Creating Other Worlds, Telling Our Stories
“Creating Other Worlds, Telling Our Stories” with Nalo Hopkinson
Keynote Address, McGill Queer History Month
A multi-award-winning author and artist, Nalo Hopkinson was the 2021 recipient of the Science Fiction Writers of America's prestigious Damon Knight Memorial “Grand Master” Award for a lifetime of achievements in writing, mentorship, and teaching. Nalo Hopkinson’s Queer History Month keynote address will engage audience members with answers to the questions: What's the point of inventing worlds that don't exist? Shouldn't we as 2SLGBTQIA+ people focus on fixing the things that are killing us in this world? The keynote address will be followed by a Q & A facilitated by Amber Rose Johnson.
Price: Free
Location:
Tanna Schulich Hall
Elizabeth Wirth Music Building
527 Sherbrooke St W
Catered Reception: 5:00 – 6:00 pm
Keynote Address: 6:00 - 7:30 pm
Speakers
Nalo Hopkinson
The first woman of African descent to receive the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master award, which is the lifetime honour from Science Fiction Writers of America, Nalo Hopkinson is also the youngest person to be so honoured. Jamaican-born, Hopkinson is the lead author of The House of Whispers comics series set in Neil Gaiman's Sandman Universe, with the TV adaptation now on Netflix. She’s written five novels including the award-winning, Brown Girl in the Ring, and her writing often draws on Caribbean language and traditions. She's been a finalist for a Nebula Award and won a World Fantasy Award, as well as the Gaylactic Spectrum Award for positive LGBTQ representation.
Amber Rose Johnson
Amber Rose Johnson is a writer, artist, and cultural worker from Providence, Rhode Island (USA) who has recently relocated to Montreal. She is currently a McGill Third Century Postdoctoral Fellow in the department of English and her primary research foci are experimental poetry and performance in the contemporary Black Diaspora. Amber Rose is also a strength trainer and sports performance coach and is especially interested in movement-inflected work, guided by forms of embodied knowledge. She will transition to an Assistant Professor of English at McGill in Fall 2024.