Sheri-D Wilson enters a dreamless world with epic dystopian poem (2024)

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Sheri-D Wilson’s epic poem, The Oneironaut ∅1, has unusual origins.

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The poet, spoken-word artist and playwright traces its beginnings back to 2019 when the Order of Canada recipient was nearing the end of her tenure as Calgary’s poet laureate. A group of precision oncologists were holding a conference in the city and since the acronym for Precision Oncology Experimental Therapeutics is POET they thought it would be a hoot to have one write and perform something for them. Initially, Wilson declined.

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“They are really high-thinkers, we’re talking the smartest people on earth,” says Wilson. “They were like ‘Will you write a poem about us?’ I said ‘Absolutely not. I can’t even imagine anything with it. In fact, I don’t even have the brain capacity to do that. I can generally say what you do, but I can’t really get into that because you are the brainiacs of the universe and you’re bringing all of the brainiacs from all over the world for this convention in Calgary.”

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“But I said ‘I could write about this thing that I’ve been really thinking about … ‘”

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So she delivered this relatively benign piece – at least compared to what it would become – about dream healing. An Oneironaut is a person who explores dream worlds. It kicked off what she describes as a six-year obsession for writing epic poems, which will eventually be spaced out over three volumes. The first, The Oneironaut ∅1, establishes a dystopian premise for the sprawling, narrative poem. The main speculation is imagining a world where people cannot dream. The main character, Rain, is a scientist who becomes involved with The Willows, a rebellion group that opposes the totalitarian “Bureau.” The Bureau forces citizens to take a “Metanoia pill” that renders them dreamless. When Rain stops taking it, she wakes up to her dystopian surroundings.

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Not unlike author and fellow poet Margaret Atwood, Wilson prefers the term speculative to science fiction. Nevertheless, The Oneironaut shares some obvious hallmarks with the sci-fi genre. It uses a dystopian backdrop to examine urgent issues that should resonate with today’s readers, offering a cautionary tale about surveillance and extremism.

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Initially, Wilson didn’t introduce the dystopian elements to the tale. She was preoccupied with the dream themes at first. When the pandemic lockdowns came, she found herself able to focus on this tale, which began to evolve. After she delivered her well-received poem to those oncologists, she went home and worked all night and, for the most part, didn’t stop.

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“I was inspired for many years to take on that subject and then COVID struck and I didn’t have to go anywhere or see anyone or even talk to people,” says Wilson. “It was really the best time on earth for me. I just sat down in my room alone and the story came. I just sat down and went crazy.”