Re-Defining Genre: Where the Speculative and the Literary Meet

“Fantasy is a tool of the storyteller,” says Neil Gaiman. Whether it’s a touch of time travel or an interstellar war, “speculative” writing is storytelling that breaks the rules of our world. But it also breaks down genre definitions and builds bestsellers: like N.K. Jemisin using the highly literary second person in her award-winning high fantasy, The Broken Earth trilogy, or Carmen Maria Machado’s In The Dream House incorporating fairytale elements into memoir. Where are these genre lines drawn? And by whom?

Together we’ll explore definitions and examples of speculative and literary writing and how they overlap; how publishers uses these terms to classify books and authors; and the perils of genre gatekeeping. Writers will have an opportunity to practice blending speculative and literary styles and tropes and come away with with fresh tools and perspectives for putting that little extra bit of magic into their stories.