Vermont Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors Panel

Phoenix Books Burlington is thrilled to host a fantasy authors panel featuring William Alexander, co-editor and contributor of Starstuff, a new middle-grade science fiction short story collection, and author of Sunward, a new adult sci-fi novel. Joining the panel are Kekla Magoon, contributor to Starstuff, and M.T. Anderson and Emily Hamilton, beloved Vermont sci-fi and fantasy authors.

William Alexander writes unrealisms for readers of all ages. His work has won the National Book Award, the Eleanor Cameron Award, the Librarian Favorites Award, the Teacher Favorites Award, two CBC Best Children’s Book of the Year Awards, and two Junior Library Guild Selections. As a small child he honestly thought that his Cuban American family came from the lost island of Atlantis.

Kekla Magoon writes novels and nonfiction books for teens, including Revolution in Our Time: The Black Panther Party’s Promise to the People, which was a National Book Award Finalist, LA Times Book Prize Finalist, and Michael L. Printz Honor book. Kekla received the 2021 Margaret A. Edwards Award for her significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature. Past recognitions include a Boston Globe/Horn Book Award, an NAACP Image Award, and four Coretta Scott King Honors. When she is not writing, Kekla can be found entertaining a pair of energetic orange cats or riding her bike through the hills of Vermont.

New York Times bestselling author M. T. Anderson writes books for children, teens, and adults, including The Pox Party, which won the National Book Award; Elf Dog & Owl Head, which won a Newbery Honor Award, and the science fiction satire Feed, which was a Finalist for the National Book Award and which won the L.A. Times Book Prize. Another science fiction satire, Landscape with Invisible Hand, was made into a movie starring Tiffany Haddish and Asante Blackk. His nonfiction book Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad was one of the Wall Street Journal’s Best Books of the Year. His most recent book, Nicked, is a historical heist story set in the eleventh century. He lives in New England.

Emily Hamilton is a science fiction author who writes about women kissing in space.  Her debut novel, The Stars Too Fondly, is available from Harper Voyager (US) and Gollancz (UK).  Formerly an award-winning staff writer at the alt-weekly newspaper Seven Days, she lives in Burlington, Vermont with her wife and their tiny dog Mimi.

DATE: Thursday, November 13, 2025 at 7PM

LOCATION: Phoenix Books, 89 Church Street, Burlington VT 05401

ADMISSION: $3. Your ticket comes with a coupon for $3 off one of the featured books. Coupons expire at closing the evening of the event. Tickets can be purchased at the registration link below, or at the door.

BOOKS: Copies of each author’s books will be available at the event for signing and personalization 

Host or Publisher Phoenix Books