Matthew Gilbert started dreaming up what would later become “The Wilkes Chronicles” in high school. Over the next roughly 30 years, he took his time building the sci-fi/fantasy world, publishing the final book in 2023. Sense then he has continued to work on the series, publishing two additional editions of book one, “Chandera,” and launching a nationwide publicity campaign thrice over.
In the years following the initial publication, Gilbert focused on getting the series into the hands of native youth. From his home in Arctic Village, he says he started calling libraries and schools in communities with significant native populations across the country.
“They said ‘we don’t have anything like this, so thank you for calling and telling us about it,’” Gilbert said. “I was like, ‘That’s exactly why I’m calling, because I know there’s nothing like it. Because I looked, you know.’”
The series’ genre, Indigenous Futurism, is a literary movement that centers indigenous characters and native knowledge in science fiction and fantasy. The term was first coined by academic and author Grace Dillon, who wrote about how these genres can help decolonize storytelling in her 2012 anthology “Walking the Clouds: An Anthology of Indigenous Futurism.”
Gilbert, who is Gwich’in Athabascan, says growing up in Arctic Circle he searched for stories that reflected his identity but found mostly European heroes. So, he decided to create the stories he always wanted for kids today.
“I know there are a lot of native kids in Indian country who likely really want a story like this,” Gilbert said. “Because I was once a native kid that really, really, wanted a story like this. If I wanted it that badly, there must be other Native kids who want it that badly, too.”
Gilbert says his love for science fiction and fantasy, spanning from “Star Wars” to “Lord of the Rings,” fueled his creativity. He recalls that when he was writing the series in 2010, James Cameron’s “Avatar” had just hit theaters and brought Indigenous themes into the sci-fi mainstream, albeit through a nonnative lens.
While he says this popularized the genre, it was lacking in other ways.
“I've watched those my whole life, and they always seem to miss the mark. You know?” Gilbert said. “I just think we really need Native writers in the arts and native filmmakers. Because we have our own way of storytelling, too. We have a lot of stories to tell, and we have stereotypes to overthrow and destroy.”
Gilbert isn’t the only Indigenous Futurist out there. He notes other authors in the small community, but his series adds something new to the scene.
His hero, Maxwell Wilkes, is a Gwich’in protagonist exploring the galaxy 300 years in the future. Gilbert says Maxwell's story was influenced by both his personal experience and the stories of the Gwich'en Athabascan community in the Arctic Circle.
Gilbert studied English at the University of Anchorage, where he wrote his thesis on the stories of Gwich'in Elders in the Arctic Circle. Later on, he wrote “The Gwich’in Climate Report,” an adaptation of interviews with Gwich’in Athabascan community members on climate change insights and wisdom, published by the University of Alaska Press.
“I learned a lot of old indigenous knowledge, fascinating methods of survival, and just great stories from long ago. And how can that not influence me? You know, when it just impacted my life so hard?” Gilbert said. “I incorporated that into the book, and it just fits so nicely. This book was just meant to be written.”
Gilbert says the third edition of “Chandera” is arriving on the scene at the perfect time. For one, he says that as the world becomes increasingly globalized, he sees his story resonating with more people, both native and nonnative, so he’s expanding his target audience.
“We're becoming more and more of a melting pot, you know, as a whole world. Boundaries and lines are kind of dying a lot.” Gilbert said. “And also, there's the fact that I got lots of good reception from nonnatives, and it's such a good story.”
“Chandera” edition three also has an AI-generated cover, created with an art-generating software that was unavailable just a few years ago. Gilbert has created more than a dozen AI images depicting the world of “Chandera,” and he says it has brought his universe to life in a new way. But, he says, mastering the art of writing prompts took time. In one case, he says it took a year to get a single photo right.
“Thousands of images I had to throw away to get the airship photo,” Gilbert said. “Because, how do you describe an airship hanging from a blimp in medieval times, sailing through the clouds?”
Gilbert self-published all three editions of “Chandera,” along with the rest of the series, and is selling them on Amazon and Audible.
Finished with the 3rd edition, he says he is taking a sabbatical from writing and hanging up his pen name, Wolf Golan, for the time being. Though it’s a challenge to put down the pen after nearly a lifetime of writing, he says he’s ready for the next chapter, possibly one with a “normal” job and a family.
