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This is the second episode in my new series, "Strange New Work."

Artist and writer Morgan Harper Nichols is a world-builder. She says, "Worldbuilding, for me, [is] a form of expansive hope\u2014a necessary imagination for being alive." What is world-building? It's the process of creating secondary, fictional worlds. There's world-building in all sorts of fiction\u2014but especially science fiction, speculative fiction, and fantasy.

And world-building as a practice\u2014a necessary imagination\u2014can be a tool for mapping a better work environment, too.

Footnotes:

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• Find out more about Morgan Harper Nichols on Substack, her website, and Instagram.
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• Read the piece that inspired this conversation.
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• \nThe Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson
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• N.K. Jemisin on world-building on Wired and LitHub\n
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• To Write Love On Her Arms
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• "What is capitalist realism?" by Tara McMullin, featuring Iggy Perillo
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Every episode of What Works is also shared as an essay at whatworks.fyi\u2014become a free subscriber to get weekly posts delivered to your inbox or upgrade to a premium subscription for access to bonus content and quarterly workshops for just $7 per month!

All of the books I mention in this series are in the Strange New Work Bookshop list.