“Fastidious Inquiry, Weird Compliance is a corona of sonnets, written by Anonymous. These sonnets express a fictional subject’s experience of, and involvement with, state powers of online surveillance during the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic in 2020…”

Written over two Engineering Fictions writing workshops facilitated by Jess Foley, this chapbook is the outcome of a mutual, non-hierarchical, thoughtful and creative conversation between representatives from police, health, government, civil liberties groups and academia. Through these workshops, a meeting-place was formed where we could enjoy a certain quality of anonymity, under the cloak of poetic fiction.

While the success of the workshops was primarily to be found in the process of collective writing, the text we created would not be complete without being given an outlet to readers. By releasing this Corona to the outside world, we not only bring our journey to completion, we also demonstrate what can be achieved by daring to work outside of the usual communicative boundaries.

The words "A Corona of Sonnets" in large white writing on a vibrant blue background image of a woman wearing a mask.

(Click on cover to access publication)

Engineering Fictions is a collaborative and improvisational writing workshop for transdisciplinary thought experiment and artistic inquiry, created and curated by Jessica Foley. Its bespoke design affords people a time and meeting-place to creatively explore and respond to ideas, questions and doubts relating in some way to technology and communication, through fiction and word play. Please visit www.engineeringfictions.org for more information.

Our non-anonymous supporting organisations

The university of Dundee crest on left, with the words 'university of Dundee. All in blue on white background
A circular logo in red and blue with University of Edinburgh Crest at centre. To the right of this are the words University of Edinburgh in dark blue
In Blue writing on white background it says Scottish Universities Insight Institute, their logo is to the left also in blue
Logo for Maynooth University
This is the logo for the Irish Research Council