Sue Burke: Sue Burke is author of the novel “Semiosis,” which was nominated for some nice awards but lost because there are way too [freaking] many outstanding novels being published in science fiction and fantasy these days. The hero of “Semiosis” is a huge talking plant. The plant will be back in October when the sequel to “Semiosis” is published, titled “Interference.” Tonight, Sue is going to read a brief essay comparing literary fiction and science fiction.

Mary Anne Mohanraj: Mary Anne Mohanraj writes for George R.R. Martin’s Wild Cards series, and is the author of the Lambda-award-finalist SF novella, The Stars Change, the linked story collection, Bodies in Motion (finalist for the Asian American Book Awards, a USA Today Notable Book, and translated into six languages), and thirteen other titles. Previous works include Aqua Erotica, Without a Map, and and stories at Clarkesworld, Asimov’s, and Lightspeed. Mohanraj’s recent publications include chapters for Ellen Kushner’s Tremontaine at Serial Box, the SF/F anthology Survivor (ed.), and Invisible 3 (co-edited with Jim C. Hines). Her newest book, A Feast of Serendib (a Sri Lankan American cookbook), is due for release in March 2020.  Mohanraj founded the Hugo-nominated magazine, Strange Horizons, and has received a Locus Award for service to the field. She serves as Executive Director of the Speculative Literature Foundation (www.speclit.org), has taught at the Clarion SF/F workshop, and is now Clinical Associate Professor of fiction and literature at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She lives in Oak Park with her partner and two children. www.maryannemohanraj.com

Jeremy John: Jeremiah John is a writer, activist, poet, and coder; he’s the author of the yet-unsigned novel Thinspace. He has written nonfiction for such outlets as Huffpo, Geez, and Nuvo, started a program at a nonprofit to organize communities around their own mutual aid, and served six months in federal prison for his nonviolent act of civil disobedience to close the notorious School of the Americas.

Anaea Lay: Anaea Lay lives in Chicago, Illinois where she is engaged in a torrid love affair with the city. She’s the fiction podcast editor for Strange Horizons, where you can hear her read a new short story nearly every week. She’s the president of the Dream Foundry, an organization dedicating to bolstering and nurturing the careers of nascent professionals working with the speculative arts. Her fiction work has appeared in a variety of venues including Lightspeed, Apex, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and Pod Castle. Her first interactive novel, Gilded Rails, was released by Choice of Games in 2018, her second, Sentient Domain, is expected in 2020.