In this three‑part keynote session, Danny Ramadan, Amanda Leduc, and Craig DiLouie discuss what it means to be a writer in a rapidly evolving creative landscape. From setting healthy boundaries with readers and imagining more‑than‑human storytelling to confronting the promises and pressures of democratized publishing, these talks offer writers practical insight and imaginative direction for sustaining a vibrant, resilient creative life in the years ahead. Sharing their own experiences and artistry, Danny, Amanda, and Craig will explore the future of authorship from emotional, ecological, and industry perspectives. Danny RamadanHow to Build Boundaries with Your ReaderIn this candid keynote, Danny Ramadan explores the strange intimacy between writers and readers, and the boundaries that keep that relationship healthy. Drawing on his experience as a novelist, children’s author, and memoirist, he looks at the modern author’s expanded job: writing books, promoting them, performing vulnerability, surviving Q&As, and answering questions that sometimes wander far beyond the page. Ramadan asks how writers can remain open to readers without becoming endlessly available to them. A love letter to readers and a survival guide for writers, this talk invites us to make literary community gentler and more mutual.
Amanda LeducThe More-than-Human World: Speculative Fiction, the Animal Self, and Imagining the Possible
In this uplifting keynote, Amanda Leduc looks at what happens when we let go of restraint as writers and open ourselves into the wild, unbridled space of imagination. How do we continue to tap into that well of creativity in a world where art and creativity itself is increasingly monetized, monitored, and measured? By looking to our animal friends—those who exist in the wild and in our homes—and to the wild unpredictability of our world itself, all of which remind us, together, that life and story are always stranger—and stronger—than the forces that seek to tame what the artist has to say.Craig Dilouie Democratization: The Double Edged SwordIn this keynote, professional fiction writer Craig DiLouie reviews how publishing has changed in the past 25 years, focusing on democratization—how technology produced a renaissance in small press and self-publishing but is now threatening to replace humans altogether even as it offers new augmentation tools.
