By Georgia Jackson, College of Arts and Sciences
鈥淲hat would you do, given another universe, a do-over?鈥�
This is the question animating Brenda Peynado鈥檚 novel 鈥淭ime鈥檚 Agent,鈥� which received the , on April 18.
For Peynado, an assistant professor in the Department of English, the award 鈥� named for the late science fiction writer and author of 鈥淒o Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?鈥� and 鈥淭he Man in the High Castle鈥� 鈥� is an 鈥渋mmense honor.鈥�
鈥淭his book began as a confrontation with colonialism, corporate greed, environmental collapse and with myself,鈥� she wrote in an email that was read aloud during the awards ceremony in Seattle, Wash. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an immense honor to receive the Philip K. Dick Award, named for a writer whose fractured realities continue to shape the futures we dare to write.鈥�
鈥淲e cannot create new worlds if we don鈥檛 first face the one we鈥檝e already made.鈥� 鈥� Brenda Peynado
In Peynado鈥檚 novel, which was published by , pocket worlds exist. But they don鈥檛 hold the key to the universe鈥檚 mysteries like Raquel and her wife Marlena once hoped. Instead, each pocket world 鈥� a geographically small, hidden offshoot of reality 鈥� is controlled by a corporation intent on turning a profit.
鈥淲e live in a world that teaches us to monetize every breath; to sell our time, our attention, our desires,鈥� said Peynado, who is also author of 鈥淭he Rock Eaters,鈥� a collection of speculative short stories that tackle class, immigration and xenophobia. 鈥淚n 鈥楾ime鈥檚 Agent,鈥� people barter their minutes, abandon their pasts. But both speeding up to our consequences and slowing down to each moment can reveal our deepest losses, our brightest hopes. I wanted to write a story for those out of sync with the world they鈥檝e inherited, a story that might still offer the chance to love, to mend, to choose differently.鈥�
Brenda Peynado signs a copy of her book "Time's Agent" for a reader.
In 鈥淭ime鈥檚 Agent,鈥� Raquel and Marlena grieve the loss of their daughter and upload her consciousness to the only device they have access to: a robodog.
鈥淩aquel promises herself she will give her daughter a perfect day. As you can imagine, the world gets in the way. She reboots her daughter at night, resets her to forget, with the promise that the next day will be perfect. And, in the story, she even has new worlds, parallel universes, to try to get it right. World after world, day after day, she fails,鈥� Peynado said.
But, while she was drafting the book, Peynado got stuck.
鈥淢idway through writing, I really struggled to write forward,鈥� Peynado said. 鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 find a way out for Raquel or her daughter.鈥�
It wasn鈥檛 until a good friend of hers suggested the story needed to explore the protagonist鈥檚 own complicity that the rest of the story 鈥渦nlocked鈥� for Peynado.
鈥淗ow could she contend with fixing the world if she wasn鈥檛 able to face her own part in it? Once I started exploring that, the rest of the story came together,鈥� Peynado said.
Now, in the Department of English at USF, Peynado makes sure to encourage her own students to examine the ways in which the heroes and villains that appear in their stories are alike.
鈥淚n what ways are the hero and villain part of the same system pushing them both into relentless conflict?鈥� Peynado said. 鈥淗ow is the main character complicit in their own unmaking? And how, once they are able to face themselves, are they able to make a different choice?
鈥淲e cannot create new worlds if we don鈥檛 first face the one we鈥檝e already made.鈥�
Previous winners and nominees of the Philip K. Dick award, established in 1983, include writers J. M. Coetzee, Karen Joy Fowler, Kim Stanley Robinson and Scott Westerfield.