The Program in Writing & Critical Inquiry Presents: African American Read-In: Black Speculative Futures

A full-day gathering with flexible ways to participate

This year’s African American Read-In is designed as a day-long journey through Black speculative imagination—rooted in history, community, creativity, and possibility. Participants are welcome to attend one session or multiple sessions throughout the day.
 

10 a.m.| Morning Session: Arrival, Grounding, & Opening Reflections

Start the day gently and intentionally

The morning session offers a soft landing into the Read-In. Participants are invited to arrive, enjoy a light continental breakfast, explore books and zines, and ease into the space through sound, reading, and reflection. The morning includes opening remarks framing the Read-In as a ritual gathering, a short creative activation to warm up the imagination, and a featured talk by B. Sharise Moore on Afrofuturism, Black women’s futurity, and speculative imagination.

Morning session includes:

• Continental breakfast
• Opening welcome and reading
• Guided creative activation
• Featured talk + Q&A

Noon| Midday Session: Lunch, Storytelling, & Expanding the Speculative

Gather, listen, and imagine together

The midday session centers nourishment—both literal and imaginative. Participants will enjoy a catered lunch alongside an optional pop-up read-in featuring short excerpts of Black speculative writing. Following lunch, Marcus Kwame Anderson will offer a featured talk exploring visual storytelling, Black masculinity, memory, and imagination, drawing from Big Jim and the White Boy and his broader artistic practice.

Midday session includes:

• Catered lunch
• Optional pop-up read-in
• Featured talk and Q&A

Advance registration is required for lunch.
 

2:30 p.m. | Afternoon Session: Workshops & Film Conversation

Create, reflect, and engage more deeply

The afternoon session invites participants into hands-on and reflective engagement. Attendees will choose between two concurrent workshops—one focused on Afrofuturist zine-making with B. Sharise and another on Afrofuturist poetics and liberation with D. Colin. The session concludes with a screening of short Afrofuturist films followed by a guided group conversation.

Afternoon session includes:

• Choice of creative workshop
• Film screening
• Facilitated discussion

6 p.m. | Evening Session: Showcase, Performance, & Closing Reflections

Celebrate community and creative expression

The Read-In concludes with an evening showcase featuring student, faculty, and community readings, performances, music, movement, and visual projections. Desserts and light refreshments will be available as we gather for a celebratory close to the day.

Evening session includes:

• Desserts and refreshments
• Readings and performances
• Closing reflections

How to Participate

You are welcome to attend one session or multiple sessions throughout the day. Each session requires separate registration to help us plan space, materials, and food.

This program is supported by: The Division of Inclusive Excellence, University Auxiliary Services (UA), UAlbany Libraries, and the departments of Africana, Latin American, Caribbean and Latinx Studies, Languages, Literatures and Cultures, and Music and Theatre.