Worldbuilding Intensive 2020 #4

by: Catherine Sorrentino

​Writing, like any art, is often a tool of protest and social activism. Speculative fiction and plays allow for creative writing to challenge, rather than uphold, our current circumstances. In a recent Worldbuilding Intensive hosted by author Jelani Wilson and PYP teaching artist Mr Stine, young writers were given the opportunity to imagine fantastical and futuristic worlds to examine our present. Ready to explore another world? Here is the creation of student May Zheng.

Writing/Image by May Zheng (CLICK READ MORE ------>)

549 is a young leopard wizard hybrid, meaning he has animalistic physical characteristics and instincts. In his world, technology has become so pervasive that he and his people have numbers instead of names. Unlike the people who live in the cities and rely on technology, 549 and his clan of magicians have lived in the forests for decades, practicing magic and staying in touch with the natural world. This way, they avoid the Tech patrols that want to stamp out magic. He is an amateur with magic and tends to end up practicing to himself in small clearings in the forest he and his clan resides in. 549, though an amateur, is quite a quick learner and is sometimes quite confident. He is very much a “leap before thinking” type of guy. He is quite happy with his magical life and has a cheerful attitude before one day his naive and curious nature gets to him. He strays too close to the Dead Zone, a wide area that divides the Tech of Rubble City and the Magics of the forest. As he enters, a Tech patrol immediately catches him, but before being dragged to who knows where he breaks free with a sudden rush of magic from...his jewel clip. He runs away, spewing magic at the patrol and hiding while wondering what has happened? But that’s a mystery to be solved later. To be continued!