The Speculative Fiction Convention:
My route through the convention:
My introduction:
We live in a world that aims to construct walls around its borders–a world that aims to keep outsiders out. This seems counterintuitive, given the growing tolerance of all people queer, trans, colored, etc. As Mohsin Hamid, author of “Exit West,” puts it, “we cannot have equality unless we really have equality. And that means not denying it to people on the basis of where they come from.” This xenophobia is still growing around the world and Alexandra Alter has taken notice in her article, “Global Migration Meets Magic in Mohsin Hamid’s Timely Novel,” where she observes the “ominously relevant” contents of Hamid’s novel. While I agree that the novel is appropriately timed, having much relevance in the global scope, I also believe that it extends beyond the novel. Alter fails to acknowledge that, not only does Hamid’s book tell an “urgent and essential story,” but so do Hamid’s views and ideas of optimism regarding global migration.
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