Fantasy and speculative fiction offer more than escape—they reflect real-world struggles and challenge existing power structures. This time around, Ananke’s Festival of Literature 2025 unveils a series of engaging sessions where authors, critics and creatives discuss how imagined worlds become vehicles for truth, justice, and rebellion.
The three-day, digital event will commence on April 29th, 2025 and will be live streamed on Ananke’s YouTube page; with links shared on its Facebook page as well.
Aligned with the main event theme, Speaking Truth to Power, the speculative fiction series of sessions include keynote and panel discussions where distinguished guests from across South Asia and beyond will delve into thought-experimenting narratives, discussing decolonization of the future and that of imagination, solar punk and more.
Sessions will explore – but not limited to it – the genre as a tool that exposes the imposed Western notions of the real, unshackling storytelling from traditional white cultural bias, and narratives based on oppressive neo-colonial performative realism and capitalism through indigenous, minority and alternative perspectives.
Sessions topics include: Fantasy as Resistance: Imagining Truth in Unreal Worlds, Post-Lovecraftian Fiction and the Political Affordances of the Weird for the Global South among many to be announced very soon. Award winning writer, editor, Honorary Director of the Fishing Fortress Science Fiction Academy of Chongqing and Publisher Future Fiction, Francesco Verso, Manjula Padmanabhan, Professor of English at the University of Oklahoma and the book reviews editor of South Asian Review, Amit R. Baishya, Atanu Bhattacharya, Tabish Khair, Gautam Vegda, Lavanya Lakshminarayan, Giti Chandra and more will be sharing their thoughts.
Talking about his participation, Francesco Verso said: “It’s an honor to be invited to Ananke’s Literature Festival. The way your platform has evolved to engage with pressing topics like new media, youth empowerment, and the Anthropocene is truly inspiring. As a writer of speculative fiction, I’m excited to contribute to conversations on how these narratives can spark new ways of thinking and drive action toward more sustainable, inclusive futures.”
Watch this space for more information, speakers’ interviews and announcements. To get in touch, email: media @anankemag.com
Image by Lothar Dieterich from Pixabay
