How do we care for one another in the end of the world? Come for a special reading about seeking connections amidst premonitions of disaster and ecological collapse. Viet Dinh reads from After Disasters, his debut novel about four aid workers navigating the rubble after an earthquake in India. Poet Oki Sogumi reads from their forthcoming speculative novella about revolt, the secret lives of insects, and the potential for friendship to outlast the status quo. In conversation with speculative fiction writer Janani Balasubramanian, formerly of DarkMatter.

RESERVE A SEAT!
$5 SUGGESTED DONATION | OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Viet Dinh’s novel After Disasters (Little A, 2016) is an intricate story of love and loss told through the eyes of four international aid workers in the wake of a life-shattering earthquake in India. Heidi Hong writes in the LA Review of Books, “Meticulously researched and vividly told, After Disasters is an ambitious page-turner that weaves together environmental devastation, queer masculinities, and postcolonial landscapes.” Dinh was born in Da Lat, Vietnam, and grew up in Aurora, Colorado. He received his BA from Johns Hopkins University and his MFA from the University of Houston.

Oki Sogumi writes poetry and fiction and has a forthcoming speculative novella about giant insects, revolt, migratory time travel, oceanic feelings, and both the limits and possibilities of relations like friendship. They are the author of two chapbooks: Underlazy (Portable Press at Yo-Yo labs) and Smear Jelly Dreaming A goo daughter&Time Travel and Friendship (Museum of Expensive Things). Born in Seoul, South Korea as military dictatorship ended, they currently reside in Philadelphia.

Janani Balasubramanian is a writer of speculative fiction whose work has been presented at more than 160 stages across North America and Europe, including The Public Theater, MOMA, Red Bull Arts, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Most recently, Janani premiered Heisenberg (an audio augmented reality game on uncertainty and chaos) at the New York High Line. Janani is currently working on Sleeper, a dystopian trilogy about sleep, dreams, and physics.

NOTE ON ACCESSIBILITY
*The space is wheelchair accessible. No stairs. Direct elevator from ground floor to 6th floor.
*We strongly encourage all participants of the space/event to be scent-free.
If you all have any other specific questions about accessibility, please email Tiffany Le at tle@aaww.org with any questions on reserving priority seating.

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This event is co-sponsored by Lambda Literary.