jump to navigation

Fiction Prompt from Poets & Writers September 7, 2018

Posted by nrhatch in Fiction, Word Play, Writing & Writers.
comments closed

I received this Fiction Prompt from Poets & Writers today and found it intriguing:

What kind of story would you write for someone reading it one hundred years from now?

For Scottish artist Katie Paterson’s Future Library project, which started in 2014, she has commissioned Margaret Atwood, David Mitchell, Elif Shafak, Sjón, and Han Kang to write manuscripts that will remain unread in storage in an Oslo library until 2114. The texts will then be printed on paper made from one thousand trees planted in a Norwegian forest when the project began.

Write a short story with the notion that it won’t be read for one hundred years. While imagining a future generation of readers, explore themes involving time, eternity, and mortality.

Do you think that the participating writers will all abide by the “rules” . . . allowing their words to remain unread for 100 years?

Or will most/all of them keep a copy available to share with chosen readers before the designated date?

Aah . . . that’s better!