T123.
From Hopepunk to Afrofuturism: A Panel on Utopias and Literary Futures
Thursday, March 9, 2023
9:00 am to 10:15 am
After spending years in a pandemic, many have contemplated futures more hopeful than our present. Utopias continue to captivate readers through genres like hopepunk and solarpunk. Writers imagine through philosophies like Afrofuturism, queer futurity, utopian socialism, and beyond—and these futures we've imagined simultaneously impact our actions in the present. Through different critical lenses, panelists will discuss literary futures in order to envision possibilities outside of the present.
Participants
JD Scott is the author of Moonflower, Nightshade, All the Hours of the Day (&NOW Books, 2020) and Mask for Mask (New Rivers Press, 2021). Their work has appeared in Best American Experimental, Best New Poets, Denver Quarterly, Prairie Schooner, Indiana Review, Sonora Review, Ninth Letter, and elsewhere.
Tenea D. Johnson is an award-winning creator of seven speculative fiction works, including her latest releases, Frequencies, a Fiction Album and Broken Fevers, of which Publishers Weekly wrote “the 14 hard-hitting, memorable short stories and prose vignettes in this powerhouse collection … are astounding in their originality” (starred).
Celeste Chan works across fiction, creative nonfiction, oral histories, and documentary filmmaking. A Hedgebrook, Lambda, and VONA fellow, she facilitates creative writing workshops for LGBTQ youth. She's published in AWAY, Cream City Review, The Rumpus, and beyond.
Barrak Alzaid
