The World As It Could be: A Benefit for Chapter 510 with Nnedi Okorafor

Chapter 510 and Sistah Scifi proudly present The World as it Could Be, a benefit for Chapter 510 featuring Nnedi Okorafor, the globally celebrated, genre-redefining author of Who Fears Death, Binti, and Akata Witch. Okorafor’s groundbreaking Africanfuturist narratives have reshaped speculative fiction, influencing Hollywood, Marvel comics, and global literary discourse.

Currently on an international tour for her latest novel, Death of an Author, Okorafor had not scheduled an Oakland stop, until now.

The evening will feature an inspiring conversation between Okorafor, rising young writer Aida Ndaiye, and Bay Area speculative fiction author and scientist Kemi Ashing-Giwa.

Proceeds from this event will support Chapter 510’s free writing and publishing programs for Black, brown, and queer Oakland youth.

Ticket Information

• $35 – General Admission
• $75 – General Admission + priority access to author book signing
• $150 – Reserved seating + a signed copy of Death of an Author
• $300 – Reserved seating, signed book, and access to an exclusive VIP pre-event gathering with the authors (6:00PM-7:00 PM, includes drinks and light fare)

Doors open at 6:30. Concessions will be available!

Public Transportation and Parking
The California Ballroom is walking distance from the 19th Street BART stop. There is a paid parking lot next door, the 1734 Webster St Garage that is $12 for two hours and free street parking, as well.

About Nnedi Okorafor

Nnedi Okorafor is an international award-winning New York Times Bestselling novelist of science fiction and fantasy for children, young adults and adults. Born in the United States to Nigerian immigrant parents, Nnedi is known for drawing from African cultures to create captivating stories with unforgettable characters and evocative settings. Nnedi has received the World Fantasy, Nebula, Eisner and Lodestar Awards and multiple Hugo Awards, amongst others, for her books. Champions of her work include Neil Gaiman, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, George RR Martin, and Rick Riordan. Literary ancestors Diana Wynne Jones, Ursula K. Le Guin and Nawal El Saadawi also loved her work. Nnedi holds a PhD in Literature, two Master’s Degrees (Journalism and Literature) and lives in Phoenix, Arizona with her daughter Anyaugo. Learn more at nnedi.com. You can also follow her on Twitter (@nnedi) and Instagram (@nnediokorafor).

About Aida Ndiaye

Aida Ndiaye is 16 years old and likes to dream larger than her age allows. She's the author of The Imagination Book along with Evil Burrito and the FBI. Aida currently attends Oakland Technical High School as part of the Race, Policy, and Law Academy. In her free time she enjoys daydreaming about all the things she'll never put to paper and the simple things in life.

About Kemi Ashing-Giwa

Kemi Ashing-Giwa is an author and scientist-in-training based in Palo Alto. Her work includes the USA Today bestselling, Compton Crook Award-winning novel The Splinter in the Sky, the novella This World Is Not Yours, and the forthcoming novel The King Must Die. Her short fiction, which has been nominated for an Ignyte Award and featured on the Locus Recommended Reading List, has been reprinted in The Year’s Best African Speculative Fiction Volume 3, Some of the Best from Tor.com: 15th Anniversary Edition and 2024, and The Year’s Top Tales of Space and Time 3. She studied organismic & evolutionary biology with a secondary in astrophysics at Harvard, and is now pursuing a PhD in the Earth & Planetary Sciences department at Stanford.

She is represented by Tricia Skinner of Fuse Literary.

About Chapter 510

Chapter 510 is a made-in-Oakland youth writing, bookmaking & publishing center. Our teaching artists and mentors work side by side with educators to provide a safe space and supportive community so Black, brown, and queer youth ages 8-19 can bravely write.Through writing programs at our center and within Oakland public schools, we help young people improve their writing craft, confidence, and competency at every stage.

Our programs include free writing and bookmaking workshops, field trip opportunities for OUSD educators, in-school book projects, youth publishing opportunities, and First Friday literary events.

Chapter 510 currently works with over 1,000 students and publishes over 20 beautifully made books written by Oakland youth each year.

About Sistah Scifi

Started in 2019 by Isis Asare, Sistah Scifi is the first Back-owned book store focused on science fiction and fantasy in the US as validated by the American Booksellers Association, and has a community of nearly 60K points of contact with engaged readers across the country. The bookstore has been featured in The Seattle Times, KQED, Oprah Magazine, Buzzfeed, USA Today, KTVU, The New York Times, and many more. Sistah Scifi's mission is to double the number of Black and Indigenous Speculative Fiction authors on the New York Times bestseller list by 2030.

Located primarily in cyberspace, Sistah Scifi launched three Sistah Scifi Book Vending Machines at Chapter510 located at 546 9th St, Oakland, CA 94607 and Northwest African American Museum and Distant Worlds Coffee in Seattle, WA in 2022.

Please note, our office at 1721 Broadway, Ste 201 Oakland, CA 94612 at Oakstop17 only offers online order pickup.

Host or Publisher Chapter 510 & the Dept. of Make Believe