Join us Monday, September 9 at 8 pm EST/5 pm PST for a conversation and Q&A with writers Megan Giddings (The Women Could Fly), Sierra Greer (Annie Bot), Gabrielle Korn (Yours For the Taking), and Katie Williams (My Murder). This event is hosted by Reema Zaman and presented by The Rumpus. 


These four authors will discuss their dystopian novels that explore power, the female body, our rapidly changing world of technology, its impact on intimate relationships, and more.

Suggested donation of $20. Pay what you can, no one turned away due to lack of funds. All proceeds after processing fees will help keep The Rumpus going. As an independent volunteer-run lit and culture magazine, the vast majority of the magazine’s funding comes from reader support.

This event is co-hosted and organized by Rumpus board member, Reema Zaman. This is the 2nd in a series of monthly author and publishing industry conversations with people we admire and hope to learn from. 

Please consider buying these authors' books through Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore. 

*This event will be recorded if you miss it live or would like to re-watch it later.

Megan Giddings is an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota. Her novel, Lakewood, was published by Amistad in 2020. It was one of New York Magazine’s 10 best books of 2020, one of NPR’s best books of 2020, a Michigan Notable book for 2021, was a nominee for two NAACP Image Awards, and a finalist for a 2020 LA Times Book Prize in The Ray Bradbury Prize for Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Speculative Fiction category. Her second novel, The Women Could Fly (Amistad 2022), was named one of The Washington Post’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy novels of 2022, one of Vulture’s Best Fantasy books of 2022, and was a New York Times Editors’ Choice. Her work has received support from the Barbara Deming Foundation and Hedgebrook. She lives in Minneapolis. On X at @megiddings.

Sierra Greer grew up in Minnesota before attending Williams College and Johns Hopkins University. A former high school English teacher, she writes about the future from her home in rural Connecticut.

Gabrielle Korn is the author of the essay collection Everybody (Else) Is Perfect, the queer dystopian novel Yours for the Taking, and its forthcoming sequel, The Shutouts (coming December 3 from St. Martin's Press). She's the former Editor-in-Chief of Nylon, and her writing can be found in Literary Hub, The Millions, Oprah Magazine, Instyle, Domino, Refinery29, and more, as well as the recent anthology Sluts, edited by Michelle Tea. Originally from New York, she now lives in Los Angeles with her wife, and together they run The Pink Door artist and writer residency. On X @Gabrielle_Korn & IG @gabriellekorn.

Katie Williams is the author of the novels My Murder and Tell the Machine Goodnight and the young adult novels Absent and The Space Between Trees. Her writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Best American Fantasy, American Short Fiction, Prairie Schooner, Subtropics, and elsewhere. Katie is an assistant professor in fiction writing at Emerson College in Boston. On IG @pixellkate.

Reema Zaman is a writer, speaker, and book coach. She is the author of the memoir I Am Yours and the forthcoming dystopian novel Merge. Her essays have been published in The Rumpus, Vogue, The Guardian, Salon, and several others. She is the creator of The Memoir Incubator, a member of The Rumpus's capacity-building board, and was an Oregon Literary Arts Fellow in 2018. In her ten years (and counting!) of being a professional writer, what she loves most is creating authentic, lasting relationships with her readers and fellow authors, and she is devoted to amplifying underrepresented voices and stories. Born in Bangladesh and raised in Thailand, she now lives in Los Angeles, CA with her chihuahua-daughter, Fia the Fierce. On IG @reemazaman.

The Rumpus publishes original fiction, poetry, literary humor writing, comics, essays, book reviews, and interviews with authors and artists of all kinds. Our mostly volunteer-run independent magazine strives to be a platform for risk-taking voices and writing that might not find a home elsewhere. We lift up new voices alongside those of more established writers our  readers may already know and love. We want to bring new perspectives into the conversation that will make us all look deeper. Visit therumpus.net to read new work five days a week.

https://therumpus.us21.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b9f9a7ba7c0fd2999d5ac2232&id=72f85e0505&e=c68fe67c84

http://therumpus.net/

Pay what you can. All proceeds will benefit The Rumpus's funds for contributor pay in 2024. 

Grounded Dystopia: Illuminating Truth Through Alternate Worlds