Reminder to join us next Thursday, Oct 8th for our Chicago Deep Dish Reading featuring Annalee Newitz!

The Speculative Literature Foundation is grateful for the support of the Illinois Arts Council! IAC funding will support our operations and fund a summer internship!

Join us Thursday Oct 8 6pm at after-words for a VERY special Deep Dish reading event!

Working Class Writers Grant open for submissions Sept. 1-30! Learn more and apply at speculativeliterature.org/grants-3/the....

GUESS WHAT!!! @strongbranchpro.bsky.social is hosting a speculative short play reading series at @goblinmkt.bsky.social! Requirements: must be speculative (SFF/horror/magical realism/slipstream), must be 10 min Script form: forms.gle/rRQZmTh5R5hC... Actor form: forms.gle/YyPyQ37cGyU4...

CALL FOR READERS! The Deep Dish reading series is BACK for the Fall, starting Oct 1. Wanna read with us? Sign up to join our list: forms.gle/MqU6uCUbf6ob...

PSA for any new members: MemberPress, the service we use to manage member registration, is currently down. At the moment, you will get an error message if you try to register.

Today is the LAST day of our membership drive. Experience amazing perks such as free course access, bi-monthly writer's encouragement letters and so much more when you become a member today! speculativeliterature.org/membership/

Tomorrow is the LAST day of our membership drive. Join today to help us reach our goal of 100 new members and access amazing perks only available to our members! speculativeliterature.org/membership/

STAFF FEATURE: Alex Kingsley (they/them) is a writer, game designer, and playwright. They are a co-founder of the new media company Strong Branch Productions & author of Empress of Dust, Relic of Haven, and works appearing in publications such as Strange Horizons, Translunar Travelers Lounge & more.

LOCAL SHOUT-OUT: Sci-fi isn't just for books and movies. It can be found onstage as well! And if you're in the Chicago community, you're in luck -- Strawdog Theatre Company is producing a sci-fi show this summer! Check out ADVANCE MAN, opening August 14.

Mary Anne Mohanraj talks with Liz Gorinsky about the current day author dilemma that is hiring a professional editor or not. Liz Gorinsky is a publisher and editor of speculative fiction, founder and former publisher of Erewhon Books, a former editor for Tor Books, and Hugo Award winner.

Dr. Mary Anne Mohanraj founded Strange Horizons, directs the Speculative Literature Foundation, and has written for George R.R. Martin’s Wild Cards superhero series for over a decade. Mohanraj is an English professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Wanna share YOUR work at Deep Dish Readings where you can hang out with authors like Sue Burke? Become a member today: speculativeliterature.org/membership/

STAFF FEATURE: Angeli Primlani is a Chicago-based playwright, director, producer and actor. She was culture and features writer and online editor for The Prague Post in the Czech Republic. She was the founding Artistic Director of Accidental Shakespeare Theatre Company.

In this recent episode of Mohanraj and Rosenbaum are humans, listen to Ruthanna Emrys discuss her vision of the future in A Half-Built Garden. Want to hear more about the socio-political thought behind your favorite sci-fi novels? You can subscribe to the podcast on your preferred platform!

In keeping with our theme of "Being an Artists in Difficult Times," here's a clip from a Mohanraj And Rosenbaum Are Humans episode about times of turmoil. In this snippet, Mary Anne talks a bit about finding time to write and how that has become more of a challenge over the course of her career.

We're three weeks in to our membership drive, and nearly halfway to our goal! Will YOU be the member that brings us to 50? You could be, for as little at $2/month! Join us here: speculativeliterature.org/membership/

GRANT FEATURE: The A.C. Bose Grant for South Asian Speculative Literature! In 2019, the Speculative Literature Foundation and DesiLit co-sponsored the A.C. Bose Grant in memory of Ashim Chandra Bose, a lover of books—especially science fiction and fantasy.

In this clip from Mohanraj and Rosenbaum are humans, listen to Ursula Vernon (ie, T. Kingfisher) discuss her writing journey. Wanna hear more anecdotes from your favorite authors? You can follow the show on your preferred podcast platform!

A panel of short fiction editors talk about what they’re looking for in stories right now and what to avoid! What common mistakes do writers make? What makes a story stand out from the slushpile? Panelists: Award-winning editor Lynne Marie Thomas and Jed Hartman. Moderated by Mary Anne Mohanraj.

The SLF’s Working Class Writers Grant awards $1000 annually to assist working class, blue-collar, poor, and homeless writers who have been historically underrepresented in speculative fiction, due to financial barriers. Do you want to support creators of speculative fiction? Join the SLF today!

Happening TODAY! Free virtual panel about writing during crisis. us06web.zoom.us/j/83650201648

Our next staff feature :Sue Bedry (she/hers) is Grants Officer for Times Publishing Company, parent of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Tampa Bay Times newspaper. With SF/F author Rick Wilber, she co-founded the Tampa Bay Times Newspaper in Education Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing Award.

Join us tomorrow for a chat about the role of an artist during crisis. us06web.zoom.us/j/83650201648

What is the role of an artist amidst turmoil? If you've been asking yourself this question, join us for our virtual panel: Challenges of Being an Artist in Difficult Times, Saturday July 25 3PM CDT. Link to join: us06web.zoom.us/j/83650201648

We're halfway through the Membership Drive, and 30% of the way to our goal! We're thrilled about all the new members, and we know we can bump that number up EVEN MORE. You can become an SLF member RIGHT NOW for just $2! Get access to resources, community, and more.

In this episode of MRAH (Flying Cars and Homosexuals), Benjamin Rosenbaum is joined by Sophia Babai to fill in for Mary Anne Mohanraj. Together they catch up on the time they've missed, discuss queerness in literature, and their unique solutions to age-old writing problems.

Andy Duncan and Mary Anne Mohanraj talk about the different music tastes and their importance to a story. Andy Duncan is a professor of English at Frostburg State University in the western Maryland mountains.

STAFF FEATURE: Connor Nevitt (he/him) earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with a Creative Writing concentration from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Born in Santa Clarita, CA, he seeks to make a name for himself in the speculative fiction world.