The Pan-African Initiative for Research (PAIR) Speculative Futures Visiting Writer Series brings visionary writers working in Afrofuturism, speculative fiction, and related genres to Waterloo to engage with students, faculty, and community around diasporic futures, worldbuilding, and resistance narratives.
Our inaugural guest is Shingai Njeri Kagunda (March/April 2026), an award-winning Afrosurrealist/Afrofuturist storyteller from Nairobi, Kenya with a Literary Arts MFA from Brown University. Shingai is the author of We Who Will Not Die (2025 Ignyte Award for Outstanding Novelette) and & This is How to Stay Alive (2022 Ignyte Award winner for best novella). They are co-Editor-in-Chief of Fantasy Magazine (Hugo Award finalist), former co-editor of Podcastle Magazine (Ignyte Award winner), and co-founder of Voodoonauts—an Afrofuturist writing workshop for Black writers. With work featured in Best American Sci-fi and Fantasy, Year's Best African Speculative Fiction, Lightspeed, Africa Risen, and numerous literary journals, Kagunda’s speculative storytelling explores themes of social memory, resistance, and transformation.
On April 13, 2026 from 2-4pm, Kagunda will read from their essay “The Story is Not Yours” followed by a facilitated discussion on identity, linguistic justice, and academic writing. Snacks and refreshments will be provided for those attending in person. Hosted by the Writing and Communication Centre (WCC) in collaboration with PAIR. In-person in the Dana Porter Learning Lab (DP 323), or online via Teams.