Susana M. Morris and Nicholas Boggs: 20th Century Prophets Octavia Butler and James Baldwin
Sat, Oct 04
|Marriott Hotel, Decatur Ballroom B
Octavia E. Butler and James Baldwin changed the way we see the world. Biographers Susana M. Morris and Nicholas Boggs explore how personal histories, cultural shifts, and bold imagination shaped two of the 20th century’s most prophetic voices.
Time & Location
Oct 04, 2025, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM EDT
Marriott Hotel, Decatur Ballroom B , 130 Clairemont Ave, Decatur, GA 30030
About
A female trailblazer in the male-dominated field of science fiction with a positive obsession. A truth teller with an indelible impact on the civil rights movement and on Black and queer literary history.
These powerful biographies illuminate the lives of Octavia E. Butler and James Baldwin, two literary prophets who reshaped the future through their fearless visions. Join Susana M. Morris and Nicholas Boggs for a conversation about art, activism, identity, and the radical imagination.
Purchase your book from Charis Books using this link, and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the festival.
About the 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 Emory Center for Digital Scholarship. Fluker is the co-editor of The Black Speculative Arts Movement (2019), a collection that enters the global scholarly debate on the field of Afrofuturism studies. Fluker is also the Co-founder of The Tenth, a community building studio that offers public cultural experiences throughout Atlanta and designs easy-to-use tools for individuals and companies to grow and sustain their networks. As a visual artist Fluker’s most recent work is featured in the 2024 exhibition, Hold the Line, at the ArtsXchange located in East Point, GA where his origami sculptures are presented as meditations on the themes of memory and fragmentation.