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super / natural: art and fiction for the future
super / natural is a literary call to action. finding where we're headed and what our future(s) will look like when we get there. through art, poetry, and prose, twenty-three visionaries tackle the idea that to be the future we must first see the future.
the works are united through their themes of the supernatural, as in the mystical and fantastical, and/or the SUPER natural, going back to our true roots and the heart of our existence. above all, super / natural is a critical look at our relationship with the earth and with each other.
featuring short stories from Alex Benke, Madi Giovina, Donna J.W. Munro, Tiffany Niles Aline-Mwezi Niyonsenga, Nisi Shawl, Keely Shinners and Fanni Somogyi, art from Apu, Amarise Carreras, Adrianna “Kaya” Clark, Joey Dean, Anthony Grimaldi, Antony Ohman, Caiitlin Peck, and Theresa M. Pisani, and poetry from Doriana Gabrielle Diaz, Sage Katherine Enderton, Brandi Spering, and Anna Tregurtha.
the works are united through their themes of the supernatural, as in the mystical and fantastical, and/or the SUPER natural, going back to our true roots and the heart of our existence. above all, super / natural is a critical look at our relationship with the earth and with each other.
featuring short stories from Alex Benke, Madi Giovina, Donna J.W. Munro, Tiffany Niles Aline-Mwezi Niyonsenga, Nisi Shawl, Keely Shinners and Fanni Somogyi, art from Apu, Amarise Carreras, Adrianna “Kaya” Clark, Joey Dean, Anthony Grimaldi, Antony Ohman, Caiitlin Peck, and Theresa M. Pisani, and poetry from Doriana Gabrielle Diaz, Sage Katherine Enderton, Brandi Spering, and Anna Tregurtha.
143 pages, Paperback
Published November 21, 2019
11 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 17, 2019
This is an incredible collection of visual art, poetry and fiction. I received an ARC and was blown away by the variety of visions that are tucked away in this anthology. There are visions of love, healing, magic and darkness. I am excited to have discovered so many new artistic voices. The contributors come from all over the world and from all different backgrounds- the worlds they’ve envisioned in these pages are fully realized and possesses a living, breathing energy. I love super/natural and would definitely recommend to anyone!
March 7, 2020
I hadn’t heard the term visionary fiction until about two years ago. I was trying to nail down a narrower genre for a novel I’d written…because contemporary fiction is to catch-all and science fiction wasn’t applicable. That’s when I stumbled across the term visionary fiction aka new age fiction. I was spellbound by the definition. That said, despite accidentally writing something that could loosely be categorized as visionary fiction, I wasn’t sure I’d ever actually read any visionary fiction. I wanted to, though. Fast forward to me opening up this collection. In the first few pages I’m told the work I’m about to view is classified as visionary fiction.
Hell yeah.
This anthology does something that I personally have not seen done in traditional publishing. It seamlessly combines almost all mediums of art and modes of writing. I do not doubt that if it had an audio book a soundtrack of experimental music would be playing in the background for the duration. The photography and artwork add a very alluring touch (I am particularly drawn to the photo of the woman clutching a skull with purple smoke all around her). In recent years I’ve read traditionally published books that claim to be experimental in style or unorthodox in structure, but what they really turn out to be are try-hard hunks of disjointed prose.
This is not that.
Experimentation comes natural to this book. The “differentness” of it has a purpose, and therefore does not feel forced. The ability for so many different creatives to get on the same frequency and vibrate there is really quite impressive. Collaborations aren’t easy and chemistry doesn’t grow on trees, but this anthology would lead you to believe otherwise.
IMO there’s a little too much explaining in the beginning. I understand the want/need to set up something so unconventional, but I think it could have been set up a little more concisely. No offense to anybody, but people who need a lot of context or for things to be broken down in a basic A B way are not the target audience for this book in the first place.
This book is for thinkers. Those who like a little satire with their social awareness. Fans of contemplation & imagination.
I contemplated the meaning of pretty much every piece of writing and inclusion of art, but there are a couple pictures I’ve contemplated the most. I translated their titles. I stared at them, went back, stared some more. Still I wondered. These pictures are also good examples of what I meat when I said all mediums of art were included. Sure, they are pictures when put in book format. But in reality they are displays. Very Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art-esque.
Hell yeah.
This anthology does something that I personally have not seen done in traditional publishing. It seamlessly combines almost all mediums of art and modes of writing. I do not doubt that if it had an audio book a soundtrack of experimental music would be playing in the background for the duration. The photography and artwork add a very alluring touch (I am particularly drawn to the photo of the woman clutching a skull with purple smoke all around her). In recent years I’ve read traditionally published books that claim to be experimental in style or unorthodox in structure, but what they really turn out to be are try-hard hunks of disjointed prose.
