Speculative Fiction – SAMLA – November 13-15, 2015
Speculative fiction covers a broad range of narrative styles and genres. The cohesive element that pulls works together is that there is some "unrealistic" element, whether it's magical, supernatural, or even a futuristic, technological development: works that fall into the category stray from conventional realism in some way. For this reason, speculative fiction can be quite broad, including everything from fantasy and magical realism to horror and science fiction—from Gabriel García Márquez to H.P. Lovecraft to William Gibson. This panel aims to explore those unrealistic elements and all their varied implications about society, politics, economics, and more.