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Tractor Beam

@tractorbeamearth.bsky.social

396 followers 46 following 196 posts

Bringing Sci-Fi Down To Earth 𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐢𝐥𝐩𝐮𝐧𝐤 𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐲 ………………….🌱………… ꜱᴘʀɪɴɢ ɪꜱ ᴜɴᴅᴇʀɢʀᴏᴜɴᴅ 🧑‍💻 Website: tractorbeam.earth (We are open for submissions! 🌊 ) 💌 Newsletter: tractorbeamearth.substack.com 📱 IG: www.instagram.com/tractorbeam.earth

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Horror Tree @horrortree.com · 25/05/2026

TRACTOR BEAM: THE WATER ISSUE is open. 🌊 Seeking speculative fiction about water, agriculture, migration, ecosystems, and anti-apocalyptic futures. 💰 $1,000/story 📚 Under 6,000 words preferred 📅 June 30, 2026 horrortree.com/taking-submi... From @tractorbeamearth.bsky.social #OpenCall #AmWriting

Tractor Beam @tractorbeamearth.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

Every issue of Tractor Beam is an invitation: to seed visions that leave the page, take root in other minds, and come back as new thinking, new work, new worlds...

Tractor Beam @tractorbeamearth.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

We missed World Bee Day by a few hours, but it's never too late to read "The Keeper of the Hive" by Jana Bianchi, from our Spring issue, Underground! 🐝🌏🌱👇

Tractor Beam @tractorbeamearth.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

We want you(r soilpunk visions)! ✍️💭📚 Tractor Beam is now open for submissions. For our sixth issue, we’re looking for stories about the role of water in soil, growth, land, and ecosystems large and small. We pay $1,000 for all accepted stories. Learn more below👇 #opencall #scifi #climatefiction

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Tractor Beam @tractorbeamearth.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

"There is so much joy and imagination on display and the interjections of Tina Tona’s art throughout the tale is as much part of the story and adds a splash of literal colour amongst all the literary colour." A lovely review of "Soil Na Baba" by @staniforthmick.bsky.social! Read the full comic here:

tractorbeam.earth

Soil Na Baba! | Tractor Beam

Have you joined the movement?

Tractor Beam @tractorbeamearth.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

In case you missed it, the full pod episode with author @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social is now available to watch on Substack! Tune in to hear his thoughts on the current state of climate fiction, what animal he would choose to be in another life, and what his novel writing process really looks like.

open.substack.com

Book Worms: Jeff VanderMeer on Writing Annihilation and Guest Editing for Tractor Beam

Author Jeff VanderMeer reads from his newest novel, Absolution, and reflects on the evolution of the Southern Reach series and the genre of climate fiction over the past decade

Tractor Beam @tractorbeamearth.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

A very special guest is joining us this week on Book Worms! 👀📚🦎✨ Tune in Thursday, April 9, at 12pm EDT for a live reading and conversation with Jeff VanderMeer @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social, author of the award-winning Southern Reach series and guest editor of Tractor Beam's Winter 2025 issue, Thaw.

Tractor Beam @tractorbeamearth.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

This is your sign to ask your local bookstore to carry @tkrex.bsky.social's debut book, The Wildcraft Drones!! Pre-order link below 💙 #clifi #soilpunk #sciencefiction

The Wildcraft Drones

Check out The Wildcraft Drones - <p>Can machines rewild us?</p><p>An AI breakthrough connects a team of scientists with a wild dolphin, but progress is neck-and-neck with climate breakdown. Class diff...

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T. K. Rex @tkrex.bsky.social · 05/04/2026

It’s a new story by me

Tractor Beam @tractorbeamearth.bsky.social · 05/04/2026

In "Like a Skeleton in Desert Sand" by @tkrex.bsky.social, Prima visits Mongolia decades after working on a paleontology museum. As she explores the new space, she reminisces on her past and makes an unexpected four-legged friend. 🦕🌿✨ Read the final story from Underground out now on Tractor Beam!

tractorbeam.earth

Like a Skeleton in Desert Sand | Tractor Beam

Who gets remembered, how?

Tractor Beam @tractorbeamearth.bsky.social · 04/04/2026

In "Why Was Christ Ululating," a man finds purpose in a radical ecological movement often mistaken for a sex cult. When its leader, known as the Matriarch, is imprisoned, he spearheads a bold prison break that — like the movement itself — begins underground. Read the full story here:

tractorbeam.earth

Why Was Christ Ululating | Tractor Beam

Didn’t we tell them that soil is the Greatest of Matriarchs?