This is not that.
Experimentation comes natural to this book. The “differentness” of it has a purpose, and therefore does not feel forced. The ability for so many different creatives to get on the same frequency and vibrate there is really quite impressive. Collaborations aren’t easy and chemistry doesn’t grow on trees, but this anthology would lead you to believe otherwise.
IMO there’s a little too much explaining in the beginning. I understand the want/need to set up something so unconventional, but I think it could have been set up a little more concisely. No offense to anybody, but people who need a lot of context or for things to be broken down in a basic A B way are not the target audience for this book in the first place.
This book is for thinkers. Those who like a little satire with their social awareness. Fans of contemplation & imagination.
I contemplated the meaning of pretty much every piece of writing and inclusion of art, but there are a couple pictures I’ve contemplated the most. I translated their titles. I stared at them, went back, stared some more. Still I wondered. These pictures are also good examples of what I meat when I said all mediums of art were included. Sure, they are pictures when put in book format. But in reality they are displays. Very Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art-esque.
October 14, 2019
disclaimer: I'm biased because I wrote this!
this collection compiles work from 23 different creators, all with a common theme of the supernatural. the work as a whole attempts to challenge structural inequalities that exist at present, and question their role in our communal futures. super / natural encourages curiosity, growth, and community, and criticizes capitalism, privatization, and discrimination.
there are stories ranging from apocalyptic to idyllic and absurd to prescient. visual art is dispersed through the collection to add color and another medium of interpretation. poetry is included to add sense to the nonsensical, and music to the written word.
i won't add any spoilers, but i will include this quote that inspired this entire collection:
“Whenever we envision a world without war, without violence, without prisons, without capitalism, we are engaging in speculative fiction. All organizing is science fiction.” - Walidah Imarisha
The book will be released on November 21st.
this collection compiles work from 23 different creators, all with a common theme of the supernatural. the work as a whole attempts to challenge structural inequalities that exist at present, and question their role in our communal futures. super / natural encourages curiosity, growth, and community, and criticizes capitalism, privatization, and discrimination.
there are stories ranging from apocalyptic to idyllic and absurd to prescient. visual art is dispersed through the collection to add color and another medium of interpretation. poetry is included to add sense to the nonsensical, and music to the written word.
i won't add any spoilers, but i will include this quote that inspired this entire collection:
“Whenever we envision a world without war, without violence, without prisons, without capitalism, we are engaging in speculative fiction. All organizing is science fiction.” - Walidah Imarisha
The book will be released on November 21st.
November 16, 2019
Who doesn’t love diversity?!? Super/natural is a great exploration in writing and art. Yes I co-edited this, but every person who contributed to this anthology thoroughly impressed me with their submission. The visionary’s who made the cut are pretty friggin talented.
December 2, 2019
The future is a critical object of worry inputted deep into our subconscious, but how can we claim control over it? One method is redefining its possibilities through our own means—Perennial Press’s Super / Natural does just that. Under the genre of visionary fiction, the imaginative method of building just worlds through art, Super / Natural is an anthology composed of 23 artists that touches on topics such as witchcraft, the apocalypse, and nature through poetry, short-stories, photography, and other various art forms. Through these topics, the anthology is separated in three distinct sections: “All That You Can Touch”, “All That You Change”, and “The Only Lasting Truth.” Beginning with “All That You Can Touch”, it’s a composition of motifs warm of belief and desire. Ranging from Sage Katherine Enderton’s enchanting poem, “There is So Much Warmth”, about her experience with the Wicca religion to the entrancing tale of Madi Giovina’s “Gloria and Her Biomes,” this section opened my eyes to different feelings of passion and different versions of beauty. Following with “All That You Change,” the tone shifts to a manipulated personal version of science fiction, which consists of mostly apocalyptic themes. This section exhibits how creative these artists can be when it comes redefining this common version of what the future can hold with their own artworks; I was definitely impressed. In this section you’d find heartbreaking tales, such as Keely Shinners’s “How to Build a Home for the End of the World”, and obscure yet more captivating pieces, such as Nice Shawl’s “The Water Museum.” Finally, with “The Only Lasting Truth”, the art pieces here were whimsical due to its innocent themes of nature, but also raw when discussing the roots of each piece. You’d find Doriana Gabrielle Diaz’s “Land of my Mother’s Mother” to tear your heart in two with her discussion of ancestry, but will end the collection on a light-hearted yet hopeful outlook with Madi Giovina’s “Crying in Public,” which can even move you to compose your own vision. With these three cohesive visions, the call-of-action collection of Super / Natural is here to speak its truth. You’re bound to discover new truths that you didn’t think possible about the future!
