When not writing, she teaches classes in writing, literature, and fairy tale at Central Connecticut State University. ​

Guest Blog by Claire Noelle Thomas

​This story began with a list of questions.

When I was young, I read a lot of fairy tales. They were dazzling, down-to-earth, beautiful, and sometimes frightening, but I loved them all.

In most of the stories, the characters’ motivations were clear, whether good or evil. There was no ambiguity about why the villains did awful things. The witch wanted to eat Hansel and Gretel. The evil stepmother envied Snow White’s beauty. The spurned fairy took her revenge on Sleeping Beauty’s parents.

Because of this clarity of intention and action, fairy tales always made sense to me on a fundamental level.

But not Rumpelstiltskin. For some reason, it left me feeling confused and dissatisfied. I couldn’t put my finger on why the story bothered me, so I began to avoid it.

As I got older, I stopped returning to fairy tales as frequently. Something of the magic of that world had been lost to me. The stories didn’t set fire to my imagination like they once did.

Then, a few years ago, I found my way back to fairy tales again. This time, I began to glimpse possibilities and gray areas, gaps that I’d never questioned before. All of a sudden, the stories came alive to me, their world richer and more vibrant than ever.

I rediscovered Rumpelstiltskin when the Grimms’ tale came up in a fairy tale class I was taking. It still left me feeling hollow and dissatisfied, but this time, instead of shying away from the story, I kept thinking about it. Eventually, I realized that one of the things that bothered me was the lack of clear motivation for the character of Rumpelstiltskin. He appears as a rescuer at first, but quickly becomes a villain. To me, he’s one of the most terrifying fairy tale characters, precisely because his actions are so illogical and inexplicable. Why does he torment the miller’s daughter when he has no connection to her? What’s in it for him?

At that point, something clicked for me, and I began to consider all the unanswered questions in this story. Who is Rumpelstiltskin, and what brings him to the castle in the middle of the night? What motivates him to ask the miller’s daughter for her first-born child? Why does he offer her a chance to guess his name when he could simply take the child? And why exhibit such indiscretion in singing his own name aloud? (One could say overconfidence, I suppose, but it’s not a very satisfying answer.) And, perhaps most baffling, why does he tear himself in half at the end of the story?

None of these questions had obvious answers, and to me, the story felt like it was more holes than plot. I started toying with the idea that maybe the version we know is only half the tale. What if Rumpelstiltskin actually had perfectly reasonable, even honorable intentions? What was his side of the story?

This idea sparked my imagination so much that I decided to try to “redeem” Rumpelstiltskin. Not an easy task when you’re dealing with an extortionist and would-be kidnapper!

But as soon as I started writing, everything seemed to fall into place. I glimpsed a pattern I hadn’t seen before, shadows of things already in the tale that just needed to be brought to the forefront. Suddenly, all the elements that had always bothered me about Rumpelstiltskin shifted and turned, revealing a much different face to a story I thought I knew.

Giving Rumpelstiltskin a voice and a conscience was painful and challenging. It took me to places within the story that I never noticed before, but it also allowed me to appreciate the original tale in a totally new way. Beneath the apparent cynicism and spitefulness, I found other emotions and motivations at work in these characters.
​
Rumpelstiltskin is a story about greed, yes. But it’s also about possibilities and new beginnings. And, at its heart, it is a celebration of the tenacity of life and hope, even in the harshest conditions.