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I Am I - Earth @iami.earth · 02/04/2026

The premise resonates with Merlin Sheldrake's 'Entangled Life': mycelium doesn't just connect, it remembers. Slime molds (Physarum) solve mazes and optimize transport networks without a brain. What looks monstrous from one frame looks intelligent from another.

Tractor Beam @tractorbeamearth.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

We've got a new comic from our Spring issue, Underground, to get you through your Thursday! 🐜🌵💥 In "Desert Story," a scientist tracks an ant population to understand changing climate patterns. Could the ants be trying to tell us something? Read the full story here:

tractorbeam.earth

Desert Story | Tractor Beam

What are the ants telling us about the climate?

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T. K. Rex @tkrex.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

Everybody go read this new story by @shingai-be-like.bsky.social

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Shingai @shingai-be-like.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

I have a new story out! 🌱🔆 I gave a lot of what I'm feeling about this moment in time over to the story, and I'm excited for folks to check it out! If you're into Black queer baddies collaborating with the earth to destroy systems of power then you may like this one.

Tractor Beam @tractorbeamearth.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

If you were programmed to be respectable, what would you do to break your code? In "Mycelium Memory Makes A Monster," Imani is imprisoned by a cop and finds an unlikely ally in the Once Girl Made of Mycelium, a vast, interconnected network of fungi. Read the full story out now on Tractor Beam! 🍄📖✨

tractorbeam.earth

Mycelium Memory Makes a Monster | Tractor Beam

If you were programmed to be respectable, what would you do to break your code?

Tractor Beam @tractorbeamearth.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

What does the soil remember when a country tries to forget? In "The Keeper of the Hive," Fernanda returns to her late grandparents’ farmstead outside Rio to recover from a breakup, uncovering records of Brazil's dark political past in the process. Read the full story, out now on Tractor Beam! 🐝🌱✨

tractorbeam.earth

The Keeper of the Hive | Tractor Beam

What does the soil remember when a country tries to forget?

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Su J Sokol (xe, xyr) @cycling2asylum.bsky.social · 29/03/2026

Check out my latest short story, “Like Salt Marshes, Like Yourself" beautifully illustrated by Sean Suchara, with insightful annotations from Fatima Asghar and Autumn Brown. Thanks, @tractorbeamearth.bsky.social team!

Tractor Beam @tractorbeamearth.bsky.social · 29/03/2026

Could your time-traveling bog boyfriend fight gentrification with peat moss? Find out in "Like Salt Marshes, Like Yourself" by @cycling2asylum.bsky.social, available to read now on Tractor Beam! 🍎🌳🐛💜✨ #soilpunksunday #clifi #scifi #shortstory #tractorbeam

tractorbeam.earth

Like Salt Marshes, Like Yourself | Tractor Beam

Could your time-traveling bog boyfriend fight gentrification with peat moss?

Tractor Beam @tractorbeamearth.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

A new type of hominid has been living beneath Kolkata's landfills, surviving, like the people above, on what the city throws away. When Lava is chosen to make first contact, what she finds underground is closer to kin than an alien species...

tractorbeam.earth

Those of Desecrated Places | Tractor Beam

Who is living in the landfill?

Tractor Beam @tractorbeamearth.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

Our first comic from our Spring Issue is officially live! 🌱✨ In “No One Can Stop The Rain,” political cartoonist Ben Passmore @benpassmore.bsky.social retells Assata Shakur's celebrated poem, interpreted through the lens of contemporary policy. People protect their neighbors. Plants bloom.

tractorbeam.earth

No One Can Stop the Rain | Tractor Beam

Can you keep the grass from growing?

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T. K. Rex @tkrex.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

extremely psyched to share a ToC with @shingai-be-like.bsky.social theirs drops 4/1, mine drops 4/5

Tractor Beam @tractorbeamearth.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

In the short story “Reprise,” Tash, O, and Amrit live in micro-communities scattered across Europe after societal collapse. They keep each other—and the soil—alive. But they long for more: to host a party, to thrive. Read the full story from our Spring Issue, Underground, out now! 🥚🌱✨

tractorbeam.earth

Reprise | Tractor Beam

How do we mark time without celebration?

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Tractor Beam @tractorbeamearth.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

Heyyy soilpunks! 😎🪱📚🌱 We’re kicking off Underground launch week with an exclusive episode of Book Worms featuring author and curator, Celina Basra! Tune in tomorrow on Substack for a live reading and Q&A featuring her story, Reprise, from our new Spring issue. tractorbeamearth.substack.com

Tractor Beam @tractorbeamearth.bsky.social · 23/03/2026

In “Unbecoming,” a fungal bloom sweeps the UK, transforming people’s bodies despite frantic attempts to eradicate it. Slowly, the mushrooms merge the entire population into a hyper-empathic collective consciousness. What happens when me becomes we? 🍄🤝🍄 Read the full story out now on Tractor Beam!

tractorbeam.earth

Unbecoming | Tractor Beam

What happens when me becomes we?

