{"id":5050,"date":"2024-06-12T22:43:44","date_gmt":"2024-06-12T22:43:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/on.patronhunt.com\/utopiasciencefiction\/?p=5050"},"modified":"2024-07-07T18:36:16","modified_gmt":"2024-07-07T18:36:16","slug":"sneak-preview-interview-with-p-djeli-clark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/on.patronhunt.com\/utopiasciencefiction\/sneak-preview-interview-with-p-djeli-clark\/","title":{"rendered":"Sneak Preview: Interview with P. Dj\u00e8l\u00ed Clark"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hello everyone! We have an exciting interview coming up for our August issue. Our outreach manager had a wonderful conversation with author P. Dj\u00e8l\u00ed Clark. P. Dj\u00e8l\u00ed Clark is an author who reinvents the past with overtures to the present. His debut novel, A Master of Djinn<\/em>, set during the first period of British rule in Egypt, is a supernatural detective story which explores themes of gender, class, and colonialism. Ring Shout<\/em>, winner of the 2020 Nebula Award for best novella, follows a trio of hunters as they battle the demonic forces of a supernatural Ku Klux Klan. Some of his other works include The Black God’s Drums<\/em>, set in an alternate New Orleans during the American Civil War, and The Haunting of Tram Car 015<\/em>, which takes place in a steampunk-infused Cairo. Always a prescient, thoughtful, and articulate writer, P. Dj\u00e8l\u00ed Clark is one of the many trailblazers in this era of speculative fiction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

James Machell (JM) Did you find speculative fiction or did speculative fiction find you?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

P. Dj\u00e8l\u00ed Clark (PJC):<\/strong>  Always been into the \u201cfantastic.\u201d Spent the early years of my life in the Caribbean, where folklore was just part of everyday life. The TV shows I all liked were all SFF When I started reading, the books I chose were SFF. By the time I even heard the term \u201cspeculative fiction,\u201d I was already in deep. So, I\u2019ve always been into this\u2014before I had name for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 JM: Your work often blends fantasy with historical events. Do you consider yourself to be more of genre writer or a magical realist<\/strong>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PJC: <\/strong>Never really thought about it and honestly don\u2019t know. I let other people decide what category my writing fits into. If it fits into both, all the better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JM: Which writers do you consider to be your biggest inspirations?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PJC:<\/strong> I grew up on the Tolkiens and Bradburys\u2014the \u201cbig names\u201d that probably influenced a lot of how I think about SFF. But, the folks whose writing inspired me to actually write\u2026 that would have to be names like Tananarive Due, NK Jemisin, and Victor LaValle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 JM: Your latest novel, A Master of Djinn<\/em>, takes place in Egypt. What attracted you to this setting?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PJC:<\/strong> What attracts most people to Egypt maybe\u2026 its long history and setting as a crossroads\/meeting place of various people, culture, etc. For me, I was looking for a place to set an anticolonial narrative with magic involved and Cairo especially stood out. As a bonus, Egypt is probably one of the most written about places on Earth. Great for research!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JM: In 2015, the World Fantasy Award trophy was changed from a bust of H. P. Lovecraft to a statuette of a moonlit tree. Do you have any thoughts on this decision?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PJC:<\/strong> While mounting the severed bronze head of H.P. Lovecraft (racist guy who also wrote stuff) on a wall might prove cathartic, should I ever be fortunate enough to win one, the move away from a figure with such a problematic past is good move. Yes, yes. Certainly, lots of other big names had problematic pasts. But Lovecraft went above and beyond: a champion hater if you will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JM: Ring Shout<\/em>, The Black God\u2019s Drums<\/em>, and several of your other works deal with racism in a historical setting. To what extent do you see the past as a mirror for contemporary society?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PJC:<\/strong> Mirror? I don\u2019t know about that analogy. But certainly, we are shaped (for good or ill) by our past. Understanding and knowing it, including the less than savory bits, helps us contextualize our present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JM: Reviewing The Haunting of Tram Car 015<\/em>, Tor columnist, James Nicholl, criticised \u201cthe notion that magic is the best corrective to colonialism\u201d. Do you have any response to this?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 PJC:<\/strong> Wait, wait, wait. THE James Nicholl reviewed my story? Huge if true! Not knowing the context, I don\u2019t really have a response. Yes, IRL, magic isn\u2019t the best answer to colonialism because magic probably isn\u2019t real. So, it wouldn\u2019t help against bullets and stuff. But in a fantasy story, it works. Anyway, thanks for the review, James!