2026 Summer Seminar with Nnedi Okorafor

The Humanities Center and the Center for African American Poetry & Poetics is pleased to announce that Nnedi Okorafor, Nigerian American writer of science fiction and fantasy, will join us for a week-long seminar, wherein we'll discuss the work of fantasy—how dreaming of other worlds might help us survive this one. Okorafor is best known for her Binti Series, a trilogy of Africanfuturist science fiction novellas. She has won many awards and prizes, such as the Hugo, Nebula, Eisner, and World Fantasy awards. She was even inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame. Her most recent novel, Death of the Author, was heralded by the New York Times as "a spellbinding novel that traces a Nigerian American woman’s quest for freedom and self-invention despite the social and cultural conventions that try to contain her."

On May 4-8, each morning from 10am-12pm, we will hold an event—workshop, lecture, colloquia—in the Humanities Center space (602 CL) with Nnedi. Her materials, syllabi, and schedule will be provided to registrants two weeks prior.

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