SPEC BLK, Atlanta, GA (2026)

09/04/2026

We’re honored to welcome Rita Woods to SPEC BLK: The Inaugural Convening as a HEADLINER GUEST.

Rita is an award-winning author whose work moves through Black history, memory, ancestry, and the supernatural.

Across her novels, including Remembrance, The Last Dreamwalker, and The Edge of Yesterday, she has built speculative worlds rooted in the interior lives of Black people—stories where history is not something that happened to us, but something that is carried, inherited, remembered, and transformed.

That makes Rita exactly the kind of storyteller we imagined when creating SPEC BLK.

Her work reminds us that Black speculative storytelling has never required us to abandon our history in order to imagine beyond it, because sometimes the most powerful speculative question begins with looking backward

At SPEC BLK, Rita will bring that perspective into conversations centered on the breadth, history, craft, and future of Black historical speculative storytelling.

We couldn’t imagine our inaugural Convening without voices like hers helping anchor the conversation.

Welcome to SPEC BLK, Rita Woods!

SPEC BLK: THE INAUGURAL CONVENING
Atlanta + Virtual
November 14–15, 2026

Tickets + information: specblk.com

09/03/2026

We’re excited to welcome Ardre Orie to SPEC BLK: The Inaugural Convening.

An author, screenwriter for film and television, and acquiring editor, Ardre brings more than four decades of writing experience—and a career built at the intersection of culture, influence, and impact.

Her work has helped shape narratives and campaigns for some of the most recognizable platforms in entertainment and culture, including the WNBA, NBA, NFL, MTV, Bravo, BET, OWN, VH1, and YouTube. Across literary work, screenwriting, national campaigns, memoirs, speeches, and legacy projects, Ardre understands how to find the story beneath the story—and shape it into something capable of moving an audience.

She has worked with Grammy Award-winning artists, activists, elected officials, CEOs, professional athletes, and visionary entrepreneurs, helping transform lived experience into narratives that preserve voice, meaning, and legacy.

And as an acquiring editor, Ardre brings another valuable perspective to the room: what happens after you’ve written the story—when someone on the other side of the table is deciding whether that story is ready to move forward.

At SPEC BLK, she’ll bring insight into crafting stories across mediums, translating lived experience into powerful narrative, and understanding what makes a story resonate on the page, on screen, and in the marketplace.

Welcome to the Convening, Ardre!

SPEC BLK: THE INAUGURAL CONVENING
Atlanta + Virtual

Tickets + information: specblk.com

09/03/2026

We’re excited to welcome Monique Younger to SPEC BLK: The Inaugural Convening.

A creative producer, director, and arts & cultural leader, Monique brings more than two decades of experience across film, television, documentary, branded content, live event production, and creative community building.

As founder of Nadiri Creative Media, she develops and produces projects while creating opportunities for artists and storytellers to connect, collaborate, and bring ambitious work to life. Her producing credits include the AspireTV series The Level Up Experiment, the award-winning documentary Finally Sayin’ What I Really Mean…, Roots to STEM, and the narrative shorts Yasodhara, White Tears, and Four Sons.

Monique also spent more than thirteen years as a Costume Supervisor on features and episodic television, giving her a deep, practical understanding of what it takes to lead teams, navigate production, and sustain creative work across every stage of the process.

Her industry leadership extends beyond the set. She serves on the National Board of the Alliance of Women Directors, the Leadership Board of AWD South, the Television Academy’s Costume Design & Supervision Peer Group Executive Committee, and the Television Academy East Coast Committee.

At SPEC BLK, Monique brings an insider perspective on how creative work actually gets made—and how storytellers can build the relationships, leadership skills, and sustainable careers necessary to keep making it.

Welcome to the Convening, Monique!

SPEC BLK: THE INAUGURAL CONVENING
Atlanta + Virtual

Tickets + information: specblk.com

09/03/2026

We’re excited to welcome Latrice P. Young, aka Distinctly Unique, to SPEC BLK: The Inaugural Convening.

A Gold Telly Award-winning voice actor, storyteller, choreopoet, and artrepreneur, Latrice’s work explores what happens when story moves beyond the page—into voice, movement, performance, ritual, and community.

Hailing from East Chicago and Gary, Indiana, she is the founder of Dunique LLC and a founding member of NAATC. Her creative practice centers the creation, education, and performance of choreopoems and interdisciplinary community play, with particular attention to femininity and womanhood, identity, culture, ritual, and healing.

Through what she calls the “D. Unique way,” Latrice uses multidisciplinary storytelling to create connection while celebrating the differences that shape who we are.

At SPEC BLK, she’ll bring a perspective on the power of voice and embodied storytelling—and the possibilities that emerge when we allow stories to live across disciplines, mediums, and forms.

Welcome to the Convening, Latrice!

SPEC BLK: THE INAUGURAL CONVENING
Atlanta + Virtual

Tickets + information: specblk.com

08/30/2026

We’re excited to welcome Chauncey McGlathery to SPEC BLK: The Inaugural Convening as a Creator Sponsor.

An author, writer, and creator of EYOS (Embrace Your Own Shadow), Chauncey’s work explores identity, creativity, leadership, culture, and imagination—and what becomes possible when we stop running from the parts of ourselves we’ve been taught to hide.

His work asks a question that feels especially at home at SPEC BLK: What happens when Black people are given permission not simply to survive the world as it is, but to imagine what comes next?

That question extends into EYOS Atlanta, a living creative initiative that draws from Atlanta’s history, music, neighborhoods, artists, entrepreneurs, and storytellers to explore the city as a laboratory for identity, community, creativity, and possibility. He is also the creator of The Shadow Work Dispatch, where he examines the hidden forces shaping leadership, culture, creativity, and the choices we make about our lives.

