Malka Older - Worldbuilding creativity

Malka Older makes a life at the crossroads of our existing and future worlds. Between research into the sociology of organizations, on-the-ground work in humanitarian aid and disaster risk reduction, and acclaimed writing of speculative and science fiction, Older brilliantly, beautifully, uncommonly lives the great paradox in front of us all: to hold at once the two truths of lived experience and imagined future.

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Dr. Older is a faculty associate at Arizona State University’s School for the Future of Innovation in Society, is the author of “The Centenal Cycle” trilogy - a magnificent collection of science fiction novels that were a finalist for the Hugo Best Series Award, the science fiction world's top honor, in 2018. Those three books are part of a large compendium of award-winning works that span genres from sci-fi, mystery, short fiction, and poetry. I won't read the list, but some of the names are too much fun not to bring here: The Mimicking of Known Successes, The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles, Infomocracy.

In another life that is somehow the same one, Malka has more a decade of experience in humanitarian aid and development, heading efforts in places like Darfur and Indonesia, implementing economic development initiatives, and responding to disasters across three continents.

She completed her PhD in 2019 on the sociology of organizations, emphasizing organizational improvisation in the wake of natural hazards like Hurricane Katrina. She has an undergraduate degree in literature from Harvard and a Masters in international relations and economics from the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) Johns Hopkins University.

Last year Malka became the Executive Director of Global Voices, a community of writers, editors, and translators providing community journalism from all over the world and advocating for indigenous and minority languages, media literacy, digital rights, and online freedom of expression.

I wanted to have this conversation because there is a throughline from disaster risk reduction to speculative fiction that involves a deep compassion, an ability to feel for the other with the intent to act, and that also involves a set of capacities that is as rare as it is requisite for the world we are walking into. And I want to explore those sensibilities as inspiration and guide for all of us.