Two MFA alums, Tara Laskowski (MFA ‘05) and Kevin Binder (MFA ’22), have been featured in writing-style tarot card decks—The Literary Tarot and The Science Fiction Tarot.
Tarot cards, which originated from the mid-15th century, are small cards that come in a deck of 78 that are said to have divinatory powers. Some use them to gain insight into their past, present, and future. Some simply collect them due to their aesthetically pleasing designs. Others, like Laskowski, use them as guideposts.
“I think one misconception people have is that Tarot cards are used to predict the future, but most people I know who use it, including myself, treat the cards more like guides to help clarify thinking or decide which paths to take or choices to make,” says Laskowski, who contributed to The Literary Tarot deck earlier this year.
The Literary Tarot is a deck of tarot cards by Brink Literacy Project, who reached out to several authors and cartoonists and asked them to pair a tarot card with an influential work of literature. Laskowski’s card in the deck is the Four of Light, otherwise known as the Four of Cups, which she paired with Herman Melville’s short story “Bartelby the Scrivener.”
For Binder, it wasn’t the tarot cards itself that intrigued him about The Science Fiction Tarot, but more about whether his own short story fit with the theme of the cards.
“When I originally saw the call for submissions for the project, I thought my story wouldn't be a good fit, since the story itself has nothing to do with tarot,” says Binder. “But as I read more about the project, I discovered that the anthology was looking to build a new tarot deck, where each card is based on a science fiction archetype or theme. Once I learned about that aspect of it, I knew my story could be a good fit for the project because the story aligned with a few different sci-fi themes.”
The Science Fiction Tarot is a short story anthology centered around the science fiction genre. It was created by Brandon Butler in May 2022.
You can check out The Literary Tarot here on the Brink Literacy Project Kickstarter site, and you can purchase The Science Fiction Tarot here on Amazon.
July 20, 2023