ASU Center for Science and the Imagination

Our latest issue of Imaginary Papers, our quarterly newsletter about science fiction worldbuilding, futures thinking, and the imagination is out now!

In this issue, writes about the video game “Mutazione,” gardening, and forging community after catastrophe; Jason Nabi revisits Isaac Asimov’s 1942 short story “Runaround” and the Three Laws of Robotics in the era of LLMs; and Vandana Singh reports on An Educator’s Guide to Climate Science and Colonialism. Read here: https://mailchi.mp/asu.edu/imaginarypapers26-may2026

If climate fiction sparks your imagination, join Tory Stephens, founder of imagine 2200, in a conversation digging into how speculative storytelling shapes what futures feel are possible, featuring Vandana Singh, , and through . The event is free on Zoom at 11:00am (ET), on June 10. RSVP link here: https://luma.com/19l5xgr9

The Veterans Imagination Project (VIP) is returning this fall! Our initiative to improve the transition from military service to civilian life, using the tools of design thinking and strategic narrative foresight, is offered at no cost to all veterans in Arizona, and paid research opportunities are available for eligible volunteers ages 18 and older. Learn more and join the interest list at csi.asu.edu/veterans/apply.

VIP is presented with support from the Office for Veteran and Military Academic Engagement () and the Pat Tillman Veterans Center ().

In mid April, speculative fiction magazine@strangehorizonsmag published a review of "Climate Imagination: Dispatches from Hopeful Futures". Writer Sullivan reflects on the diversity of outcomes and adaptations relating to anthropogenic climate change across the world, which he metaphorically refers to as puzzle pieces. He goes on to reference a few of the fiction 'puzzle pieces' included in the "Climate Imagination", analyzing the various literary and tonal approaches voicing the cause, effect, and key of climate change in their respective regions through the short-story medium. Read more here: https://strangehorizons.com/wordpress/non-fiction/climate-imagination-dispatches-from-hopeful-futures-edited-by-joey-eschrich-and-ed-finn/

We’re wrapping up another marvelous semester of events and projects here at CSI and we couldn’t have done it without the brilliant contributions of our student workers. Congratulations to our new graduates, Eliza DelaPaz(), Laura Hechel, and ! Thank you for imagining with us. We can’t wait to see what the future holds for each of you!

Happy publishing day to our very imaginary friend for the release of his debut novel, "Absence", a speculative fiction piece about a mysterious epidemic of human vanishing. Andrew is also author of "Our Shared Storm: A Novel of Five Climate Futures", a sustainability researcher and futurist, and an Imaginary College Fellow here at the Center for Science and the Imagination. Check out our interview with him for a closer look at his creative process and the inspiration behind the novel: https://csi.asu.edu/projects/into-the-unknown-exploring-absence-with-andrew-dana-hudson/. "Absence" is available for purchase here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/803125/absence-by-andrew-dana-hudson/

In March, Vector Magazine, critical journal of the British Science Fiction Association, released a review of our book "Climate Imagination: Dispatches from Hopeful Futures". The writer, Chukwunonso Ezeiyoke, brings attention to some potential pitfalls of utopian futures imagination and analyzes its complicated public reception, tying it back to its origination. In noting the absence of utopias in "Climate Imagination", Ezeiyoke also points out the uniqueness of collective imagination methodologies, drawing attention to the value of diverse voices and ranging formats of storytelling. Read more here: https://vector-bsfa.com/2026/03/28/a-review-of-climate-imagination-dispatches-from-hopeful-futures/

Attention fiction lovers! The Protopian Prize Fiction Contest invites artists, storytellers, and dreamers to share their vision of people working toward liberatory futures, meeting obstacles, & making real change. Hosted by Metagov and the Public AI Network. Learn more at protopianprize.com. Submissions open May 1st, 2026

“Protopian” means an achievable, optimistic future characterized by continuous, incremental progress rather than revolutionary leaps or a static, perfect state. Protopian stories imagine a future that is neither flawless nor catastrophic, but instead workably better than today. It’s about plausible progress rather than perfection or collapse. The 2026 prize has 2 categories:

1) The Public AI Prize category invites writers to imagine AI development, policy, and tools, built for—and following basic principles of— public benefit. Stories might address ethical training, sustainable maintenance, creator-friendly implementation, collective rather than corporate ownership, and/or new uses that complement rather than replace human strengths.

2) The Democratic Futures Prize category invites us to imagine institutions, tools, and organizational methods that expand and enhance public autonomy and shared control over societal futures. Stories might address inclusive community-building, decision-making processes, better delivery of public goods, and/or new techniques for combating disinformation, surveillance, and authoritarian constraints.

The prize pot is currently $5,000 for each category! 💰 And the opportunity to have your story read by an incredible judging panel from the worlds of storytelling, AI/Political Science, and policy including: Gideon Lichfield (), Ruthanna Emrys, Kevin Kelly (), Annalee Newitz (), Deji Bryce Olukotun, Hannu Rajaniemi, Karl Schroeder, Arati Prabhakar, Henry Farrell, and Ida Yoshinaga.

Submissions will be open May 1 - July 31, 2026. Prize announcements anticipated September 2026. See the Luma calendar for other upcoming prize-related events: https://luma.com/protopian-prize