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How might reading Piers Plowman help our students reflect on living well in catastrophic times? How does the poem invite speculation on navigating social injustices, widespread suffering, crises of care, and ecological disasters? In this collaborative essay, we suggest several of the possible answers that might emerge by teaching key moments of Piers Plowman alongside contemporary Anglophone speculative fiction, including Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower, Margaret Atwood’s ‘MaddAddam’ trilogy, and more. Considered together, these works suggest the ethical possibilities of allegorical and speculative worldbuilding in both Langland’s dream vision and modern fiction.