Nancy S. Koven, author of “Seven Stories for Now and Later” in The Future Fire #74, joins us for a quick chat about extinction, fetishization and writing in this week’s microinterview.
TFF: What does “Seven Stories for Now and Later” mean to you?
Art by John Gould and H.C. Richter (1854)
Nancy S. Koven: By organizing the story around seven animals that are either recently or soon-to-be extinct, this story frames environmental loss as a deeply personal one, underscoring the human desire to “know” that which is lost through speculative narrative. The story is also a space to explore associated themes of scarcity and fetishization, complicity and privilege, and the hard limits of simulacra (mechanimals, memories, even words).
TFF: What is the most important thing to remember about writing?
NSK: Written works are interactive maps, messy and nonlinear, that illuminate vast, complex worlds made possible just by committing a handful of people, places, and events to the page. There’s no right way to read the map, there’s risk and reward in doing so, and you’ll never end up in the same place twice.
Extract:
A thickset bird shuffles along the railing of the viewing platform, catches me looking across the river at its home, then turns to face the same way. We become an old married couple, exchanging sighs and idly scratching away the afternoon’s humidity. Its face is like weathered copper. My skin, too, is oxidized, the latest excision dressed in petroleum jelly and a sweatproof bandage underneath my hairline. There are no spiders for it to eat, but it doesn’t seem all that hungry.
Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2025/09/new-issue-202574.html.
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