Real Sugar Is Hard to Find with Sim Kern

Sim Kern started writing after the birth of their child left them disabled and unable to return to full-time work as a teacher. Though their first stories were quite personal, frequently taking a memoiristic form, they soon found a home in speculative fiction.

Their short story collection, Real Sugar Is Hard to Find, leans into solarpunk, a genre of speculative fiction that refuses cynicism, depicting ecologically sustainable futures and highly cooperative communities, and allowing Sim to combine their life as an activist with their life as a writer. They reject the notion that political fiction is inherently didactic or narratively impoverished. Rather, they view the emotive qualities of narrative and character as powerful tools for political education.

I loved talking to Sim. If you've only ever known them through their political work, I hope you'll take the time to listen. Real Sugar Is Hard to Find comes out on October 20, 2026 from Interlink Press. You can preorder it now from the publisher's website, or wherever books are sold.