Nora K. Jemisin wants to talk about cities

November 30, 2018 10:23 AM

N.K. Jemisin Is Trying to Keep the World From Ending
posted by infini (11 comments total)

Nominated and accepted as the next book for my book club. Thanks!
posted by BuddhaInABucket at 10:28 AM on November 30, 2018

Also this week: For Reigning Fantasy Queen N.K. Jemisin, There’s No Escape From Reality. She has a new short story collection out, How Long 'til Black Future Month?, and is doing the interview tour.

Also fun from a month or two ago, The Ezra Klein Show: I build a world with fantasy master N.K. Jemisin. Hour long podcast.
posted by Nelson at 10:33 AM on November 30, 2018 [1 favorite]

I've got the new short story book, and it's part of my rainy weekend plans, but I didn't know about the tour. Does anyone know if she's speaking publicly in NYC, or are these press interviews only?
posted by AMyNameIs at 10:40 AM on November 30, 2018

Oh man great article thanks for posting. As well she's a solid Twitch follow if you're into that sort of thing. Don't expect her to be live all the time, but it's always worth a watch when she is playing games.
posted by Carillon at 10:44 AM on November 30, 2018 [1 favorite]

Jemisin's work is great on its own merits, but seeing her success in making so many Puppies and SFF dinosaurs (et tu, Silverberg?) dissolve into juvenile temper tantrums and ineffectual attempts at policing her tone doesn't hurt.
posted by zombieflanders at 12:15 PM on November 30, 2018 [11 favorites]

Jemisin's my vote for president!
posted by BlueHorse at 12:57 PM on November 30, 2018 [1 favorite]

I am...not as in love with her work as many are, but I do enjoy watching her make assholes lose their shit at regular intervals.
posted by praemunire at 12:59 PM on November 30, 2018 [6 favorites]

i like this part! :P

“If the United States right now in this moment decided that it wanted to invest in educating every child to an equal degree, making sure everybody had actual equal opportunity, then we would become one of the most powerful countries on the planet,” Jemisin says. “We'd be able to reverse climate change. We would be able to do amazing things. Any country that genuinely harnesses its entire population and treats them all like people has nowhere to go but up.”

She pauses, and reality threatens to creep back in. “Maybe I'm pie-in-the-sky thinking.”

posted by kliuless at 1:17 PM on November 30, 2018 [5 favorites]

I love her work, but I think I'll perpetually be a bit salty about her telling Chuck Tingle he needed to withdraw from the Hugo nominees to make room for someone she thought was a "real author".
posted by haileris23 at 1:36 PM on November 30, 2018 [1 favorite]

Just to keep things tinglie, get with the program science fiction writer, cities have an amazing future! So, well, I keep trying to get into Ms Jemisin's work but it has not clicked but that's more mood and am looking forward to a good read sometime soon.
posted by sammyo at 2:09 PM on November 30, 2018

oh and re: reality threatening pie-in-the-sky thinking, to paraphrase dostoevsky's 'dream of a ridiculous man's conclusion: "if only we all agreed, it could happen at once!" :P
posted by kliuless at 8:00 AM on December 1, 2018