Writing a History of the Future

On November 18, as part of the Being Human Festival 2016, Dr Will Slocombe and Andy Sawyer held a workshop in the University of Liverpool Library’s Special Collections, showcasing material from the Olaf Stapledon archive.

Born in Wallasey in 1886, Stapledon published a book called Last and First Men (1930). In it, he explored the future of humanity over several billion years, imagining that one of the “Last Men” was writing a history. This became one of the first books in a genre that was later known as “Future Histories” or “Histories of the Future.”

The workshop focused on the timelines Stapledon created to help him think through his ideas for Last and First Men. The timelines, which are held in Special Collections, predicted the future from the 1930s onwards. Participants were encouraged to think about how the timelines correspond to what has actually happened since, what Stapledon predicts might happen, and what these predictions reveal about the historical context of the novel. Participants were then invited to draw up their own stories and timelines of the future, some of which will be posted online on the University’s website, and some of which will be sealed in a time capsule, to be opened in 2030, on the centenary of the publication of Last and First Men.

Expanding on the work carried out in the workshop, Dr Slocombe invites submissions of artworks, infographics, stories, and so on, that explore what the future might look like, how we might live, and what kind of things will happen. What has changed since Stapledon’s time, and what might change again in the future? Selected submissions will be posted on the University website, exhibited at a special Tate Liverpool exhibition, and published in a limited-edition book exploring contemporary views of the future.

Writing a History of the Future builds on Dr Slocombe’s research on Stapledon. Earlier this year, Dr Slocombe published ‘Notes on the Speculation of Future History’ in The-Two-Sided Lake, an eclectic collection of fiction, poetry, critical essays and interviews that explore the overarching theme of Liverpool Biennial 2016: the episode. Copies are available to purchase here.

For more information on how to submit your work and to request a resource pack, please e-mail Dr Will Slocombe: futures@liverpool.ac.uk