Upcoming events: Rooting our Future, the Emotions of Dystopia, and Plena Cucuy

Posted on by svourvoulias

Rooting our Future

July 13, 2021

Rooting Our Future: Latinx Science Fiction and Futurism

Don’t miss this vital roundtable!


TIME—7 p.m. CT; 8 p.m. ET


Seven creators and scholars of Latinx speculative art discuss the nature of Latinx futurism, tracing values and trends in their own work and that of other Latinx creatives.


Participants—Sabrina Vourvoulias, Malka Older, Jumko Ogata, John Picacio, Alberto Chimal, David Bowles, Frederick Aldama 


ZOOM LINK— https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83213158143?pwd=RE91NFZmNG5MUFllVm1lbmdCUThndz09

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Photos from Readercons past. In leftmost photo: with Daniel José Older, Carlos Hernández and Julia Rios; center photo (foreground) with Ezzy Languzzi, (background) at solo reading; right: with Ezzy Languzzi (not visible) and David Bowles.

Readercon 31 will take place online August 13-15, 2021

Guests of Honor Jeffrey Ford and Ursula Vernon will take the stage along with other authors, editors, critics, and luminaries from around the world. You will see panels on both the heart of reading and the art of writing, authors reading from their work, a variety of talks and performances, award ceremonies for the Cordwainer Smith Rediscovery Award and the Shirley Jackson Awards, and a virtual version of the convention’s Bookshop selling new and used books from a variety of small press and independent booksellers.

Sunday, August 15 at 10 a.m.

Panel — The Emotions of Dystopia


Participants: Scott Edelman, Aliza Greenblatt (moderator), Bracken MacLeod, Sabrina Vourvoulias, Holly Lyn Walrath

Dull and even miserable affect and emotion have been hallmarks of the dystopia genre since 1984 and Brave New World, with joy depicted as fleeting and pleasure considered hollow or fake. But in the real world, emotional responses to hardship vary from person to person and from culture to culture. Panelists will probe and challenge the cultural and aesthetic basis for the supposed authenticity of unmitigated bleakness in dystopia and consider other emotional tones that dystopian stories might explore.

Sunday, August 15 at 6:30 p.m.

Reading

Join me for a reading from my urban dark fantasy/horror novella, Plena Cucuy.

Cat is a young mestiza Mexican-American designer at a news organization, the only citizen in a family of mixed documentation status, and an acute observer of the city she inhabits — including its inexplicable happenings. Like an advertising placard at the train station that changes content between one glance at it and the next. Or the disappearance of her brother Edgar and other undocumented folks from one of the train station’s platforms. Or the creepy but compelling man — who might be a monster from childhood tales — she is unexpectedly pitted against. Add to that her complicated relationship with the family she lives with, the Black Boricua musician she’s falling for, and the intra-Latinx tensions of the neighborhood itself… Plena Cucuy is a dark urban fantasy/horror with teeth, music and magic.

Latino Genre Writers: Diversity in Mystery, Science Fiction, and Horror

Posted on by svourvoulias

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On the morning commute to work, this SEPTA rider I sat across from on the 44 bus had his phone, his lunch and Junot Diaz’s “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.”  Latinx lit is lit!

Latino/a writers discuss issues in writing and publishing genre fiction (mystery, science fiction, and horror) and celebrate a new collection of science fiction and fantasy stories.

The New York Society Library
53 East 79th Street
New York, NY 10075

Sun, September 17, 2017
3:00 PM – 5:00 PM EDT

Latino-Rising-Cover-webLatin@ Rising: An Anthology of Latin@ Science Fiction and Fantasy is the first anthology of fantastic fiction written by Latino/as living in the United States. Fifty years ago the Latin American boom in literature popularized magical realism; Latin@ Rising is the literature that has risen from the explosion that gave us García Márquez, Jorge Amado, Carlos Fuentes, and others. The 23 authors and artists included in this anthology come from all over the U.S. and from eight different national traditions. They include well-known creators like Kathleen Alcalá, Ana Castillo, Junot Díaz, Giannina Braschi, and others; they also include new voices, well worth hearing.

Panelists
Matthew David Goodwin (editor and moderator) is an assistant professor of English at the University of Puerto Rico in Cayey, focusing on the topic of migration in Latino/a literature, particularly science fiction, fantasy, and digital culture.

Carlos Hernandez is the author of The Assimilated Cuban’s Guide to Quantum Santeria (Rosarium 2016) and over 30 works of science fiction and fantasy, including poetry and drama. By day, he is an CUNY associate professor of English and has worked in game writing and game design.

Richie Narvaez is the award-winning author of Roachkiller and Other Stories. His fiction has appeared in Grand Central Noir, Plots with Guns, Sunshine Noir, and Spinetingler.

Sabrina Vourvoulias is the author of Ink (Crossed Genres, 2012), a novel that draws on her memories of Guatemala’s armed internal conflict and of the Latinx experience in the United States. It was named one of Latinidad’s Best Books of 2012.

This event is free and open to the public. Please register by emailing events@nysoclib.org or calling 212.288.6900, ext. 230.