Writers Workshop | Doing the Best We Can With What We Got: Black Women, Science Fiction & the Future

Robert A. Heinlein describes 3 categories of Science Fiction: "what if", "if only", and "if this goes on". In this workshop, we will explore what sustainability within our community could look like if this goes on. Drawing from the works of Octavia E. Butler and Adrienne Maree Brown, participants will engage in writing exercises, group reflection, an selected readings to define sustainable futures rooted in our living realities. Over two hours, we will create space to consider what becomes possible when we define the terms of our thriving together.
✏️ Doing the Best We Can With What We Got: Black Women, Science Fiction, & Growing a Sustainable Future
🗓️ 2-4 p.m. Saturday, August 29
📍 Benson Branch
About the Teaching Artist:
Allana G. Pommier is an evolving piece of work from Omaha, Nebraska whose efforts are rooted in community, cultural preservation, and forward movement. Through performance, dramaturgy, and writing, she actively contributes to sustaining and evolving Black theatre. Most recently, Allana performed a compilation of Harlem Renaissance works at the Metropolitan Community College Literary Festival in November 2025. As a dramaturg, she has collaborated with the Shirley Tyree Theatre, developing engagement for productions of Northside Carnation by Denise Chapman and Wine in the Wilderness by Alice Childress. Allana was also a Great Plains Theatre Commoner, a playwrighting cohort where she presented a stage reading of her play things not seen. She continues to create and advocate for storytelling that centers, uplifts, and challenges the communities she holds close, with a steadfast focus on spaces that honor the people behind the work as much as the product of the work itself. You can follow her on substack @‌llanag.
This is a free event for adults. Registration is required and opens July 15. Please call 402-444-4846 to register.

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Part of an ongoing Writers Workshop series presented by the Nebraska Writers Collective and Omaha Public Library, offering opportunities for adults and youth to experiment with new genres, develop their craft, and connect through writing.
In the summer series:
▪June 11 — Writing Your Senses (Kids) with Shukura Huggins | Central Library
▪June 20 — Write What You (Don’t) Know! // Escribe Sobre Lo Que (No) Conoces! with Angélica Perez | South Omaha Library
▪June 28 — Quest Builders: Creating Your Own Fantasy Graphic Novel (Kids) with Riley Westerholt | Central Library
▪July 21 — Travel and Time: A Genealogy Workshop with Shelby Martinez | Central Library
▪July 22 — Superpowers & Secret Plans: Writing Heroes and Villains (Kids) with Shelly Nosbisch | Benson Branch
▪August 7 — Writing Your Own Whodunit Mystery with Riley Westerholt | Central Library
▪August 29 — Doing the Best We Can With What We Got: Black Women, Science Fiction, & Growing a Sustainable Future with Allana G. Pommier | Benson Branch