When do you need a picture, and when do you need a thousand words—and when do you need both? How have comics shaped popular narrative themes and readers’ habits? Join us as artists and writers discuss how sequential art elevates storytelling.
Writers with disabilities prop up excellent examples of representation, discuss how to overcome harmful tropes and stereotypes, and explore, the good, the bad, the ugly, and the future of portraying disability in SFF.
This panel will bring together speculative fiction writers who use their craft to illustrate how public systems (the school, prison, and healthcare systems) have failed BIPOC and poor people, and brilliantly reimagine what living in a people-centered society could look like.
Read more about System Failure: How Afro-Futurism, Fantasy, and Horror Help Us REIMAGINE Society
How often are critiques of the romance genre rooted in misogyny? Panelists will discuss the tradition of romance in SFF and explore ways to combat baseless criticism.
Few of us produce perfect first drafts. How does one go about revising a novel-length project? Our panelists share the tools and techniques in their kits for turning a rough draft into a polished, cohesive work.
What is the benefit of reading, submitting to, and publishing in literary markets as a speculative writer and vice versa? What are some markets that are blending genres? What are some popular ways to incorporate weirdness into literary writing? When is a story too speculative or not speculative enough? In this panel, cross-genre writers and editors will address these questions and more!
Read more about The Speculative-Literary Connection: Writing and Publishing Across Markets
Why are so many writers and readers drawn to alternate history as a means of creating new dimensions in reality? What do our historical thought experiments say about our relationship with our past? Join us to discuss how we interact with our history and the distance by which we can understand it.
Read more about The Appeal of Alternate History and Historical Fantasy
This discussion will explore what it’s like to write fiction as a neurodivergent author, examples of effective representation, and how neurodivergent stories can differ more traditional forms of storytelling.
Readers across the SFF subgenres expect gripping combat scenes, but how do writers balance the details and description with unforgettable action? Join experienced martial arts and combat weapon professionals for informed advice on writing realistic fight scenes.
Teaching speculative creative writing is an art and craft of its own. This panel will discuss SFF pedagogy in the college classroom, in online workshops, and in other learning contexts.