The Terra Two project invites creative writers to develop original science fictional content for this page. We invite you to use your wit, your wisdom, and your commitment to the power of language to influence those who are settling the first off-world colony. In your view, what will those who are settling off-world need to know in order to survive?
Your creative work might use one of the following topics as a jumping off point:
| Space (stars, planets, black holes, galaxies) | Ethnicities |
| Off-world human colonies | Religion/Spiritualities |
| Permaculture/ Solar Punk | Gender |
| When species meet | Sexualities |
| Animals | Dis/Abilities |
| Artificial intelligence | Hierarchies |
| Post-humanism | Apocalypse |
Alternatively, compose a creative response to a favourite science fictional text in any form. Here are just a few personal favourites, so please feel to respond to any of these, or to one of your own, using any science fictional mode!
| Arthur C. Clarke—‘Nightfall’ (1947), ‘If I Forget Thee, Oh Earth’(1951) |
| Ray Bradbury—‘Frost and Fire’ (1946), ‘The Veldt’ (1950), ‘There will Come Soft Rains’ (1950), |
| Ursula Le Guin—The Left Hand of Darkness (1969), The Dispossessed (1974), ‘Newton’s Sleep’ (1994) |
| Margaret Atwood—The Handmaid’s Tale (1985), Oryx and Crake (2003), The Year of the Flood (2009) |
| Octavia Butler—Xenogenesis (1987-) The Parable series (1993, 1998) |
| Cormac McCarthy—The Road (2006) |
| China Miéville—The City and the City (2009), Kraken (2010) |
| Jeff Vandermeer—The Southern Reach Trilogy (2014) |
| Abrams, Kurtzman and Orci—Fringe (2008-2013) |
| Charlie Brooker—Black Mirror (2011-) |
| The Duffer brothers—Stranger Things (2016-) |
| Planet of the Apes (1968) |
| Star Wars (1977) |
| Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) |
| Blade Runner (1982) |
| Twelve Monkeys (1995) |
| The Fifth Element (1997) |
| Gattaca (1997) |
| The Matrix (1999) |
| Children of Men (2006) |
| Ex Machina (2015) |
| Arrival (2016) |
Entries should be brief – our aim is to collate short but striking creative pieces which contribute in some way to the shape and design of the first off-world human settlement.
- Fictional entries – 500-1000 words
- Poems – 1-3 poems, 100 lines maximum)
- Graphic short stories – 1-3 pages
Please supply a title. Additionally, creative contributions should be accompanied by a 100-300 word critical reflection: what critical or creative texts have influenced your creative piece? What do you hope your reader will experience? Is there anything you would like your reader to know about your work? Please follow an established referencing system for citations and bibliographic details.
Once you have completed your creative piece and critical reflection, please send them to the Terra Two editorial team for consideration through the Online Submission Form on the About page. We will accept high quality creative work which follows the recommendations laid out above. We invite creative work from staff members and students at YSJ and from selected guest contributors outside our institution. Please include a 50 word biography and photograph.
Let’s join our many voices together in order to create a mutually sustaining reality, next time around! We look forward to reading your work with great anticipation.
Terra Two 