Today’s world is not lacking in hardship. And when it comes to social issues and activism on behalf of what we care about, our generation is more than adept. Ours is a protest often rife in satire and deadpan—and these attributes are precisely reflected in dystopia.
                        
But it is first important to define the genre both in its broad sense and as far as it applies to the writing we all did in Present Tense Future. Firstly, a dystopia is defined as, “an imagined place or state in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmentally degraded one.” But this definition is only the beginning of our exploration of the genre.
                        
As writers, we had to dive well beyond this surface-level notion. As we read mentor texts, it became apparent that an unpleasant world is only the most base requirement. Whether it was Brave New World and its commentary on genetic modification and decadence, or The Handmaid’s Tale’s criticism of the cult of domesticity, these great works offered something more than just a nightmarish hell. As we found out especially whilst exploring some of the more subtle works of dystopia, such as Black Mirror, the worlds in these stories were somewhat like our own.
                        
Here we discovered both the nature of dystopia and why it is so poignant. When it comes to stories, there are certainly extremes. There is fantasy, which is a world so unimaginable that it is a vehicle for escape. There is nonfiction, which aims to inform us. But somewhere in between, there is dystopia. As we read these works, we began to see in the characters’ lives our own. It was almost creepy at times.
                        
Professor Masahiro Mori first introduced the concept of the “uncanny valley” in his studies of robotics. He found that when robots closely resembled humans, their appearance caused mirror neurons to fire and people to feel creeped out. Perhaps dystopia does the same for us, dangling our imagination on the frontier of the bizarre—a place we feel is foreign and yet at the same time seems familiar. It’s this interplay that makes the genre such a powerful one.
                        
And dystopia is a reflection of our generation as well. It was a chance to latch onto a social issue that we truly cared about and take our activism onto the page. The pen may be mightier than the sword, but that is only true when it is wielded with as much force as one would a sword. As we set out on this journey to document, expose, criticise, satirize and comment, we had to bear this immense responsibility in mind.
                        
Our efforts have culminated in Present Tense Future, an anthology of 24 stories from the uncanny valley. Perhaps as you read it, it unsettles you. I hope it does.

Faisal Halabeya is a senior at SAS, alternating between writing furiously and solving physics and math problems. He is fascinated with fractal geometry, skiing, sushi, and enjoys a good cup of coffee in the morning and chamomile tea before bed.