Welcome to the Speculative Literature Foundation!
The Speculative Literature Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting literary quality in speculative fiction. We encourage promising new writers, assist established writers, facilitate the work of quality magazines and small presses in the genre, and work to promote a greater public appreciation of speculative fiction. Our mission is to promote literary quality in speculative fiction through our grants, programming, and more!
The SLF serves the speculative literature community through support from people like you. We’re a 501(c)3, and all donations are tax-deductible in the U.S. You can make a one time donation or become a member to receive cool perks like discounts for our courses and events, access to our bi-monthly writer’s encouragement letter, yearly anthology, and more!
2023 Illustration of the Year Winner Sejuti Bala
Thank you Sejuti Bala, for your wonderful submission to the SLF’s 2023 Illustration of the Year, “Cosmic Swimmers.” Look for Bala’s artwork on our site, as well as future SLF newsletters, promo, and other content!
“I have always thought of deep sea and deep space as two ends of a vast unknown; as above so below, compelling depths of boundless beauty that humanity has barely explored a fraction of. To an astronaut the vacuum of space is the frontier of setting sail, and in this piece, I imagine a lost astronaut, an untethered explorer and the awe of getting to hold the miracle of a star in your hands, to be one with the particle of possibility, to swim with the fishes. How long has the cosmic sailor been here? Caught in the undertow of a perennial wave? What lives in that shell of a space-suit? I leave the rest to your imagination.”
— Bala on the inspiration behind “Cosmic Swimmers”
Sejuti Bala is a writer and a student of English Literature who spends their time arranging for and taking care of the older stray animals in their neighbourhood. When not busy tending to the whims of their beloved cat, they can be found reading graphic novels with a copy of Ancillary Justice tucked under their arm. They are an avid fan of horror stories with the hope of publishing their own science-fiction graphic novel someday.
For those looking for more of Bala’s art, check them out on Twitter @fiovske and on artstation.
Screenwriting is Back
Our screenwriting class is back! In Screenwriting for Writers, students will develop a project toward first draft or subsequent draft completion. Peer and Instructor feedback will augment their own evaluation of their work. Projects may rotate from week to week to give enough time for in-session reading and discussion. In addition to script pages, writers will create a logline and short outline that clarifies the story of their script and aids in evaluation and rewrites.
How long is the workshop? 6 Sessions (Sessions are 2.5 hours)
When? February 26, 2023 – April 2, 2023
What time? Sundays, 1 – 3:30 PM CST
Location? Zoom
Instructor? Ted Schneider
Number of students who can sign up? 12
How much? $350 (discounted rates for SLF members)
Your Instructor
Ted Schneider is a director, writer, actor, consultant and teacher. His film “Early Light” won the Soldier’s and Sacrifice Award at the 2020 Flicker’s Rhode Island International Film Festival. His first short, “Nothing Happened,” won awards at Trenton International Film Festival March on Washington Film Festival, White House Screening. His current film, “Iqaluit,” is screening in festivals such as the 30th Annual Arizona International Film Festival (2022) Flicker’s Rhode Island International Film Festival (2022) Boston Short Film Festival (2022) Detroit Trinity International Film Festival (2022). Upcoming: “Tell Me Something Else” Short Film (post-production). Earlier this year, Ted became the story editor for an untitled feature film project from East2West Entertainment.
As an actor, Ted has appeared alongside F. Murray Abraham, Amy Irving, Lynn Cohen, Bill Irwin, Michael Shannon, Reed Birney and Dierde O’Connell: Shakespeare, Chekhov and new works by Clare Barron, Naiomi Wallace and Lanford Wilson. He is a member of the theater and film group The Chekhov Project at Lake Lucille and holds a BFA in Theater Arts (Acting) from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and an MFA in Cinema Arts (Directing) from the Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema, Brooklyn College.
In this hands-on workshop, we’ll explore a variety of taboo topics. We’ll look at how brilliant writers have delved into material that was forbidden for their place and time, and then work through a series of exercises designed to push you into challenging places.
When? Saturday, February 11, 2023
What time? 10:00 – 12:30 PM CST
Where? Zoom
How much? $60 (discounted rates for SLF members)
Your Instructor
Mary Anne Mohanraj is author of Bodies in Motion (HarperCollins), the Lambda-award-finalist SF novella, The Stars Change (Circlet Press) and thirteen other titles. Bodies in Motion was a finalist for the Asian American Book Awards, a USA Today Notable Book, and has been translated into six languages. The Stars Change is a science fiction novella, and finalist for the Lambda, Rainbow, and Bisexual Book Awards.
Mohanraj founded the Hugo-nominated magazine, Strange Horizons, and was Guest of Honor at WisCon 2010. She serves as Executive Director of the Speculative Literature Foundation (speclit.org), has taught at the Clarion SF/F workshop, and is Clinical Associate Professor of English at the University of Illinois at Chicago. www.maryannemohanraj.com
Apply to the A.C. Bose Grant
Award: $1,000.00 USD
Submissions: January 1 – January 31, 2023
Winner Announced: March 15, 2023
The A.C. Bose Grant annually provides $1,000 to a South Asian / South Asian diaspora speculative fiction writer.
Time Left to Submit
Check Out Our Last Panel on Editing!
The Long View: Editing Over the Decades With Beth Meacham
Our Latest Blog Posts
Announcing the Winner of the 2022 Gulliver Travel Grant
The Speculative Literature Foundation is pleased to announce that Em North is the winner of the 2022 Gulliver Travel Grant.
2023 Illustration of the Year Winner Sejuti Bala
2023 Illustration of the Year Winner Sejuti Bala Thank you Sejuti Bala, for your wonderful submission to the SLF’s 2023
Donate
Our mission is to promote literary quality in speculative fiction through our grants, programming, and more.
The SLF is made possible by the kind contributions of those who believe in our mission—people like you. We’re a 501(c)3, and all donations are tax-deductible in the U.S.
For gifts over $1,000, gifts of stock, or to explore funding a grant, please contact our Development Director, Margaret Frey, and she’ll be happy to assist you. We encourage you to apply for matching funds from your employer if possible!
If you’d prefer not to use PayPal, we can also accept donations through our local community foundation.
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