In recognition of one of the greatest writers of dystopian science fiction in history, Evegeny Zamyatin, Adlibrio is proud to launch the forthcoming Zamyatin Award for science fiction. The winner of the Zamyatin Science Fiction Award will receive a cash prize, and be featured on our website as well as in our forthcoming literary magazine. Find out more about the Zamyatin award.
Before there was 1984 and before there was Brave New World, there was ‘We’ – the inspiration for both novels.
Evgeny Zamyatin’s novel We (1924) is a pioneering dystopian work that explores themes of individuality, state control, and human freedom within a highly regulated society. Set in a distant future within the One State, a totalitarian society governed by logic and reason, the novel unfolds through the diary entries of D-503, a mathematician and chief engineer of the spaceship Integral, which is being constructed to spread the One State’s ideology to other planets.
In the One State, citizens—known only by numbers rather than names—live under the constant surveillance of the Benefactor, a powerful leader who enforces complete conformity and represses all forms of individualism.
Privacy and personal emotions are considered subversive, with every aspect of life meticulously controlled. Glass walls and daily schedules ensure that all actions are visible and synchronized, leaving no space for spontaneity or personal connections.
D-503 initially embraces the state’s ideals, seeing emotional detachment and rigid order as rational.
Zamyatin Science Fiction Award – Competition Entry
Enter your science fiction writing for the Zamyatin Science Fiction Award and win £1,500. Entry fee is £25.
Send your submission to zamyatin@adlibrio.com
His life takes a dramatic turn when he meets I-330, a rebellious woman who introduces him to forbidden desires, emotions, and ideas. Through his growing attraction to I-330, D-503 becomes increasingly aware of his own individuality, which leads him into conflict with the doctrines of the One State. As he becomes entangled in an underground rebellion, he confronts his own identity and wrestles with the allure of freedom versus the comfort of conformity.
In the One State, citizens—known only by numbers rather than names—live under the constant surveillance of the Benefactor, a powerful leader who enforces complete conformity and represses all forms of individualism. Privacy and personal emotions are considered subversive, with every aspect of life meticulously controlled. Glass walls and daily schedules ensure that all actions are visible and synchronized, leaving no space for spontaneity or personal connections.
D-503 initially embraces the state’s ideals, seeing emotional detachment and rigid order as rational. However, his life takes a dramatic turn when he meets I-330, a rebellious woman who introduces him to forbidden desires, emotions, and ideas. Through his growing attraction to I-330, D-503 becomes increasingly aware of his own individuality, which leads him into conflict with the doctrines of the One State. As he becomes entangled in an underground rebellion, he confronts his own identity and wrestles with the allure of freedom versus the comfort of conformity.
We is widely considered one of the first dystopian novels and a profound critique of authoritarianism, technology’s role in society, and the dangers of losing human autonomy. Its influence can be seen in later works like George Orwell’s 1984 and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. Through D-503’s transformation and inner turmoil, Zamyatin raises enduring questions about the balance between individuality and societal control, the cost of freedom, and the complexities of human nature.