Join the Indie Author committee to discuss industry issues.

Across the educational sector, schools are pressuring administrators and teachers to integrate AI into their work. At the same time, we struggle with its uses for cheating, and with students who need more guidance in developing their own intrinsic cognitive skills. Students, too, are frustrated, and many are responding to top-down imposition of corporate tools with an insistence on alternatives. From Neoluddite movements to phone-free meet-ups, people are increasingly eager to learn using their own brains and bodies. This panel will offer resources for those working to re-humanize education – both through instructional choices, and through direct pushback against technosolutionist initiatives.

Aaron Lemay, a game executive with more than 20 years of experience as a creative lead in the game industry, will workshop game design issues plaguing attendees using processes he developed while for "The Gamer's Way" systemhe has taught to many as a way of getting the most out of this game of life.

The SFWA Poetry Committee hosts a quarterly open mic for our poets. This is an unrecorded meetup where we share our work with each other. You are welcome to read works in progress or published work in the privacy of Zoom. (You are also welcome to just listen!)

At the half hour, our feature will be introduced and read for twenty minutes. This will be recorded and available on the events page to view. Bring a poem or two to read, hear our featured poet, and hang out afterwards.

Jamal Hodge is a multi‑talented award winning storyteller whose work across film and literature has earned him a rare combination of accolades. On screen, he co‑produced the Academy Award‑nominated documentary Armed Only With a Camera: The Life & Death of Brent Renaud, and he is producing the upcoming animated feature Pierre the Pigeon Hawk. He also directed the first season of the Discovery ID series Primal Instinct. In literature, he is a Bram Stoker Award‑winning author and Nebula Award finalist, he is also an Elgin Award winner, Dwarf Stars Award winner and Rhysling Award finalist. His forthcoming books I'm Not a Good Person, I'm a New Yorker (Crystal Lake Publishing, Sept 2026) and Shards of Gotham: New York City Through the Looking Glass (Ruadán Books, June 2027) continue his exploration of pain, identity and redemption.