Singer, actor, producer, style icon and now author – Janelle Monae has announced she’ll be publishing her first work of fiction.
HarperVoyager will publish the 35-year-old’s Afrofuturistic short story collection on April 19, 2022, for which she will collaborate with various other storytellers.
Called The Memory Librarian And Other Stories From The World Of Dirty Computer, it will expand upon the sci-fi world of Monae’s third album, Dirty Computer.
The publisher told The Bookseller: “Monae’s 2018 Dirty Computer introduced a world in which thoughts–as a means of self-conception–could be controlled or erased by a select few. And whether human, AI, or other, your life and sentience was dictated by they who’d convinced themselves they had the right to decide your fate. That was until Jane 57821 decided to remember and break free.
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“Picking up from that moment of escape, this story collection explores how different threads of liberation – queerness, race, gender plurality, and love – become tangled with future possibilities of memory and time in such a totalitarian landscape… And what the costs might be when trying to unravel and weave them into freedoms.”
This is what we want to see from the visionary musician’s first work of fiction…
More of Jane 57821
Monae first introduced the character of Jane 57821 in Dirty Computer. Played by Monae in the accompanying film, Jane lives in a totalitarian state – the government treats her like a computer, one that needs to be ‘cleaned’ because she’s different from the norm – so she decides to break free.
In the film, Jane is romantically involved with Zen (played by Tessa Thompson) and Che (Jayson Aaron). Monae came out as pansexual in 2018 – not only do we want to see more of Jane, but fans will no doubt be keen for her to explore themes of sexual fluidity in her writing.
Incredible storytelling
If you’re familiar with the lyrics and visuals of Dirty Computer, you’ll know just how talented Monae is at weaving a story. She created a whole world with the album and film, and we can’t wait to see her explore even more dystopian and sci-fi themes in the collection, diving into what artificial intelligence might mean for us in the future.
We’re also looking forward to all things weird and wonderful, as we’ve come to expect from Monae. Whether it’s creepy headless Halloween costumes or mind-blowing videos, she’s always doing things her way.
Exciting new voices
The collection won’t just be Monae; she’s collaborating with other writers, too.
Monae said: “As a reader and writer of science fiction since childhood, it is a dream to have the opportunity to expand Dirty Computer into a literary project. Writers specifically black, queer and genderqueer, are at the forefront of pushing the creative boundaries of sci-fi and speculative storytelling.”
This will hopefully be a great opportunity to discover some fresh new voices – if they’ve got the Monae stamp of approval, they’re sure to be exceptional.