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JM: I thoroughly enjoyed The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington<\/em>. Its final segment depicts the first president being influenced by the magic in a slave\u2019s tooth to free 123 slaves after his wife\u2019s death. I read this as symbolic of contact between ethnic groups lowering tensions between them. Could you explain the meaning of this story? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PJC:<\/strong> I don\u2019t know that slave owners and enslaved people are the best example of \u201cethnic groups lowering tensions.\u201d They aren\u2019t like Italians and the Irish sharing close living spaces in early 20th century Brooklyn. One of those persons (the enslaver) owns the other person (the enslaved) as chattel property, to do with as they wish. The last vignette (Emma) was meant to represent the more mundane experiences of enslaved people, who had to live as a commodity while trying to hold onto their humanity. I imagine that it was perhaps her hidden hopes and dreams (which enslaved people held close) that worked some \u201cmagic\u201d on George Washington to free the people he held hostage after Martha\u2019s death. Who can possibly know his true inner motives?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JM: To what extent do you feel speculative fiction serves a social purpose?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PJC:<\/strong> Whether it\u2019s Tolkien translating the trauma of WW1 in LOTR or Frank Herbert musing of future resource wars in Dune, I think speculative fiction has long provided an open and welcoming platform for social awareness. Up to every creative to decide how much they want to lean into that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JM: How much do you draw on your personal experiences while writing?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PJC:<\/strong> Probably a small part. I mean, sure, it helps I\u2019ve visited places like Cairo and New Orleans\u2014where I\u2019ve set stories. But, most of my stories set in those places aren\u2019t pulled from personal experience. When personal experiences do show up, it\u2019s something small\u2014like having survived Cairo\u2019s hectic traffic\u2014that helps add a familiar reference. Most of the other stuff, I just make up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JM: Much of your work takes place in the Dead Djinn Universe<\/em>. Is this a series you intend on continuing?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PJC:<\/strong> When I started that universe, it was just a novelette\u2014and I had no intention of writing more. Every story or book that has come about since in that universe, was created because readers wanted more. So, I guess it\u2019s up to the readers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JM: What advice would you give an aspiring writer?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PJC:<\/strong> Keep at it. Whatever your measure is of success, things might take a while. Just try to enjoy what you\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hello everyone! We have an exciting interview coming up for our August issue. Our outreach manager had a wonderful conversation with author P. Dj\u00e8l\u00ed Clark. P. Dj\u00e8l\u00ed Clark is an author who reinvents the past with overtures to the present. His debut novel, A Master of Djinn, set during the first period of British rule […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","ph_site_tiers_settings":[[{"Price":"1.00","Tier_name":"Supporter","Tier_id":"prod_Pau484GX1SAETo","Selected":"true","Tier_status":"publish"},{"Price":"2.00","Tier_name":"Loyal Supporter","Tier_id":"prod_Pau7SM2pr6doK7","Selected":"true","Tier_status":"publish"},{"Price":"4.00","Tier_name":"Patron","Tier_id":"prod_Pau8adHdjphPGS","Selected":"true","Tier_status":"publish"},{"Price":"8.00","Tier_name":"Loyal Patron","Tier_id":"prod_Pau92U3RPjNgeu","Selected":"true","Tier_status":"publish"},{"Price":"34.00","Tier_name":"The Royal Philosopher","Tier_id":"prod_PauACsijbyVHUH","Selected":"true","Tier_status":"publish"}]],"_ph_post_tiers":["prod_Pau484GX1SAETo","prod_Pau7SM2pr6doK7","prod_Pau8adHdjphPGS","prod_Pau92U3RPjNgeu","prod_PauACsijbyVHUH"],"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/on.patronhunt.com\/utopiasciencefiction\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/on.patronhunt.com\/utopiasciencefiction\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/on.patronhunt.com\/utopiasciencefiction\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/on.patronhunt.com\/utopiasciencefiction\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/on.patronhunt.com\/utopiasciencefiction\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5050"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/on.patronhunt.com\/utopiasciencefiction\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5050\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5051,"href":"https:\/\/on.patronhunt.com\/utopiasciencefiction\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5050\/revisions\/5051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/on.patronhunt.com\/utopiasciencefiction\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/on.patronhunt.com\/utopiasciencefiction\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/on.patronhunt.com\/utopiasciencefiction\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}