What do you think the end of the world would look like? Stories about the apocalypse and post-apocalyptic living have been popular across time and space, such as zombie novel World War Z by Max Brooks and Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, which involves a flu pandemic. We use it to escape reality, as a way to cope with our worries about the future. At the same time, post-apocalyptic fiction can make us feel “mono no aware”; the Japanese notion of accepting the beauty in the impermanence of things.

During this reading session we will explore how various stories depict the apocalypse and post-apocalyptic living. We will discuss themes such as resilience, collapse, hope, and survival. Who decides that the world has ended? How will we know when the apocalypse is here? How is our perception of the end of the world influenced by our racial and gender identities? Join us and together we’ll let post-apocalyptic fiction remind us that the end of the world is not eternal; there was a time before it and there will be time after it.

Anticipated Futures – On Post-Apocalyptic Living is part of the reading sessions Science Fiction minus Fiction Futures. Hosted and curated by Lilian de Jong.

Online Rules:

Because we have had to deal with zoom-bombers before and because we want to create a safe environment where everyone can express their opinion we ask everyone to turn on the camera during the online meetings. Not only is this safer, but also much more engaging. If you do not want to do this, it can have the consequence that the host will exclude you from the meeting. Thank you for your understanding.

About the donation thing:

By purchasing a ticket, you are actively contributing to our existence.

For example, thanks to your participation, we can cover some expenses such as location rent, compensation for our lovely host and web-hosting services.

‘Wait, but you get subsidized, right?’ well, err…no. And we don’ t want to.

Future Based thrives because of our volunteers, and awesome network (you are part of). We are a non-profit organization. The average donation is € 6,00 (ex Eventbrite fees). But feel free to whatever you feel is appropriate.

Thank you for your support.