Genres
Solarpunk
A genre of speculative art and fiction centered on ecologically sustainable futures, described as the inverse of cyberpunk.
Solarpunk is a genre of speculative art and fiction which centers depictions of ecologically sustainable futures, and it has been described as the inverse of cyberpunk: where cyberpunk layers high technology over social decay, solarpunk depicts technology enabling coexistence with nature, using light and greenery to convey cleanliness and abundance. The "solar" names renewable energy plus an optimistic vision that rejects environmental pessimism; the "punk" carries DIY, countercultural and post-capitalist attitudes. The term appeared in a 2008 blog post, "From Steampunk to Solarpunk", and a Solarpunk Manifesto followed in 2019.
The genre answers climate fiction's warnings with repair, and Becky Chambers's A Psalm for the Wild-Built is its often-named fiction touchstone. The craft problem for serial writers is dramatic: optimistic stakes must still be stakes, so tension has to come from characters and costs rather than catastrophe.