At SPEC BLK, Chauncey brings a perspective rooted in imagination as an act of reclamation—the work of looking beyond what we’ve inherited to ask what we might create, become, and build instead.

And as a Creator Sponsor, he’s doing more than joining the conversation. His support helps us build the kind of gathering SPEC BLK was created to become: a space where Black storytellers can exchange ideas, develop their work, build community, and imagine new possibilities together.

Welcome to the Convening, Chauncey. !

SPEC BLK: THE INAUGURAL CONVENING
Atlanta + Virtual
November 7–8, 2026

Tickets + information: specblk.com

08/29/2026

We’re excited to welcome Eddie Dee Williams to SPEC BLK: The Inaugural Convening.

An award-winning author of superhero romance thrillers, Eddie writes stories that look beyond the spectacle of extraordinary abilities to examine something far more complicated: what power costs the people who carry it.

His series, The Affinity Saga, explores love, loyalty, leadership, and responsibility through ordinary people suddenly forced to navigate extraordinary circumstances. Grounded in his faith in Jesus Christ, Eddie’s work brings questions of conviction, consequence, sacrifice, and human connection into the superhero tradition.

At SPEC BLK, he’ll bring a perspective on crafting speculative stories where power isn’t simply something characters possess—it’s something that changes them, challenges them, and asks something of them.

Welcome to the Convening, Eddie!

SPEC BLK: THE INAUGURAL CONVENING
Atlanta + Virtual
November 14-15, 2026

Tickets + information: specblk.com

08/29/2026

We’re excited to welcome Ariel Driskell to SPEC BLK: The Inaugural Convening.

An award-winning screenwriter, author, and producer, Ariel has built a career telling stories across formats — from traditional film and television to the rapidly growing world of vertical storytelling.

Her credits include multiple projects sold to BET, including Thin Like Me, directed by Meagan Good, and The First Noelle, which premiered on BET+ and quickly rose to #2 on the platform.

Through Melanated Dreams Productions, Ariel is continuing to expand what independent Black storytelling can look like, working as both a writer and producer while creating new pathways for stories to reach audiences.

At SPEC BLK, she’ll bring perspective from both sides of the page: the craft of developing the story and the work of getting it made.

Welcome to the Convening, Ariel!

SPEC BLK: THE INAUGURAL CONVENING
Atlanta + Virtual
November 14-15, 2026

Tickets + information: specblk.com

FilmAndTV SpeculativeFiction

08/28/2026

📣 ATTN: CONTENT CREATORS — WE’RE LOOKING FOR YOU. 👀

If you have a love for sci-fi, horror, fantasy, Afrofuturism, comics, speculative nonfiction and all the strange, brilliant things happening across books, film, TV, gaming, animation + more… come hang with us.

SPEC BLK is building its inaugural Content Creator Team — a crew of creators who want to cover the stories, people, conversations and culture surrounding Black speculative storytelling.

BookTok? Bookstagram? YouTube? Podcasts? Film/TV commentary? Pop culture? Comics? Video essays? Interviews? Reactions? Deep dives into fictional universes that more folk need to know about?

Yeah. You. 😂

PERKS OF JOINING THE SPEC BLK CONTENT TEAM:

🟣 Complimentary access to the two-day SPEC BLK Convening
🟣 Opportunities to interview featured guests + creators
🟣 Special access to panels, programming and behind-the-scenes moments
🟣 Discover books, films, comics + projects before everybody else does
🟣 Connect with authors, filmmakers, artists, publishers, industry professionals + fellow creators
🟣 Opportunities for SPEC BLK cross-promotion + content amplification
🟣 Official SPEC BLK Content Team affiliation during the inaugural convening
🟣 And a front-row seat as we build a new ecosystem for Black speculative storytelling

You do not need a million followers—or even thousands for that matter.

We care about creators who are engaged, curious, consistent and genuinely love this stuff.

SPEC BLK: THE INAUGURAL CONVENING
📍 Atlanta + Virtual
📅 November 14–15, 2026

Interested?

Head to SPECBLK.COM and come create with us.

Because somebody has to document all this amazingness—might as well be you. 😏

08/28/2026

Okay, brands & organizations… this one is for you. 👀

SPEC BLK is building something bigger than a conference. We’re building a creator ecosystem for Black speculative storytellers across books, film, comics, animation, audio, gaming and emerging media — and we’re looking for sponsors and foundational partners who want to help us build it from the beginning.

Your support helps us:

Bring incredible storytellers and industry professionals to Atlanta

Pay speakers and creators for their expertise
Keep programming and marketplace opportunities accessible
Build connections between creators, audiences, investors and industry
Support programming that continues beyond the convening itself

And for the right partners, this goes beyond logo placement.

It’s an opportunity to get in the room with an extraordinary pipeline of writers, filmmakers, artists, producers, academics, IP creators and cultural innovators while SPEC BLK is still in its inaugural chapter.

SPEC BLK: THE INAUGURAL CONVENING
📍 Atlanta + Virtual
📅 November 14–15, 2026

We’re currently welcoming sponsors, corporate partners, foundations, literary & entertainment organizations, tech companies, media partners + aligned brands.

Ready to build? Email:
[email protected]

08/27/2026

WE’RE HAVING A PARTY!!!🎊

Okay…not quite. We’re having a convening.

The idea for SPEC BLK is simple: forge our own pathways so we can thrive as Black speculative storytellers across mediums.

The convening is phase I of the overall ecosystem— a year round initiative to create self sustaining infrastructure for our projects.

Join us for TWO DAYS in ATLANTA or VIRTUALLY this Fall. Link for tickets are in bio + on flyer! See y’all in November!

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