The Magical Realism of Toni Morrison

In honor of Black Speculative Fiction Month, the Midwest Black Speculative Fiction Alliance (MBSFA) is partnering with the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library to present the Magical Realism of Toni Morrison . The event will feature three local luminaries who will speak about Morrison's use of magical realism in her novels Sula , Beloved , Tar Baby , and Paradise . Featured Panelists DR. CASSANDRA JONES Cassandra L. Jones is an associate professor of Africana Studies and an affiliate faculty member in Film and Media Studies and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Cincinnati. Her research focuses on the intersection of race, gender, speculative fiction, and technology. She is the author of Black Speculative Feminisms: Memory and Liberation in Black Women's Speculative Fiction (The Ohio State University Press), which explores memory and decolonization found in tropes of alien invasion, time travel, and rootwork in the speculative fiction of authors such as Octavia E. Butler, Tananarive Due, Nalo Hopkinson, and Nnedi Okorafor. In addition to her publications, which have appeared in Frontiers, Women's Studies, and the College Language Association Journal, she contributed to the BBC Radio audio documentary Afterwords: Octavia E. Butler . KAREEM SIMPSON Kareem (K.A.) Simpson is an author, cultural storyteller, and creative leader whose work challenges societal norms while illuminating the emotional and historical landscapes that shape