Applied African Speculative Fiction – Volume 2
Following the forthcoming publication of Applied African Speculative Fiction: Volume 1 (Ping Press, 2026), we are pleased to announce a new call for proposals for Volume 2, focused on the future of work in the age of artificial intelligence.
This project is developed in collaboration with the African Speculative Fiction Society (ASFS) and is supported by The Leverhulme Trust. It builds on our ongoing work exploring speculative fiction not simply as narrative, but as method—a way of interrogating systems, testing assumptions, and imagining futures grounded in African realities.
About the Project
Applied African Speculative Fiction asks a simple but generative question:
What happens when storytelling and science are brought together deliberately to think about the future?
Across our workshops and collaborations, we have found that speculative fiction offers a powerful way to:
- surface hidden assumptions in technological systems
- explore the social and ethical consequences of innovation
- and reframe how futures are imagined, governed, and lived
In this next phase, we turn our attention to work—and how it is being reshaped by AI across the African continent and diaspora.
What We Are Looking For
We are seeking proposals from African and diasporic fiction writers interested in developing short stories in collaboration with researchers and practitioners working at the forefront of AI and technology.
We are particularly interested in stories that engage with AI not as abstraction, but as something embedded in:
- labour systems
- economic structures
- everyday life
- and cultural and political realities
Possible areas of exploration include (but are not limited to):
- Labour, automation, and new forms of work
- Data labour, content moderation, and invisible infrastructures
- AI governance, regulation, and power
- Platform economies and digital economies
- Sustainable and alternative technological futures grounded in African ontologies
- Collective organising, resistance, and new solidarities
- The relationship between AI, care, and community
- Visions of African-led technological futures
Stories may be set across any sector (e.g. healthcare, agriculture, finance, education, technology) and may take any speculative form—realist, dystopian, utopian, fantastical, or hybrid.
What matters is not prediction, but perspective: the ability to interrogate systems and imagine alternatives.
Collaboration Model
A key feature of this project is collaboration. Selected writers will be paired with an expert collaborator—AI researchers, data scientists, technologists, policymakers and entrepreneurs
This collaboration is designed to support grounded and informed worldbuilding, mutual exchange between creative and technical perspectives, and the development of stories that engage meaningfully with real-world systems
Participants will take part in:
- at least one online workshop (hosted by Anglia Ruskin University)
- a series of 1:1 conversations with their paired collaborator
At this stage, we are inviting short proposals (max one page) that include:
What to Submit
- a brief outline of your story idea or themes
- areas of interest (e.g. AI, labour, specific sectors or contexts)
- a short bio, including previous publications (if any)
Please also indicate whether you are a member of the African Speculative Fiction Society (ASFS) or another writers’ organisation or whether you already have a potential collaborator in mind (optional)
Practical Information
- Deadline for proposals: 20 May 2026
- Submit to: rethinkingfutures@gmail.com
- Story length: approximately 1,000–5,000 words
- Fee: Accepted proposals will receive £200 per story (with an additional honorarium for expert collaborators)
Selected works will be published as part of a multi-format volume (digital and print), alongside essays and supporting materials. The digital edition will be freely accessible. Unless otherwise agreed, content will be licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
Project Timeline
- 20 May 2026 – Call closes
- Early June 2026 – Applicants notified; writer–expert pairings confirmed
- October 2026 – Online workshop and development session
- Ongoing – Collaboration between writers and experts
- January 2027 – Submission of full drafts
Why This Work Matters
This project builds on a growing recognition that speculative fiction can function as more than storytelling. It can act as a research partner, make visible the assumptions embedded in systems, and help us think more carefully about the futures we are already constructing.
In a moment where AI is rapidly reshaping work, governance, and everyday life, this approach offers a way to engage critically, creatively, and collectively with what lies ahead.