Alien Encounters II Lands in Atlanta
By Robert Jeffrey II December 5, 2011
Alien Encounters II Lands in Atlanta
During the last week of October, Atlanta’s Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture & History hosted the second annual “Alien Encounters II: Speculative & Imaginative Fiction by Writers of Color.” Located on Atlanta’s historic Auburn Avenue, the library featured four days’ worth of discussions, lectures and book signings all aimed at highlighting the wide variety of contributions by creators of color to the fields of science fiction, fantasy and horror.
“About four years ago, I went to the Decatur Book Festival, and found authors of color who wrote in these genres (i.e., science fiction, fantasy, horror),” event organizer Sharon E. Robinson says.
“We got together, talked, had several meetings, and finally came up with the idea of putting together this program (Alien Encounters). A lot of the time our literary audiences aren’t as familiar with these genre writers as they are, with say, urban romance and others. There are a lot of writers in the Atlanta area, and across the country that write in these genres, and we hope to increase their knowledge base about them and their works,” she explains. “We’ll watch ‘Star Trek’ and other science fiction films, but when it comes to the literature part we don’t tend to go in that direction.”
Hosted in collaboration with Written magazine, The Hammond House and Black Science Fiction Society, the event began with “Worlds Out of Words, A Celebration of the Fantastical,” a symposium where the works of acclaimed author L.A Banks was discussed.
Another event featured authors and editors of the recently released Griots: A Sword and Soul Anthology, who were on hand for a book discussion and signing at the Auburn Avenue Library. Editors Milton J. Davis and Charles R. Saunders, along with contributing writers Valjeanne Jeffers, Stafford Battle and Kirk Johnson were present at the event, titled “Africa in Fantastic Fiction, From Dark Continent to Bright Country.” Here the authors discussed the highly praised short story collection, along with the popular genre of Sword & Soul, which fuses epic/fantasy storytelling with African culture and traditions.
There was also a detailed and informative panel titled “Black Noise Navigators: The History of Myth-Science in Black Music.” Hosted by Atlanta-based scholar, Kevin Sipp, the discussion focused on the crossing of science fiction and myth with music throughout the ages. With examples including Atlanta’s own OutKast, Parliament Funkadelic, Sunra and Jimi Hendrix, Sipp provided audience members with a well-informed look into the hybridization of these different arenas.
The four-day event ended with the panel discussion: “Beyond Twilight & Harry Potter: Speculative Fiction for Young Adults of Color.” The discussion featured Authors L.M. Davis (Interlopers: A Shifters Novel), Wendy Raven McNair (Asleep: Book I and Awake: Book II) and Ronald Agyekum (The Wiccan Legacy: Prophecy). This panel highlighted the wide range of contributions of black authors to the popular arena of young adult fantasy fiction, while also delving into the mechanics of writing.
Though a date has not yet been set for next year, Robinson did confirm that interested fans should look forward to Alien Encounters III, while summarizing what she thought was the main focus of the program.
“Our ultimate goal is to broaden visitors’ literary knowledge and understanding about these particular genres,” Robinson explains.
Robert Jeffrey II is an award-winning Atlanta-based freelance writer whose work has appeared in such publications as Ja Dore magazine, The Atlanta Voice newspaper, and Urban Voices In Comics. When he’s not ranting and raving about comic books, he’s actually writing them. Check out http://www.terminusmedia.com/ for his comic book story, Daddy’s Little Girl, featured in the anthology, Terminus Tales Presents #1: Platypus vs. Monkey.” Robert can also be found at http://robertspageofwriting.blogspot.com/.
Robert
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
