Episode 118: Christina Dalcher on Writing Dystopian Fiction and Imagining the Worst

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Christina Dalcher is a professor, linguist, and the best-selling author of the novels like VOX, Q (Master Class in the US), Femlandia, and The Sentence.

In VOX, a religious conservative movement comes to power in the United States. By technological means, the Pure Movement prevents women from speaking more than 100 words a day, and embarks on an unspeakable plot to destroy the very root of human language.

In Q, a strictly stratified educational system relentlessly tests children to measure their Quotient (hence the Q).

In Femlandia, a woman and her daughter encounter a women-only commune where, inexplicably, children continue to be born.

Underpinning Christina’s work is a clear and powerful desire to examine the human condition in tension with government, technology, and social hierarchy. Her central characters tend to be women struggling to protect their children, or driven by a fear of what might happen to their children.

We discuss her background in linguistics as a key part of imagining the worst that could happen to the world, her methods for developing and structuring a thrilling narrative, the way she approaches character and world-building, and some unexpected sources of inspiration for her dark creations.

We had a fun, open, personal conversation which left me with a deeper appreciation of her and her writing. I hope you enjoy it.

You can find Christina at www.christinadalcher.com or on X as CV_Dalcher.

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