Panel: Speculate—Writing About the Strange and Surreal

Explore the possibilities of speculative fiction through a conversation with writers working in science fiction, fantasy and surreal literature.

Authors Khan Wong, Doug Henderson, T. K. Rex, Katie M. Flynn and Audrey T. Williams discuss how stories of the strange, uncanny and impossible can challenge our understanding of reality. Moderated by Josh Wilson, the panel explores worldbuilding, craft and the ways speculative and surreal storytelling intersect across contemporary literature. A Q&A follows the discussion.

Khan Wong is the author of the novels The Circus Infinite, a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award and longlisted for the British Science Fiction Association Award for Best Novel, and Down in the Sea of Angels. His short fiction has appeared in the anthologies Of Shadows, Stars, and Sabers and Of Enchantment, Enigma, and the Infinite.

Doug Henderson is the author of The Cleveland Heights LGBTQ Sci-Fi and Fantasy Role Playing Club and winner of the PEN/Dau Short Story Prize. His fiction has appeared in The Iowa Review, Michigan Quarterly Review Mixtape, Short Édition and other publications.

T. K. Rex writes science fiction and fantasy. Their stories have appeared in more than 40 publications, and their debut collection, The Wildcraft Drones, was published by Stelliform Press in 2026. They co-host Stir, a seasonal reading series in San Francisco, and previously co-hosted the Writers Grotto podcast.

Katie M. Flynn is the author of the novel The Companions and the story collection Island Rule. Her fiction has appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, Tin House and Tor.com. She has received the Nelligan Prize for Short Fiction and the Steinbeck Fellowship in Creative Writing.

Audrey T. Williams is a writer, poet and educator whose debut speculative story collection, Legacies, Interrupted, won the 2025 Omnidawn Fabulist Fiction Chapbook Contest. She is founder of Ancestral Futures: Literary Arts for Liberation and co-chair of the 2026 World Fantasy Convention in Oakland.

Josh Wilson is an editor, journalist and writer based in San Francisco. He is publisher of The Fabulist Magazine, which showcases speculative fiction and art in print and online. Stories published in the magazine have been finalists for the Pushcart Prize and the Shirley Jackson Awards. He is a recipient of the Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi Award and founder of the nonprofit Independent Arts & Media.