Join Obsidian: Literature & Arts for "Speculating Futures: Afrofuturism," the third event in their a series of live events celebrating artistic excellence in the African Diaspora. The Zoom conversation will feature Olivia E. Raymond, Milton Davis, Nicole Givens Kurtz, and Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, and will be moderated by Sheree Renée Thomas.
Olivia E. Raymond holds an MA in Public History from the University of Louisville, and is currently pursuing a PhD in Pan-African Studies from the same school. Under the pen name Zelda Knight, she has published over one hundred authors, artists, and poets from around the world under her publishing company, AURELIA LEO, dedicated to diverse speculative fiction (horror, science fiction, and fantasy). She is the co-editor of Dominion: An Anthology of Speculative Fiction from Africa and the African Diaspora (AURELIA LEO, 2020).
Milton Davis is a Black Fantastic fiction writer and owner of MVmedia, LLC, a publishing company specializing in science fiction and fantasy based on African/African Diaspora culture, history, and traditions. Milton is the author of nineteen novels; his most recent is the post apocalyptic adventure Gunman’s Peace. He is the editor and co-editor of nine anthologies. Milton’s work had also been featured in Black Power: The Superhero Anthology, Skelos 2: The Journal of Weird Fiction and Dark Fantasy Volume 2, Steampunk Writers Around the World published by Luna Press, and Bass Reeves Frontier Marshal Volume Two. His Steamfunk story The Swarm was nominated for the 2017 British Science Fiction Award.
Nicole Givens Kurtz is an author, educator, and publisher. Over 40 of her short stories have been published and several novels. Nicole has also worked with independent publishers such as Serial Box, White Wolf, and Eldritch Century for fictionalized stories of their worlds. She's the publisher of Mocha Memoirs Press, a small publishing company devoted to amplifying marginalized voices in speculative fiction.
Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki is an African speculative fiction writer, slush reader, and editor. He was awarded an honorable mention, twice in the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest. His short story won the Nommo award for best short story by an African. He has been published in African Writer, Omenana magazine, Selene Quarterly, Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores, Uncanny Magazine, Strange Horizons, and Tor. He co-edited the Invictus Quarterly, Selene Quarterly, and Dominion: An Anthology of Speculative Fiction from Africa and the African Diaspora.