Afrofuturist Writer Sheree Renée Thomas

I Felt Like I Was Going to See an Alien at Any Moment

Afrofuturist Writer Sheree Renée Thomas | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Photo by Aaron Salcido.

Sheree Renée Thomas is a Memphis-based fiction writer, poet, and editor. Her work is inspired by myth and folklore, natural science, and the genius of the Mississippi Delta. Among other works, she wrote the fiction collection Nine Bar Blues: Stories from an Ancient Future, and edited the World Fantasy Award-winning anthologies Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora and Dark Matter: Reading the Bones. Before the Zócalo/Experience ASU event “How Should We Prepare for the Aliens to Arrive on Earth?,” she sat down in our green room to tell us about Afrofuturism, the best thing about Earthlings, and which Beyoncé song she’s got caught in her ear.

Q:

What is one of your favorite places to go in Memphis?


A:

A place called Martyrs Park, it’s in the French Fort area right on the bluff, overlooking the Mississippi River. It has the best sundown in Memphis.


Q:

What superpower would you most like to have?


A:

The gift of languages. I know some people already have it. I wish I could understand any language in the world, including languages of other living things. Or anything outside of our world.


Q:

How did you first get into speculative fiction?


A:

I had amazing grandparents who told me scary stories when I was young. There was always some type of supernatural element, which kept us engaged but also terrified. We also loved to watch B-horror movies, and old science fiction movies with low tech effects, and The Twilight Zone. I loved Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles, too.


Q:

What is one of your favorite fictional representation of aliens?


A:

In terms of first contact I loved Close Encounters. That had a big impact on me. As a younger kid I lived in New Mexico, so the terrain seemed very real and I felt like I was going to see an alien at any moment under that desert sky.


Q:

What do you want people to know about Afrofuturism?


A:

It’s just a creative lens that people around the world are using to explore so many interesting topics. Mostly it’s an artform that allows you to imagine yourself in the future, which was something we couldn’t always say was a given.


Q:

You write a lot about music. What’s an ear worm stuck in your head these days?


A:

Lately I have not been able to stop listening to “Alien Superstar.” I imagine myself as Beyoncé. I listened to it on my way over here.


Q:

If Beyoncé doesn’t become the first, what do you think the first “alien superstar” would be known for?


A:

I think something like in The Fifth Element, for some musical form. Something that entrances all life forms on the planet. I want to see alien TikToks.


Q:

What is one of the best things about Earthlings?


A:

Our sense of humor. Anywhere in the world.


Q:

Who is your dream dinner guest—dead or alive—and what would you serve them?


A:

This is going to sound so random: Katt Williams, James Baldwin, Mozart, and my oldest female ancestor. And I’d serve them BBQ, of course—it’s Memphis!


Q:

If the Earthseed credo from Octavia Butler’s Parable series is right and “God is Change,” what is one thing you’d change?


A:

Human spirit. I think we need to evolve before we can be ready for that first alien contact. We need to treat each other much better in real time to be ready for higher beings.


Q:

If you could create a new planet, what would you name it?


A:

Something from the water, based on some lifeform in the water.