Dear Editor,

Many of us live in a world of escapism. This fictional space is necessary in order to soothe the stress and toxicity of everyday life. When it comes to fiction writing, the stories are only limited by one’s imagination, and no matter what type of fiction stories you like, chances are a few of them involve some sort of science fiction topics. The word fiction is described as literature created from the imagination, not presented as fact, though it may be based on a true story or situation. Types of literature in the fiction genre include the novel, short story, and novella. The word is from the Latin fictiō, meaning “the act of making, fashioning, or moulding”.

Science fiction is a genre of speculative fiction that explores the effects of scientific discoveries, technological innovations, natural events, and evolution on people and their relationships. It is often set in the future and typically deals with imaginative concepts such as space exploration, time travel, parallel universes, and extraterrestrial life.

The selection of January 2 as the annual date for National Science Fiction Day in the US is no accident. This date was chosen in order to correspond with the official birth date of famed science fiction writer Isaac Asimov, who is thought to have been born January 2, 1920. The theme of National Science Fiction Day is to celebrate the genre of science fiction, its history, creators, and different media.

Interestingly, many scholars of the genre believe that the first piece of recorded fiction —
The Epic of Gilgamesh — was also the first work of science fiction. Others believe that sci-fi became a legitimate genre of fiction during the late 16th and 17th centuries with the emergence of modern science.

Today, science fiction is a well-read genre and a huge part of popular culture. In fact, many of us will remember one of the greatest sci-fi movies of all time, ET The Extra-Terrestrial, which was released in 1982 and directed by the renowned Steven Spielberg.

The genres of fantasy and science fiction have historically been dominated by men. Notwithstanding there have been many women of note in these genres, among them are:

• Mary Shelley: Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein, which has been deemed the first science fiction novel.

• Naomi Novik: Naomi Novik is the fantasy author of the Temeraire series, which reimagines the Napoleonic Wars with dragons. The first in the six-book series is His Majesty’s Dragon. Most recently, Novik penned the award-winning fantasy novels Uprooted and Spinning Silver, which are loose retellings of the fairy tales Beauty and the Beast and Rumpelstiltskin.

• Dr Nnedi Okorafor: Dr Nnedi Okorafor is a Nigerian American writer of science fiction and fantasy, as well as an academic. Okorafor often promotes young black girls as superheroes in her work, and her writing investigates racial inequality, sexual violence, and other social issues.

Celebrating National Science Fiction Day can be an enjoyable way to have fun, learn, and use one’s imagination.

Wayne Campbell

waykam@yahoo.com