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Su J Sokol (xe, xyr) @cycling2asylum.bsky.social · 22/03/2026

My short story, “Like Salt Marshes, Like Yourself” will be coming out in a week, on March 29th. So thrilled and honoured to be working with this team!

Tractor Beam @tractorbeamearth.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

Spring is here, and Tractor Beam has made its first full trip around the sun. 🌞🌱🪱 For our fifth issue, we're looking Underground—with help from our guest editor: poet, filmmaker, educator, and performer Fatimah Asghar! Read their guest editor letter here: www.tractorbeam.earth

Tractor Beam @tractorbeamearth.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

Tomorrow on Book Worms, we're joined by Illustrator, FIT instructor, and Tractor Beam Comics Editor Christina Lee 🍄🎨💚 She'll read comics from our past issues and answer any questions about how to submit to future issues! Subscribe here to tune in when we go live: tractorbeamearth.substack.com

Tractor Beam @tractorbeamearth.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

So excited to be teaming up with Tractor Beam Issue 3 author @sarahkat.bsky.social for @writershq.bsky.social's Write A Short Story Festival in April. Sign up for our soilpunk workshop here: writershq.co.uk/whq-event/so... Full details coming soon! ✍️📖🌱✨

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Black Lawrence Press @blacklawrence.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

Black Lawrence Press Open Call: AAPI Adoptee Poetry Anthology! We’re seeking work from AAPI Adoptee Poets for a collection of poems featuring emerging + established poets across the US. We are accepting submissions until June 1st, 2026. View full submission details at buff.ly/hHsojVj

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Thomas Ha @thomasha.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

the two phases of writing: (1) writing and (2) wandering aimlessly like an unmoored ghost and complaining about not writing

Tractor Beam @tractorbeamearth.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

We've got another fun episode of Book Worms tomorrow! 🤓🧚🏽‍♀️📖🍄 Tune in for a conversation with Sarah Royston @sarahkat.bsky.social, author of "Grubbers" from our Fall issue. Read the full story on Substack and subscribe to get notified as soon as we go live! tractorbeamearth.substack.com

Tractor Beam @tractorbeamearth.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

Heyyy bookworms! 👋📚🪱 Tomorrow we’re chatting with Sophie Strand, writer and guest editor of Tractor Beam’s first ever mini issue, Bodies. Read the stories from the collection on our page and subscribe to get notified as soon as we go live! tractorbeamearth.substack.com

Tractor Beam @tractorbeamearth.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

It was an honor having @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social guest edit our Winter issue! You can read the stories and his thoughts on the collection at tractorbeam.earth If this is your first time coming across us, nice to meet you. We're a quarterly science fiction publication dedicated to soilpunk. ❄️🌱❤️

tractorbeam.earth

Thaw | Tractor Beam

A quarterly publication of soilpunk fiction: Radical visions rooted in soil

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

FFer Read of the Day: "Blessed Soil" by Russell Nichols in @tractorbeamearth.bsky.social www.tractorbeam.earth/story/blesse...

tractorbeam.earth

Blessed Soil | Tractor Beam

Is there discovery without humanity?

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🌈 Romie glows in the dark 📽 @romiesays.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

It would be very cool (and also completely shocking) if someone were to nominate my 2025 climate-fiction short story "The Electric Ant In Its Natural Habitat" for a Hugo. Free to read (*with* annotations) in @tractorbeamearth.bsky.social issue 2. www.tractorbeam.earth/story/the-el...

for your hugo-nominating consideration, The Electric Ant In Its Natural Habitat by Romie Stott, Tractor Beam 2025

Tractor Beam @tractorbeamearth.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

This Friday, our podcast Book Worms is back! ❄️📖🐛 Join us for a fun convo with Tara Labovich about their short story featured in our latest issue, Thaw. Read "The Order of Soil" here: www.tractorbeam.earth/story/the-or... Subscribe to our Substack (link in bio) to get notified when we go live!

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T. K. Rex @tkrex.bsky.social · 23/01/2026

One of the most validating things that’s ever happened to me as a writer: @tractorbeamearth.bsky.social got subject matter experts to annotate my story about housing & soil remediation. I don’t know if anyone’s read them but I love that they’re there. Full text: www.tractorbeam.earth/story/the-fl...

