Janelle Monae is releasing a book based on her ‘Dirty Computer’ songs.
The 36-year-old singer has been working on ‘The Memory Librarian’, a short story collection which takes its inspiration from her 2018 album and it is set for release next year.
She wrote on Instagram: “Who holds your memories?
“THE MEMORY LIBRARIAN and Other Stories of Dirty Computer. APRIL 2022. Pre-Order now avail.
“Damn, I can’t believe I’m typing that. Sci-fi and Afro-Futurism have always been vehicles I use to drive my art & storytelling (no matter the medium) so it’s a dream to be publishing my first short story collection in these genres! Thank you to everyone at @harpervoyagerus for the support and opportunity.
“It’s been a complete honor to swim in creative waters with other dirty computers in our community. I’m so so thankful for these incredible writers for helping bring these stories to light:
“Alaya Dawn Johnson @alayadj (“The Memory Librarian”), Eve L. Ewing @eve.ewing (“Timebox”), Yohanca Delgado @yodelnyc (“Save Changes”), Sheree Renée Thomas @shereereneethomas (“Timebox Altar(ed)”), and Danny Lore @weredawgz (“Nevermind”).
“Cover by @alexistsegba
“i humbly thank you for taking a byte with me as we dig deeper into the world and stories of Dirty Computer.
“Pre-order now — link in bio. Jane 57821 (sic).”
Monáe wrote the book with collaborators Yohanca Delgado, Eve L. Ewing, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Danny Lore and Sheree Renée Thomas.
According to publishers Harper Collins, ‘The Memory Librarian’ “brings to the written page the Afrofuturistic world of [Monáe’s] critically acclaimed album, exploring how different threads of liberation – queerness, race, gender plurality, and love – become tangled with future possibilities of memory and time in such a totalitarian landscape … and what the costs might be when trying to unravel and weave them into freedoms”.