Berkeley, CA – July 25, 2023 – Fabrice Guerrier, founder of Syllble, and Sauúti Collective writers Cheryl Ntumy and Ikechukwu Nwaogu participated as speakers and workshop leaders in the ORIAS summer institute at UC Berkeley. The conference brought together K-12 teachers to explore the diverse speculative fiction traditions from the different corners of the world.
Mr. Guerrier moderated a fireside chat with Ntumy and Nwaogu who discussed their shared passion for African speculative fiction and their experiences creating and writing in the Sauúti universe. They talked about the power of speculative fiction to help us imagine better futures. The fireside chat was followed by a Q&A from the participants.
Thereafter they led a workshop with the participants focused on building a fictional world in small groups and pitch a story collaboratively.
“Collaborative science fiction and fantasy worldbuilding is a powerful tool for engaging students with complex topics,” said Guerrier. “By exploring different worlds and speculate on imaginative possibilities where there’s no wrong answers, we can help them to understand the challenges we face in the real world and to imagine better futures.”
The workshop concluded with a discussion about how to use speculative fiction worldbuilding as a pedagogical tool to teach students about current issues, imagining futures, develop cultural literacy and build core competencies.
The Sauúti Collective will be publishing Fall 2023 their first book called MOTHERSOUND: The Sauútiverse Anthology with Android Press.