S6E2: Climate Crisis & Compassion in the Digital Age

Image credits: Alistair Mackay by Catherine Mac

Akil Kumarasamy and Alistair Mackay talk to Abdul-Malik Sibabalwe Oscar Masinyana about their novels Meet Us by the Roaring Sea and It Doesn’t Have To Be This Way, respectively.

They explore ways of writing about the future and imagination as resistance. Their expansive conversation refers to climate collapse, Artificial Intelligence and technology, popular culture, care and hope.

Abdul-Malik Sibabalwe Oscar Masinyana is a writer of short fiction, essays and children’s books and is currently working on his debut novel. Akil Kumarasamy is the author of the novel, Meet Us by the Roaring Sea (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2022), and the linked story collection, Half Gods, (FSG, 2018). She is an assistant professor in the Rutgers University-Newark MFA program. Alistair Mackay is the author of It Doesn’t Have To Be This Way, published by Kwela in 2022. He lives in Cape Town. 

In this episode we stand in solidarity with Egyptian poet and activist, Ahmed Douma. You can read more about his case here: https://pen-international.org/news/prison-writing-by-ahmed-douma

Update: Ahmed Douma was released from prison in August 2023. We celebrate his freedom!

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