December 19, 2019
I have to say I didn’t know what to expect from SUPER / NATURAL: ART + FICTION FOR THE FUTURE. I knew there were elements of supernatural, mystical and fantasy but didn’t know some of these would interest me so much.
Each piece of writing, whether a poem or speculative fiction, had it’s own uniqueness. Most piqued my interest and made me think of how things would be if these stories were true. How the world would be different and how easy it would be for this to actually happen.
There were a couple of stories that I found difficult to read but that was just because of my personal circumstances. Other than those I found SUPER / NATURAL: ART + FICTION FOR THE FUTURE easy to read and very interesting.
Despite the fact that it is fiction it got me thinking about the world we live in and how we can improve it to hopefully stop our planet becoming the dry desert portrayed.
I would recommend SUPER / NATURAL: ART + FICTION FOR THE FUTURE to anyone with an interest in the supernatural, fantasy and mystical. If you have an interest in the environment and the planet we live on this will no doubt get your mind working overtime.
Give it a go!
Each piece of writing, whether a poem or speculative fiction, had it’s own uniqueness. Most piqued my interest and made me think of how things would be if these stories were true. How the world would be different and how easy it would be for this to actually happen.
There were a couple of stories that I found difficult to read but that was just because of my personal circumstances. Other than those I found SUPER / NATURAL: ART + FICTION FOR THE FUTURE easy to read and very interesting.
Despite the fact that it is fiction it got me thinking about the world we live in and how we can improve it to hopefully stop our planet becoming the dry desert portrayed.
I would recommend SUPER / NATURAL: ART + FICTION FOR THE FUTURE to anyone with an interest in the supernatural, fantasy and mystical. If you have an interest in the environment and the planet we live on this will no doubt get your mind working overtime.
Give it a go!
October 24, 2019
Super/Natural is an incredible collection that explores topics of love, healing, witchcraft, darkness and more.
The fact that contributors come from different parts of the world and ethnicity makes the literature more rich. The stories are so different. So unique. Yet fresh, strung together and connected to each other. All have an impeccable hold over writing.
The anthology is speculative or visionary.
The concept is amazing and it hits you from the very first page.
‘relevance towards building new, freer worlds from the mainstream strain of science fiction, which most often reinforces dominant narratives of power. Visionary fiction encompasses all of the fantastic, with the arc always bending towards justice.’
There are visual art and pictures, dispersed throughout and are very pleasing to the eyes. Also, that banging cover is got to be a favourite.
The fact that contributors come from different parts of the world and ethnicity makes the literature more rich. The stories are so different. So unique. Yet fresh, strung together and connected to each other. All have an impeccable hold over writing.
The anthology is speculative or visionary.
The concept is amazing and it hits you from the very first page.
‘relevance towards building new, freer worlds from the mainstream strain of science fiction, which most often reinforces dominant narratives of power. Visionary fiction encompasses all of the fantastic, with the arc always bending towards justice.’
There are visual art and pictures, dispersed throughout and are very pleasing to the eyes. Also, that banging cover is got to be a favourite.
May 13, 2020
(I am a contributor to this anthology.)
I recommend this anthology because the works inside function as both a call to action and as breathtaking imaginings that shock, agitate and inspire hope. The last story, 'Crying in Public', is a fitting way to end it, or should I say to begin with your own pen in hand...
I recommend this anthology because the works inside function as both a call to action and as breathtaking imaginings that shock, agitate and inspire hope. The last story, 'Crying in Public', is a fitting way to end it, or should I say to begin with your own pen in hand...
January 28, 2021
I wasn’t sure what to expect, but this was a very well curated selection of poetry, short fiction, and visual arts. I found myself stretching out the reading time so as to sit with each work longer, especially some of the art pieces.
My favorites were the short stories by Nisi Shawl and Keely Shinners, and the photos by Amarise Carreras. And thinking about building the future as an act of speculative fiction is an idea I have never before considered but which makes perfect sense. I really enjoyed the contrasting futures and appreciated the broad approach to content and form taken by the editors. The book was both enjoyable and thought-provoking, which I think is rare.
My favorites were the short stories by Nisi Shawl and Keely Shinners, and the photos by Amarise Carreras. And thinking about building the future as an act of speculative fiction is an idea I have never before considered but which makes perfect sense. I really enjoyed the contrasting futures and appreciated the broad approach to content and form taken by the editors. The book was both enjoyable and thought-provoking, which I think is rare.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews