BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//7.2.3.1//EN TZID:America/Los_Angeles X-WR-TIMEZONE:America/Los_Angeles BEGIN:VEVENT UID:7@sfwa.org DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260118T123000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260118T173000 DTSTAMP:20260114T235329Z URL:https://www.sfwa.org/events/divine-forces-exploring-the-power-of-the-o rishas-featuring-tomi-adeyemi/ SUMMARY:Divine Forces: Exploring the Power of the Orishas featuring Tomi Ad eyemi DESCRIPTION:A transformative in-person event blending the power of Yoruba s pirituality with cultural exploration and collective healing. Featuring Hu go and Nebula Award winning author Tomi Adeyemi and panels with renowned w riters and scholars like Sakena Young-Scaggs\, Ayize Jama-Everett\, Kemi A shing-Giwa and Clarence A. Haynes.\n\nThe afternoon conversations will dis cuss divine forces in African spirituality\, their enduring influence acro ss the African diaspora and how these spiritual entities serve as cultural anchors and guides for healing and transformation. This event offers an i nspiring space for enthusiasts and those seeking deeper understanding of  Black Diaspora’s narratives and social justice.\n\nProgram Schedule\n\n 12:15 – 12:45 PM Registration\, Marketplace and Welcome\n\n12:45PM – 1:30 PM “Post Colonial Traditions in Contemporary Literature”  \n\nCl arence A. Haynes\, author of The Ghosts Of Gwendolyn Montgomery and Kemi Ashing-Giwa\, author of The King Must Die are in conversation. Moderate d by Audrey T. Williams.\n\n1:45 PM - 2:30 PM:  "Orishas Reborn: West Afr ican YA Fantasy"\nA forward-looking discussion with Hugo- and Nebula Award –winning writer Tomi Adeyemi\, author of the Legacy of Orisha series\, on the role of Orishas in contemporary literature\, particularly YA\, and their potential for personal and community healing. Moderated by Isis Asar e.\n\n2:30-3:15PM Book Signing with Tomi Adeyemi\n\n3:30-4:15 PM "Black Di asporic Religions” \n\nSakena Young-Scaggs in conversation with Ayize J ama-Everett \, moderated by Dr. Stanford Carpenter. How the worship and u nderstandings of Black Diasporic Religions have evolved across the African diaspora\, focusing on cultural continuity\, folk ways\, popular understa ndings\, media representation and transformation.\n\nVisit the Marketplace in the Latino/Hispanic Meeting Room from from 12:30 – 5 p.m.\n\n_______ __________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________\n\nParticipant Bios\n\ nTomi Adeyemi\, New York Times Bestselling Author\n\nNamed one of TIME ma gazine’s 100 Most Influential People\, Tomi Jasmine Adeyemi is a Hugo- a nd Nebula Award–winning writer and model based in New York\, New York. A fter graduating from Harvard University with an honors degree in English l iterature\, she wrote the groundbreaking\, instant #1 New York Times-bests elling Legacy of Orïsha series\, which includes Children of Blood and Bon e\, Children of Virtue and Vengeance\, and Children of Anguish and Anarchy . Tomi’s trilogy has sold over 3 million copies around the world\, and i ts highly anticipated adaptation stars Viola Davis\, Cynthia Erivo\, Idris Elba\, Regina King\, and more. The adaptation is set for release in IMAX and theaters January 15th\, 2027. When she is not busy writing\, Tomi can be found kicking ass in her local boxing gym.\n\nIsis Asare is the Execut ive Director of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA ).\n\nDr. Stanford W. Carpenter AKA Brother-Story is a cultural anthropol ogist\, comic scholar\, sometime comic creator\, and former archaeologist. He is the Academic Liaison for Comicpalooza &\; Founder of Comicpalooz a University. Whether it’s through the lens of Ancient Worlds\, Afrofutu rism\, or the EthnoGothic\, he conducts ethnographic research among comic creators with an archeological sensibility that teases out the relationshi ps between people\, places\, time\, and things. His research is reflected in his writing\, art\, and civic and community engagement programming. He is currently developing scholarly programming for Houston’s Comicpalooza . His forthcoming book for Fantagraphics Press explores the cultures and h istories of Black comics\, creators\, and characters. He sits on the advis ory board of Abrams ComicArts Megascope imprint and is a co-founder and fo rmer chairman of the Black &\; Brown Comix Arts Festival (BCAF).\n\nAyi ze Jama-Everett calls the Bay Area his home despite being born in New Yor k City. He holds a Master’s in Divinity\, a Master’s in Clinical Psych ology\, and a Master’s in Fine Arts\, Creative Writing. His books and gr aphic novels defy easy categorization but hold to what he considers the “veracity of fiction’s ability to expose the human condition.” In hi s novels\, the reader will find science fiction\, romance\, action\, spiri tuality\, and philosophical questions with uncomfortable answers. In 2009\ , Jama-Everett self-published The Liminal People\, which was later picked up and distributed by Small Beer Press. He’s written three more books in the series\, The Liminal War (2015)\, The Entropy of Bones (2015)\, and H eroes of an Unknown World (2023). Jama-Everett has also written a graphic novel entitled Box of Bones Book I (2022) and Box of Bones Book II (2023) with two-time Eisner Award winner John Jennings\, published by Rosarium Pr ess and The Last Count of Monte Cristo (2023) for Abrams ComicArts Megasco pe graphic novel imprint.\n\nThe Rev. Dr. Sakena Young-Scaggs is a Senio r Associate Dean for Religious &\; Spiritual Life at Stanford Universit y and Pastor of the Stanford Memorial Church. Her research "Afrofuturism\, Womanist Phenomenology\, and the Black Imagination: A Liberative Revision ing of Black Humanity" examines the potentiated hope of visioning African Futures through a Womanist Phenomenological analysis. Dr. Young-Scaggs is experienced in facilitating professional learning sessions in culturally r elevant teaching\, Black feminist and womanist pedagogy\, Culturally Engag ed Activism\, African folklore\, and Traditional Spiritual practices.\n\nA udrey T. Williams\, MFA\, is a Southern Black poet and writer with Indo-Bu rmese heritage. She is the founder of Ancestral Futures: Liberation Litera ry Arts\, whose mission is to promote ancestral cultural preservation and collective liberation through stories and poetry\, with a focus on specula tive literary arts. A Program Lead for the Black Speculative Arts Movement ’s Northern California Chapter\, Audrey serves as Co-Chair of the 2026 W orld Fantasy Convention to be held in Oakland this October 22-25 (wfc2026. org). Her writing has appeared in Lightspeed Magazine\, FIYAH Magazine o f Black Speculative Fiction\, Space &\; Time Magazine\, and beyond. In autumn 2026\, she will begin her PhD in Community\, Liberation\, Indigeno us\, and Ecopsychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute.\n\nKemi Ashing-Giwa  is an author and scientist-in-training. Her work includes The Splinter in the Sky\, which won the Compton Crook Award and was a USA Today bests eller\; This World Is Not Yours\; and The King Must Die. Her short ficti on\, which has been nominated for an Ignyte Award and featured on the Locu s Recommended Reading List\, has been reprinted in Some of the Best from Tor.com: 15th Anniversary Edition\, The Year’s Top Tales of Space and T ime\, and The Year’s Best African Speculative Fiction. She is now pur suing a PhD in the Earth &\; Planetary Sciences department at Stanford. \n\nProgramming is a partnership between SFWA and the African American C enter of the San Francisco Public Library. ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.sfwa.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/ Untitled-design-4.png CATEGORIES:Industry Events LOCATION:San Francisco Public Library Main Branch\, 100 Larkin Street \, Sa n Francisco\, CA \, 94102\, United States X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=100 Larkin Street \, San Fr ancisco\, CA \, 94102\, United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=100;X-TITLE=San Franc isco Public Library Main Branch:geo:0,0 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Los_Angeles X-LIC-LOCATION:America/Los_Angeles BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20251102T010000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 TZNAME:PST END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR