Sat 23 Sept, 3-4 pm, St Peter's Church, De Beauvoir Sq.
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Alison Rumfitt and Rivers Solomon in conversation, chaired by Sasha de Buyl
Hold on to your coffee, it’s getting dark! We welcome two contemporary mavens of horror to discuss how they use the genre to confront and narrate extreme realities of subjection and violence. With Tell Me I’m Worthless, Alison Rumfitt rewrote the haunted house narrative and literally nailed transphobia to a wall – in Brainwyrms, she goes deeper into the dangerous delusions of online hate. Rivers Solomon’s novels An Unkindness of Ghosts, The Deep and Sorrowland have been shortlisted for pretty much every major SFF award as they take on genre’s deep racist structures to generate new Black queer and trans myths and powerful monsters. Amid the horror, both writers find love and resistance. Ask them how.
Bios:
Alison Rumfitt is a writer, semi-professional trans woman, and the author of Tell Me I'm Worthless. Her debut pamphlet of poetry, The T(y)ranny, was a critical deconstruction of Margaret Atwood’s work through the lens of a trans woman navigating her own misogynistic dystopia. Tell Me I’m Worthless is her debut novel. Her work has appeared in countless publications such as SPORAZINE, datableed, The Final Girls, Burning House Press, SOFT CARTEL, Glass Poetry and more. Her poetry was nominated for the Rhysling Award in 2018.
Rivers Solomon writes about life in the margins, where they are much at home. In addition to appearing on the Stonewall Honor List and winning a Firecracker Award, Solomon's debut novel An Unkindness of Ghosts was a finalist for a Lambda, a Hurston/Wright, an Otherwise (formerly Tiptree) and a Locus award. Solomon's second book, The Deep, was the winner of the 2020 Lambda Award and shortlisted for a Nebula, Locus, Hugo, Ignyte, Brooklyn Library Literary, British Fantasy, and World Fantasy award. Solomon's short work appears in Black Warrior Review, The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, Guernica, Best American Short Stories, Tor.com, Best American Horror and Dark Fantasy, and elsewhere.
Sasha de Buyl is a writer and programmer from Cork. They are Literature and Ideas Programmer at International Literature Festival Dublin and in 2023 acted as Guest Curator for StAnza, Scotland's International Poetry Festival. They were the Director of Cúirt International Festival of Literature in Galway from 2019 – 2022. Prior to this, they managed Scottish Books International, developing projects and partnerships for Scottish literature overseas and spent two years working as Literature Officer at Creative Scotland. Sasha is a board member of GAZE: Dublin’s International LGBTQ Film Festival
Rivers Solomon headshot © Oluwatosin Daniju