Register 40 Seats Remaining

Speculative Fiction Panel

Explore the worlds beyond the possible as visionary writers discuss how speculative fiction challenges reality, reimagines the future, and reveals new possibilities for our own world.

How do you build a fantastic world that feels real? Award-winning author and publisher Milton J. Davis discusses the fundamentals of world-building with three amazing authors, Jessica Cage, Gerald L. Coleman, and Dedren Snead and moderator Clinton R. Fluker, Ph.D. From fantasy, contemporary, and future fiction, they'll explore what makes a fantastic world capture the imagination of readers and listeners.

Registration is requested. 

* By registering, you consent to signing up for the monthly Adult Programs newsletter. 

Lead panelist Milton J. Davis is an acclaimed, award-winning Black speculative fiction author and the founder of MVmedia, LLC, an independent publishing company based in Fayetteville, Georgia. His work spans genres such as Afrofuturism, sword-and-soul, science fiction, and fantasy. Davis has penned over 30 novels and short story collections and edited/coedited 14 anthologies. His story “The Swarm” was nominated for the 2017 British Science Fiction Association Award for Short Fiction, and “Carnival” received a nomination for the same award in 2020. In 2022, Davis was honored with the East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention Pioneer Lifetime Achievement Award, recognizing his significant contributions to Black speculative fiction. In 2024, he received the ConCarolinas Polaris Award and the DeepSouth Con Phoenix Award for his contributions to Southern fandom.

Moderator Clinton R. Fluker, Ph.D., serves as the senior director of Culture, Community, and Partner Engagement for the Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University Libraries, and the Center for Digital Scholarship. In this capacity, he is responsible for developing initiatives that connect the university’s collecting institutions to the cultural and civic ecosystems of Atlanta. As a curator, Fluker’s recent exhibitions include Come Ruin or Rapture and A Haunting Between Us, both of which featured the work of contemporary artist La Vaughn Belle. His scholarly work complements his curatorial practice, as seen in his role as the co-editor of The Black Speculative Arts Movement (2019), a collection that contributes to the global scholarly discourse on Afrofuturism and the visual arts.

Fluker is also a visual artist and filmmaker. His most recent artwork is featured in the 2026 solo exhibition, His Dope Materials: Tools for a Restless Mind at Gallery 72 in Atlanta, GA. His 2024 short documentary, "Zorahead: The Life and Times of Valerie Boyd," earned a nomination at the 2024 Bronzelens Film Festival. Dr. Fluker holds a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from Morehouse College and a Ph.D. in American Studies from Emory University.

Panelist Jessica Cage is an international award-winning and USA Today best-selling author. Born and raised in Chicago, IL, writing has always been a passion for her. She dabbles in artistic creations of all sorts, but at the end of the day, it’s the pen that her hand itches to hold. Jessica had never considered following her dream to be a writer because she was told far too often, "There is no money in writing." So, she chose the path most often traveled. During pregnancy, she asked herself an important question. How would she be able to inspire her unborn son to follow his dreams and reach for the stars, if she never had the guts to do it herself? Jessica decided to take a risk and unleash the plethora of characters and their crazy, adventurous worlds that had previously existed only in her mind into the realm of readers. She did this with hopes of inspiring not only her son but herself. Inviting the world to tag along on her journey to become the writer she has always wanted to be. She hopes to continue writing and bringing her signature Caged Fantasies to readers everywhere.

Panelist Gerald L. Coleman is a philosopher, theologian, poet, and Science Fiction and Fantasy author. He did his undergraduate work in philosophy, English, and religious studies, followed by a master's degree in Theology. He is the author of the Epic Fantasy novel series, The Three Gifts, which currently includes When Night Falls (Book One), A Plague of Shadows (Book Two), and the upcoming When Chaos Reigns (Book Three). His speculative fiction has appeared in numerous anthologies, including The Cyberfunk Anthology: The City, the Roaring Lion Anthology; Rococoa, the Urban Fantasy Anthologies: Terminus 1, 2, and 3, the 2019 JordanCon Anthology: You Want Stories?, Dark Universe: Bright Empire, Cyberfunk!, Spacefunk!, the JordanCon 2022 Anthology: Neither Endings Nor Beginnings, and Whether Change: The Revolution Will Be Weird.

Panelist Dedren Snead is a Ford Foundation Global Fellow and Futurist in Residence for humanity, bridging art, technology, and culture to design liberation at scale. As founder of SUBSUME, the world’s first Afrofuturist Technology Studio, he partners with Fortune 500 companies, HBCUs, and civic institutions to create equitable futures where innovation serves human flourishing, storytelling, and community sovereignty.

Presented by Adult Services. 

Upcoming events