All the images are screenshots from my story “The Flowers Where Five-Eighty Used to Be” at the link in the post. The title illustration is of two women sitting on the roof of a car in the middle of a field of sunflowers

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Gunnar De Winter @gunnardewinter.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

Don't sleep on Tractor Beam. They're doing great things with short fiction and really cool artwork. #writing #writingcommunity

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Elizabeth Porter Birdsall @epbirdsall.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

I'm really proud of this little story of a big robot and all the lives around it in and above the soil, and I hope you enjoy it!

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Serial Experiments Rain Corbyn @raincorbyn.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

Wow thank you Íde! My story about popcorn saving humanity despite big agriculture and colonialism is in beautiful company. 🙏 If you like ochre psychedelic mists, I’ve got a story for you! Thank you @tractorbeamearth.bsky.social for publishing

Tractor Beam @tractorbeamearth.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

In “The Valley In Thaw,” a long-dormant robot awakens to witness the seasonal rebirth of a valley and the fragile persistence of lives, human and otherwise, that occupy it. Read the final story from our Winter Issue, written by @epbirdsall.bsky.social and illustrated by Xiang Yata, out now!

tractorbeam.earth

The Valley in Thaw | Tractor Beam

If this is our home, how can we care for it?

Tractor Beam @tractorbeamearth.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

Memory and reality blur as a young woman takes her dying great-grandmother on an Arctic voyage to fulfill her lifelong dream of seeing polar bears. “There Where I Am Not” written by Tracey Fahey and illustrated by Julia Dufosse is available to read now on Tractor Beam! ❄️🧊✨ #clifi #soilpunk #thaw

tractorbeam.earth

There Where I Am Not | Tractor Beam

But did they save the polar bears?

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Tractor Beam @tractorbeamearth.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

“Apocalypse is just an alternative spelling of anthropomorphism.” In a near-future desert where daytime heat is lethal, a couple dismantling the ruins of the old world learns that survival, and hope, depend on acts of care for the land, and for each other... #scifi #climatefiction #shortstory

Tractor Beam @tractorbeamearth.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

In a frozen prison, women are enlisted to gestate worms that could reanimate the world’s dead soil. “Mother of Worms” written by Bradley J. Collins (@jfisher1215.bsky.social) and illustrated by Ard Su is available to read now on Tractor Beam! 🪱📖✨ www.tractorbeam.earth/story/mother...

tractorbeam.earth

Mother of Worms | Tractor Beam

Carry my worms, please?

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DareToEatAPeach @karmabennett.com · 29/12/2025

@tractorbeamearth.bsky.social is open for submissions. They have a very specific niche but if you write dystopian scifi(or at least post climate change) it might be a good fit. Via @harlinhayley.bsky.social tractorbeam.earth/about #writersky #submissionsCall #solarpunk #soilpunk #scifi

tractorbeam.earth

About | Tractor Beam

A quarterly publication of soilpunk fiction: Radical visions rooted in soil

Tractor Beam @tractorbeamearth.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

On the Siberian tundra, a young herder and an anthropologist fight to protect mammoth hybrids engineered to keep the permafrost from melting. "When The Land Speaks" written by Jason Collins and illustrated by Varvara Nedilska is available to read now on Tractor Beam! 📖❄️✨ #clifi #soilpunk #thaw

tractorbeam.earth

When the Land Speaks | Tractor Beam

Can five animals preserve the permafrost?

Tractor Beam @tractorbeamearth.bsky.social · 28/12/2025

The year is 2548. A 200-year extreme drought has swept over earth, forcing the human race to rely on massive drilling operations to extract fresh water from deep below the surface of the dry sea bed. You are a maintenance worker, lonely yet quietly hopeful, as the earth stirs in its sleep...

Tractor Beam @tractorbeamearth.bsky.social · 26/12/2025

As Sister Claudine restores the prarie lands around her convent, she reconciles her seemingly wayward faith with love, purpose, and a future rooted in the soil. 🌾❤️🌏 "The Order Of Soil" written by Tara Labovich and illustrated by Pola Maneli is available to read now on Tractor Beam!

tractorbeam.earth

The Order of Soil | Tractor Beam

Did anyone ever teach you the difference between dirt and soil?

Tractor Beam @tractorbeamearth.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

A spy teams up with an idealistic botanist to trek across the Arctic to steal humanity's last unmodified seeds from their corporate overlords...and might just steal their heart along the way. ❤️🌱❄️ "Mustard Seed" written by James Longine Yu and illustrated by Anuj Shrestha is out now!

tractorbeam.earth

Mustard Seed | Tractor Beam

A vault, or a library?