ANC062: Maps of a Hollowed World by T.D. Walker
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Aboard ship, a year is a story / we tell ourselves in light, intensity / marking movement we cannot / make ourselves.
On a journey not far beyond the realm of plausibility, generations live and die in pursuit of refuge—searchers of a new earth to seed and settle, the heart of an empty asteroid their enduring vessel. In Maps of a Hollowed World, T.D. Walker gives voice to the select few sent through time and space as they examine their bonds with deceased pioneers and unborn progeny alike. Perceptive lines engage with classic texts, scientific studies, and cultural detritus to bridge the travelers' terrestrial past with their new lives among the stars. Just as her characters explore the cosmos in search of a suitable home, Walker uses science fiction tropes to survey family dynamics, environmental concerns, and our relationships to troubled histories. For better or worse, that which makes us most human will follow us into our collective future and the new ways of living it demands. Another New Calligraphy will donate part of its profits from every book to Project Exploration, a Chicago nonprofit creating transformative learning opportunities for youth underrepresented in the sciences. $1 for each physical copy and 50% of digital sales will support this initiative. Read an excerpt previously published in Impossible Task. "In compiling this poetic atlas, Walker intricately weaves her worldview with threads from historical documents, pop culture nostalgia, literature, and song. Each poem in Maps of a Hollowed World appears in a delicate balance across the page, an invitation to ponder why we believe what we believe. The collection opens our eyes to how we treat this planet and each other, trying to attain the goal: 'how to keep the thing that can break you / apart moving you toward what you imagine // one day you’ll love.'"—Christina M. Rau, Elgin Award winning author of Liberating the Astronauts
"The landscape of T.D. Walker's Maps of a Hollowed World isn't a moon, it's a space station, an asteroid, and a home where 'a year is a story we tell ourselves in light.' In polyphonic poems which deftly navigate generations of time and space, Walker's speakers grapple in real-time with science fiction's question of what will happen when the stuff of Earth becomes the stuff of mythology, reminding us that the further we get from home the more it matters where we came from." —Jessica Rae Bergamino, author of Unmanned "Don’t miss this chance to ride on T.D. Walker’s brilliantly imagined generation ship. Maps of a Hollowed World builds a composite portrait, via letters and meditations, of miners, undertakers, chaplains, and engineers inhabiting an asteroid serving as ark. Their testimonies are packed with balm leaves, preserved finger bones, and other poignant details; Walker, archivist herself, interleaves them with recycled scraps of hymns, climate change reports, vintage Jello ads, and advice from Emily Post. The results are surprising, moving, and very much worth the adventure." —Lesley Wheeler, author of Unbecoming and The State She’s In |
