{"nodes":[{"node":{"nid":"83636","title":"Fall 2026 Worldbuilding Distinguished Lecture with Rebecca Roanhorse","campus":"Online event, Tempe campus","locations":"Walton Center for Planetary Health Auditorium 107, ASU Live","college_unit":"Department of English, The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Division of Humanities, Humanities Institute, School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies, School of International Letters and Cultures, Humanities Institute - Worldbuilding, Humanities, Humanities at ASU","department":"Humanities Institute","field_cost_value":"Free","event_price_level":"Free","asu_events_price_desc":"Free","body_summary":"\u003Cp\u003EAs the Fall 2026 Worldbuilding Initiative Distinguished Lecturer, bestselling author Rebecca Roan\u003C\/p\u003E","full_body":"\u003Cp\u003EAs the Fall 2026 Worldbuilding Initiative Distinguished Lecturer, bestselling author Rebecca Roanhorse will read from her novel \u201cBlack Sun\u201d (first in her Hugo Award-winning epic fantasy trilogy \u201cBetween Earth and Sky\u201d) and deliver a lecture on the craft of writing science fiction and fantasy. \u201cBlack Sun\u201d was \u201cinspired by the civilizations of the Pre-Columbian Americas and woven into a tale of celestial prophecies, political intrigue and forbidden magic.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAfter her talk, Roanhorse will be joined in conversation by professor Matt Bell, director of the Worldbuilding initiative. An audience Q\u0026amp;A, book sale and book signing will follow.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout the book\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the holy city of Tova, the winter solstice is usually a time for celebration and renewal, but this year it coincides with a solar eclipse, a rare celestial even proscribed by the Sun Priest as an unbalancing of the world.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMeanwhile, a ship launches from a distant city bound for Tova and set to arrive on the solstice. The captain of the ship, Xiala, is a disgraced Teek whose song can calm the waters around her as easily as it can warp a man\u2019s mind. Her ship carries one passenger. Described as harmless, the passenger, Serapio is a young man, blind, scarred and cloaked in destiny. As Xiala well knows, when a man is described as harmless, he usually ends up being a villain.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECrafted with unforgettable characters, Roanhorse has created a \u201cbrilliant world that shows the full panoply of human grace and depravity\u201d (Ken Liu, award-winning author of\u0026nbsp;\u201cThe Grace of Kings\u201d). This epic adventure explores the decadence of power amidst the weight of history and the struggle of individuals swimming against the confines of society and their broken pasts in this \u201cabsolutely tremendous\u201d (S.A. Chakraborty, nationally bestselling author of\u0026nbsp;\u201cThe City of Brass\u201d) and most original series debut of the decade.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout the speaker\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERebecca Roanhorse is a New York Times bestselling and Nebula, Hugo and Locus Award-winning speculative fiction writer. She has published multiple award-winning short stories and novels, including two novels in\u0026nbsp;\u201cThe\u0026nbsp;Sixth World\u0026nbsp;Series,\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u201cStar Wars: Resistance Reborn,\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u201cRace to the Sun\u201d\u0026nbsp;for the\u0026nbsp;Rick\u0026nbsp;Riordan imprint and the Hugo Award-winning epic fantasy trilogy\u0026nbsp;\u201cBetween Earth and Sky.\u201d She was the guest editor of\u0026nbsp;America\u2019s Best Science Fiction \u0026amp; Fantasy\u0026nbsp;(2023) and a contributor to the New York Times \u201c100 Best Books of the 21st Century.\u201d She has also written for Marvel comics and games, and her TV writing includes FX\u2019s\u0026nbsp;\u201cA Murder at the End of the World,\u201d and the Marvel series\u0026nbsp;\u201cEcho\u201d\u0026nbsp;for Disney+. She has had her own work optioned by Paramount, Amazon Studios, Netflix and AMC Studios.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout the initiative\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHosted by the Humanities Institute, the ASU Worldbuilding initiative invites all members of our community \u2014 at ASU and beyond it \u2014 to come together in mutual inspiration, communal thinking and imaginative play.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor a full listing of\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/humanitiesinstitute.asu.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EHumanities Institute\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E events, visit\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/humanitiesinstitute.asu.edu\/events\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Eour events page\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","phone":"","contactname":"Victoria Day","email":"VictoriaDay@asu.edu","delta":"0","alias":"https:\/\/asuevents.asu.edu\/event\/fall-2026-worldbuilding-distinguished-lecture-rebecca-roanhorse?id=0","ticketing_rsvp_txt":"Register","ticketing_rsvp_txt2":"","ticketing_rsvp_url":"https:\/\/specialevents.asu.edu\/ereg\/newreg.php?eventid=893867\u0026amp;","ticketing_rsvp_url2":"","website":"https:\/\/humanitiesinstitute.asu.edu\/events","image_url":"https:\/\/asuevents.asu.edu\/sites\/g\/files\/litvpz3506\/files\/2026-09\/Event%20Image%2020261028.jpg","image_alt":"","image_title":"","start_date":"Oct 28 2026 - 3:00pm","end_date":"Oct 28 2026 - 4:15pm","time_description":"","very_start_date":"2026-10-28T15:00:00Z","very_end_date":"2026-10-28T16:15:00Z","event_types":"Lecture, Presentation","interests":"Arts and Creative Expression|English|Humanities|Writing|Events|Lectures|Presentation","audiences":"For current ASU students|For staff|For faculty|For future students|For Sun Devil parents and families|For the community","event_units":"Department of English|The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences|Division of Humanities|Humanities Institute|School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies|School of International Letters and Cultures|Humanities Institute - Worldbuilding|Humanities|Humanities at ASU","event_topics":"Academic events|Arts and entertainment|Family friendly|Free|Inclusion|Open to the public|Science","download":"","event_map_url":"https:\/\/maps.app.goo.gl\/GgQ97ByFC5t91XQ99","event_map_title":"","event_video":"","location_term":"Online event, Tempe campus","venue_address":"777 E. 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