Ariel Sullivan on Why Dystopian Isn’t Dead in Conform

Ariel Sullivan’s debut Conform follows Emeline, a young woman forced to navigate a society where art and individuality are outlawed under constant surveillance. Inspired by dystopian classics from Orwell’s 1984 to Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, the novel explores timeless questions of control, freedom, and resistance. Here, Sullivan reflects on why dystopian fiction continues to resonate and how Conform proves the genre is still alive.

Guest post written by Ariel Sullivan, author of Conform. 

When I first began querying Conform, I was told by an agent who rejected my manuscript that the dystopian genre was dead. That it wasn’t something readers wanted. Clearly, I didn’t agree. More than disagreeing, I thought not only did readers want dystopian novels—they needed them. This rejection lit a fire in my heart to push harder for my characters and this story. The dystopian genre can be brutal, uncomfortable, and dark. The themes and topics covered, from the classics to the present, do not elicit warmth or solace. They warn—something you can’t close the book and ignore. I’m a firm believer that if you want to warn someone about the future, the past is always a good place to start.

I have always loved the classics, not just in the dystopian genre but all genres. Their stories still resonate so many years later. Conform was inspired by many classics. The constant surveillance and totalitarian party in George Orwell’s 1984 was deeply influential. The firemen who suppress knowledge by burning books in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 inspired the destruction of all art from the past. There are countless others, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and Lois Lowry’s The Giver, just to name two. More modern dystopian titles that I have loved over the years are The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins, The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood, and Divergent, by Veronica Roth. As a millennial, these novels shaped my teen and early adult years.

Sadly and excitingly, I am buried writing not only more of Emeline’s story but also another fierce heroine’s story in the prequel to Conform, titled Beneath. Juggling intertwining timelines and multiple manuscripts has left me little time to read. My TBR is growing, and I am eager to read several dystopian novels when I find a break. Suzanne Collins’ prequel Sunrise on the Reaping is at the top of that list. Camp Zero by Michelle Min Sterling, The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan, the Red Rising series by Pierce Brown, and The Unworthy by Augustina Bazterrica.

There’s a quote that got me through writing Conform. The quote, ironically, has been said many times, with slight variations each time, and attributed to several different people. The heart of the quote states: “Every great story had already been told.” I found this sentiment to be incredibly liberating when I was drafting Conform. At face value, the statement can come across as disheartening, but when you realize the truth behind it— that we are all still telling and reading these stories —the pressure alleviates entirely. Decades, even centuries, pass, and people with no connection to the people who told the stories, or the state of the world when those stories took form, revisit themes and genres cyclically. The agent was wrong; dystopian isn’t dead. It’s revived and slowly inching its way to center stage.

So the real question is—why? What has so many creative minds visiting the same stories?

Conform by Ariel Sullivan is out Oct 16.