When Words Collide 2026

Ben Zalkind will facilitate this session with Kirti Bhadresa [and others] that will offer a primer on how authors use fiction as an incubator of political imagination. Storytelling has long been a tool of political awareness and change. Writers articulate the political discontent of our time, expose and tear down unjust power structures through our art. Readers access otherwise-silenced stories through the books they read. This panel will excavate literature’s rich political terrain, explore how ideas take shape and how unseen stories can be brought into the mainstream through fiction. Bring your fire and your curiosity for this rousing talk that promises to bring empowerment and hope! Let’s put our imaginations to work! The world needs our voices now more than ever.