Great Minds 2026: Optimism, Speculative Futures, and the Worlds We Dream Into Being
Join us on Thursday, September 17 for our annual Great Minds event exploring Optimism, Speculative Futures, and the Worlds We Dream Into Being. This is an evening about the futures we can still choose: worlds where communities thrive through cooperation, where technology supports rather than replaces a deeper human connection, and where hope is treated as a serious creative act. Expect a conversation that moves from reckoning to hope while celebrating the diverse voices of women writers, whose perspectives keep expanding our shared vision for the future. Readers and writers alike are invited to imagine together the future we still have the power to write.
September 17, 2026 | 6-9pm
Hugo House, Seattle, WA
6:00 pm: Doors open
6:30 pm: Program Begins
8:00 pm: Reception
This unforgettable evening of conversation and performance will feature:
Kira Jane Buxton, Hedgebrook alumna and author of Tartufo (2025), a novel about a dying Tuscan village whose residents discover a massive, highly valuable white truffle that brings both hope and chaotic upheaval.
Kathleen Alcalá, Hedgebrook alumna and author of Spirits of the Ordinary (1998), a novel that threads magical realism through nineteenth-century Mexico. She's a contributing writer to New Suns: Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color (2020) and a Clarion West graduate.
Rashida J. Smith, author of the Grace Bloods series and the Tooth & Spell books, written under the pen name Jasmine Silvera. She's Clarion West's Program Director, a Clarion West graduate herself, and will moderate the conversation.
Sirjana Kaur, the 2026/2027 SAL Youth Poet Laureate, who is using language to explore memory, girlhood, identity, and faith.
Bushwick BookClub Seattle singer-songwriters to entertain us with original works inspired by our author’s works.
We'll close with an audience Q&A and wrap with a reception featuring light-bites and apple cider from our retreat center on Whidbey Island. Attendees will leave with a curated reading list to keep the conversation going long after the night ends. A huge thanks to our partners at Clarion West, the celebrated speculative fiction organization, as well as Seattle Arts and Lectures, Bushwick BookClub, and Hugo House.