For this writing workshop, we will consider what it takes to reach a future where everyone matters. We’ll follow a path carved by recent movements in fiction such as hopepunk and solarpunk, which feature characters fighting for utopia while resisting its detractors. In a guided writing exercise, writers will outline the rules for their ideal world, taking inspiration from the utopian vision for Wakanda in Black Panther and N.K. Jemisin’s short story “The Ones Who Stay and Fight.”
This event is a collaboration between FIYAH Magazine and Irrepressible Soul as part of the FREEQUENCY exhibition at Urban Arts Space. FIYAH is a quarterly speculative fiction magazine that features fantasy and science fiction stories by and about Black people of the African Diaspora.
About the Workshop Host: Nelson Rolon is a writer and MFA graduate based in Columbus, Ohio. His debut novelette, Saudade, was published in FIYAH Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction (2018), and received mention in Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy (2019). Nelson now serves as Technical Assistant for FIYAH. He lives in a cozy apartment with his wife and their two cats, Vanta and Muta. Follow Nelson on Twitter @oldmannelson.
