John is an award-winning speculative fiction writer and copywriter from England. He writes under the pen name of J.W. Allen for fiction and holds several diplomas in creative writing. His stories have appeared in the US and UK at Simultaneous Times Podcast, Dark Matter Magazine, Sci-Fi Lampoon and more. His short dramedy play Harriet’s Melody was performed live at the Queens Theatre in 2022. John won the QuaranCon 2022 Speculative Fiction Prize for his short story Show Me Your Resume. He holds a Silver Award and two Honourable Mentions for Writers of the Future and was a finalist for both the James White Award in 2018 and the Val Wood Romance Prize in 2019. You can learn more about John and reach out to him at his website: www.johnallenwriter.com
Why did you want to be involved with this project?
When I was approached to take part in this project, I think I’d drunk one too many beers when I said “Yes!” Come up with stories that help people think about how we can reconnect with our planet? No problem. Just insert screaming emoji here.
I have always been fascinated with the raw power of storytelling. Humans communicate primarily by telling each other stories. Stories have and continue to inspire us to reach for a sustainable future. It can be hard to remain optimistic in today’s world (doomscrolling nearly killed me), but optimism and hope are needed now more
than ever.
We are often at our very best when we tell stories. For example, here’s my elevator pitch for how I got involved with CIEDA. “A thoughtfully unstable geek with a false eye, odd brain, and over-active imagination is challenged to write
four stories that bring a better future into existence before humanity is eaten by social media oligarchs.”
I’m riffing on the brief here, but doesn’t that sound like fun? CIEDA reminds me that we should never allow our jobs or abilities to define us. Humans are varied. We have always been varied and that is a wonderful thing we forget to our detriment. To reach a more sustainable future, we need to tell more stories with the many different voices we have.
Why do you think speculative fiction holds solutions?
I’m an avid reader of pretty much everything, but speculative fiction (science fiction, fantasy, horror etc) is where I feel the most inspired. People sometimes forget that speculative fiction provided inspiration to yesterday’s scientists, philosophers, and politicians. You only need to look at the technology imagined in Star Trek, the exploration of gender in The Left Hand of Darkness, or the quiet triumph of progressive thought in Emergency Skin for some examples of better living that we can still reach.
Speculative stories continue to inspire people to action today. The rise of solar punk as a genre shows how desperately we all want positive views of the future. If we can’t imagine a better future, how can we begin to explore solutions that will get us there?
My aim throughout this residency is to provide stories that entertain above all. Boredom rarely inspires. If you feel strongly about the themes explored or are inspired to do something beyond reading and sharing these stories, great! And if just one of the stories makes you think about how we might reach a future that reconnects us with this wonderful but fragile hunk of life hurtling through space at 67,000mph… don’t forget
to namedrop me at every opportunity!
I’m only human after all.
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