The rise of hopepunk

I've recently come across references to hopepunk on Twitter.  "Hopepunk is the opposite of grimdark" is the designation.  To which I say, hooray.  And about time too. 

I've spent years reading about people enthusing over Game of Thrones and its grimdark.  I always felt there was something wrong with the unhealthy way many fans waited with excitement for the next character to get killed.  

I'm not a fan of Game of Thrones.  I did read the first book in the series, but I found it a struggle to get to the end.  By then I'd completely forgotten who was who, lost in the confusion of myriad viewpoint changes.  But what really put me off the rest of the series was the creative and unpleasant way the author killed one of the characters towards the end of the book.  It was classic grimdark.  And I'm sorry, but I can't be doing with authors who have fun killing off their characters.

So you can imagine how excited I was when I read about the rise of hopepunk.  Not only did stories contain hope (mine always do), but in hopepunk stories there's a consciously chosen gentleness, and an argument for positive social systems.  Just what I've been doing for years.

Several years ago, I had a one to one appointment at Winchester Writer's Conference with the man who was JK Rowling's first editor.  It was one of the most disappointing meetings with an industry professional I've ever had.  He called my work "rather gentle, and a bit old-fashioned" in a very condescending tone of voice.  

Fast forward six or seven years, and suddenly agents are looking for "quiet and gentle" stories.  Hopepunk has become very requested on agents' manuscript wish lists.  To which I say: about time.

I didn't change the way I write, or what I write about, because of that man's comments.  I continued to write what I believe in, in my quietly powerful individual voice.  And I continued to fill my stories full of hope.  And at last the publishing world is catching up with me.

This is the most positive change I've seen in a decade of positive changes in the SF genre.  And at last I'm beginning to feel like the genre might have a place for me and my quietly powerful stories.