Protest signs, NICU hats and octopi, postcards to Senators, stickers and wheatpasting. Using craft and art in protest and revolution. We'll cover how to get started and find community. Bring ideas and examples. Feel free to stab things with a needle while attending.
Denise is a writer, fiber artist, and professional chaos manager residing in Ohio with her husband. She has two kids, three cats, and more sewing machines and looms than anyone should practically need. Denise spent much of her childhood in Pern, Tortall, Prydain. A Viable Paradise... Read More →
There are so many ways to tell stories and reach readers. This panel will discuss the perspectives of a variety of professionals working in different forms of publishing
Naomi Kritzer is a science fiction and fantasy writer from St. Paul, Minnesota. In Minneapolis and St. Paul, she is probably best known for her political blog, which provides deep-dive information on candidates in local political races. Outside of the Twin Cities, she is best known... Read More →
Contrary to past assumptions, neurodiversity presents in many forms across all genders and backgrounds. As neurodiverse creatives work to empower ourselves, how can we promote more varied and positive representations across books, shows, and comics?
This panel will feature two academic paper presentations followed by a live Q&A.
Liberation Through Queer Romance in Fembot Narratives Panelist: Faye Lynch (she/her) Abstract: Jeanette Winterson’s The Stone Gods (2007) and Ros Anderson’s The Hierarchies (2021) both depict fembots which are subject to forms of suppression or entrapment, and both texts use the romantic and sexual relationships that the fembots have with human women as a metaphorical shorthand for, and doorway to, freedom. This freedom does take the form of a physical escape, but also has mental and philosophical aspects, with the fembots and their paramours both having their perception of the world expanded through their relationship with the other. This paper examines this depiction of queer-coded love in fembot freedom narratives and asks whether it is compelling enough to avoid the tropes of the oft problematic romances depicted between men and the machines built to serve them.
No, We’re Not Too Strong: Asserting Women’s Power in a Time of Backlash Panelist: Nancy Jane Moore (she/they) Abstract: Building on my earlier papers on the relationship of our bodies to feminism, I will focus on the recent misogynistic definitions of appropriate body type and behavior for women, particularly those of international sports organizations and the current United States administration, including bans on participation by transwomen, requirements that some women take hormones because of their genetic makeup, and claims that some athletes are too strong to “really” be women. The paper will also discuss the value to women in discovering their own physical power and address the importance of SF/F as a tool to undermine these attacks.
What's new in trans SFF? We'll talk about new books, new authors, new shows, new games. What's got us excited? What's out there? Let's celebrate it and talk about it!
K. M. Enright is the Sunday Times Bestselling author of MISTRESS OF LIES and the upcoming LORD OF RUIN (August, 2025). Find out more about his writing at kmenright.com or follow him on social media at @KM_Enright.
Ursula Whitcher is a writer, mathematician, and poet whose work has appeared in places including The Deadlands, Frivolous Comma, and Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine. A collection of linked short stories, North Continent Ribbon, is published by Neon Hemlock Press.
Valerie Estelle Frankel is the author of 90 books on pop culture, including Women in Doctor Who and Hunting for Meaning in the Mandalorian. Many of her books focus on women's roles in fiction, from her heroine's journey guides From Girl to Goddess and Buffy and the Heroine's Journey... Read More →
Naomi Kritzer is a science fiction and fantasy writer from St. Paul, Minnesota. In Minneapolis and St. Paul, she is probably best known for her political blog, which provides deep-dive information on candidates in local political races. Outside of the Twin Cities, she is best known... Read More →
Andrea Hairston is a novelist, playwright, poet, and L. Wolff Kahn 1931 Professor Emerita of Theatre and Africana Studies at Smith College. She ran away from the physics lab to the theatre when she was a young thing and has been a scientist, artiste, and hoodoo conjurer ever since... Read More →
Andor season 1 delved into themes of revolution, political resistance, colonialism, solidarity, and prison abolition. Can season 2 live up to the standard set by the first season? Will we finally learn more about the differences between separatist, neo-republican, the Ghorman front, the Partisan alliance, sectorists, human cultists, and galaxy partitionists? And can any show produced by the House of Mouse really embody a radical politics? Let's discuss!
In her essay "A Few Rules for Predicting the Future", Octavia Butler talks about a few ways to do just that, and she has done it quite well in her Parable books. The Simpsons has also done it. Have you yourself done it, in writing, in art, in a social media post, or talking to friends and family? You've predicted the future, now what? We've predicted the future, now what do we do?
Naomi Kritzer is a science fiction and fantasy writer from St. Paul, Minnesota. In Minneapolis and St. Paul, she is probably best known for her political blog, which provides deep-dive information on candidates in local political races. Outside of the Twin Cities, she is best known... Read More →
Andrea Hairston is a novelist, playwright, poet, and L. Wolff Kahn 1931 Professor Emerita of Theatre and Africana Studies at Smith College. She ran away from the physics lab to the theatre when she was a young thing and has been a scientist, artiste, and hoodoo conjurer ever since... Read More →
Valerie Estelle Frankel is the author of 90 books on pop culture, including Women in Doctor Who and Hunting for Meaning in the Mandalorian. Many of her books focus on women's roles in fiction, from her heroine's journey guides From Girl to Goddess and Buffy and the Heroine's Journey... Read More →
This panel presents a variety of ways of vetting and evaluating small presses. Why they'd be a good fit for you. What to look out for with predatory contracts, hybrid presses, distribution and creative control.
To what degree do the magic systems in your SFF really need to have all the rules explained, a la RPGs? When do you use a hard magic system? A soft magic system? Do your deities need to be consistent? Shall we fight about Brandon Sanderson's Rules of Magic?
Andrea Hairston is a novelist, playwright, poet, and L. Wolff Kahn 1931 Professor Emerita of Theatre and Africana Studies at Smith College. She ran away from the physics lab to the theatre when she was a young thing and has been a scientist, artiste, and hoodoo conjurer ever since... Read More →
A 2016 MBA graduate and published author, Priya Sridhar has been writing fantasy and science fiction for fifteen years, and counting. Capstone published the Powered series, and Alban Lake published her works Carousel and Neo-Mecha Mayhem. Priya lives in Miami, Florida with her fa... Read More →
The cost of producing a new video game has increased exponentially, causing major producers to invest in developing few and often more conservative, less risky projects. Come talk about games that you feel are doing creative work and going beyond standard narratives
Ursula Whitcher is a writer, mathematician, and poet whose work has appeared in places including The Deadlands, Frivolous Comma, and Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine. A collection of linked short stories, North Continent Ribbon, is published by Neon Hemlock Press.
Cecilia Tan is the award-winning author of over a dozen novels (and three collections of short stories) including the Magic University series and The Prince's Boy . Her work has appeared everywhere from Ms. Magazine and Asimov's to Nerve and Best American Erotica. Her novel Slow Surrender... Read More →
A 2016 MBA graduate and published author, Priya Sridhar has been writing fantasy and science fiction for fifteen years, and counting. Capstone published the Powered series, and Alban Lake published her works Carousel and Neo-Mecha Mayhem. Priya lives in Miami, Florida with her fa... Read More →
