Voodoonauts Presents: (Re)Living Mythology is a delightful collection of alumni writing
From 12A
witnessing Walumbe’s terrible work. To defeat him, or at least keep him at bay, she needs to open up to her son about her history, trauma and current struggles. For Malcolm to help her in turn, he needs to come to terms with his mother’s needs and wants.
This requires them both to overcome their fears. Jenkins Bell noted that they are both afraid in this story, and when a parent or close relative is ill, their children or other family members are expected to step in and help. While this comes from a place of love, a fear-driven approached to caretaking often leads to a breakdown in communication: the caretaker tries to impose what they think is best for their relative without asking them about their wants and needs. This then leads to conflict, resistance and resentment.
But once the two are able to open up about their fears, concerns, wants and desires, they are able to have these tender moments that strengthens their relationship but also leads them to a better understanding of what they need from each other in the moment.
“Stars Born Blue” by L.P. Kindred
Finally, there is L.P. Kindred’s science fiction poem “Stars Born Blue”, which is written like a creation myth for the universe by personifying stars and the blackness of space.
Nulyk, the blackness of space, was the first thing to ever exist in the universe until the first star, Hytl, materialised. They quickly fell in love, and their unions produced the many celestial bodies we know today: nebulae, asteroids, planets and more. But once Nulyk begins birthing suns, which glow blue when they are young, Hytl pushes them away from her so that they can learn to shine. These suns and other celestial bodies form clusters that make up the known universe, and crowd in the darkness.
As the heavens fill and get more crowded, Nulyk becomes lonelier. She has never produced anything that looked like her. She only sees herself, briefly, in the shadows her brilliant sons create as they shine upon their siblings. Hytl notices her suffering, but can only create a container for her pain: a thing he calls time. As time goes on, and as more stars scatter across the cosmos, she becomes their canvas, Kindred writes, but she forever connects them.
I loved this poem. I had never read a piece of science fiction poetry before, only witty poems about scientific concepts. Kindred’s ability to create myth from science was delightful to read, and it reminded me of other cosmologies, Hindu Cosmology about Rama opening Kristina’s mouth after he ate dirt and finding a whole universe inside. Astronomy has always been beautiful to me, and seeing it rendered so emotionally and richly in this collection was quite a delight.
Conclusion
There are many other stories in Voodoonauts Presents: (Re)Living Mythology. There are Mami Watas and Hags, tales of old gods and new powers. In all, this collection is an excellent display of what the future of speculative fiction can look like: a global community of authors from different cultures writing and re-examining their mythologies and making new things from them. I am excited to see what Voodoonaut’s future collections will look like, I hope to see more work by the Voodoonauts team and their students out in the world soon.
Do you want to learn more about the
Voodoonauts Summer
Fellowship? Check their website, https://www.voodoonauts.com/.
Want to read more work from the team? Check these out: • Futureland: Battle for the Park by H.D. Hunter • “And This is How To Stay Alive” by Shingai Njeri Kagunda (This short story was recently expanded into a novella)
• Reclaiming a Traditional African Genre: The AfroSurrealism of Ngano by Yvette Lisa Ndlovu
• “Your Rover is Here” by L.P. Kindred, read by LaVar Burton
You can scan the QR code below for links to these works:
"Night came first
Her name was Nulyk
Her Black was beautiful. Expansive, endless, eternal, the only Nulyk remains perfect.
"Star came second. He amused Nulyk, light tickled For she was all and
Had never been touched By another
She called him Hytl."