The Cloud Weaver's Song
Book •
Saul Tanpepper's "The Cloud Weaver's Song" is a lyrical climate-fiction short that reimagines future folklore in the Horn of Africa, following sky-dwelling cloud weavers who harvest mist amid a deepening drought.
The narrative centers on Simhar and Ali as they challenge entrenched leaders and traditions to respond to shifting clouds and the needs of earthbound people.
Tanpepper blends mythopoetic storytelling with speculative tech—spider-like mechs and termite skins—to explore displacement, resilience, and intergenerational responsibility.
The story was published in the 2021 collection Afterglow: Climate Fiction for Future Ancestors and won second place in Grist's Imagine 2020 contest.
Its themes emphasize adaptation, the limits of authority, and creating new folklore for future descendants.
The narrative centers on Simhar and Ali as they challenge entrenched leaders and traditions to respond to shifting clouds and the needs of earthbound people.
Tanpepper blends mythopoetic storytelling with speculative tech—spider-like mechs and termite skins—to explore displacement, resilience, and intergenerational responsibility.
The story was published in the 2021 collection Afterglow: Climate Fiction for Future Ancestors and won second place in Grist's Imagine 2020 contest.
Its themes emphasize adaptation, the limits of authority, and creating new folklore for future descendants.
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Read aloud and discussed by ![undefined]()
Margaret Kiljoy
CZM Book Club: The Cloud Weaver's Song, by Saul Tanpepper
