Artist and writer Morgan Harper Nichols is a world-builder. She says, "Worldbuilding, for me, [is] a form of expansive hope—a 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—but especially science fiction, speculative fiction, and fantasy.

And world-building as a practice—a necessary imagination—can be a tool for mapping a better work environment, too.

Footnotes:

• Find out more about Morgan Harper Nichols on Substack, her website, and Instagram.
• Read the piece that inspired this conversation.
• The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson
• N.K. Jemisin on world-building on Wired and LitHub
• To Write Love On Her Arms
• "What is capitalist realism?" by Tara McMullin, featuring Iggy Perillo

Every episode of What Works is also shared as an essay at whatworks.fyi—become 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.

Strange New Work is a special series of What Works and hosted by Tara McMullin.