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ORCID
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4376-8816
Document Type
Open Access Thesis
Degree Program
English
Degree Type
Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.)
Year Degree Awarded
2021
Month Degree Awarded
February
Keywords
Fiction, Science Fiction, Latinx Fiction, Surrealist Fiction, Utopian Fiction, Creative Writing
DOI
https://doi.org/10.7275/20635500
Abstract
This novel is conceived as the first in a series of seven books. It takes place 25,000 years in humanity’s future, primarily on a space station - Laniakea Station - made from the combined cultures and habitations of beings from many galaxies outside our own. It floats eternal in the space between galaxies. It is a utopia of sorts.
The novel is a series of connections between: Sainn-Temo, a human clone, grown from the genetic library rescued from the plight of interstellar slavery plaguing the human species; Ailu, a human woman born from actual human parents, stowed away on Laniakea; Swasim, a non-human mining executive attempting to sell off rights to the abandoned human solar system; and Revac, Ailu’s friend, a scientist of renowned fame and importance, inventor of a gene therapy that can stop the aging of living cells. These beings coalesce and bind together across space and time, leading to a discovery with profound consequences for the galaxy and the fate of humanity.
The work is not just a sci-fi series but part of a wider universe I am creating across different artistic mediums. The series of works is called Hojas, or leaves. Over the next 2 years, as part of my PhD in anthropology, I will be constructing installation works, sculptures, video art, short stories, and interactive software art (video games!) to complement and build out the backstory leading up to the novel series. I hope for these works to engage participants and readers in co-creating a future mythology where brown and black bodies are triumphant, living well, and free. I will likely keep writing Hojas books until I die (unless we crack immortality!).