Ray Bradbury famously described Science Fiction as ’The art of the possible.’ As the world currently wrestles with the rapidly developing possibilities - both positive and negative - of generative AI this idea is, perhaps, more apposite than ever, and the people who think and write Science Fiction are playing an increasingly significant role in the way humanity sees itself and shapes its future. Join us for The Craft of Science Fiction, where multi-award-winning Australian Science Fiction authors Sean Williams (South Australia) and Helen Marshall (Queensland) will join Professor Anthony Eaton from the University of Canberra to explore the many ways science fiction writing tangles with real life, and to consider the possibilities this brings with it.   

About the speakers: 

Anthony Eaton is Professor of Creative Writing and Literary Studies at the University of Canberra, and the author of 11 novels for children, young adult and adult readers.

He has won awards for his works including the Aurealis Award for Australian Speculative Fiction, The Children’s Book Council Book of the Year Prize, the IBBY Ena Noel award for his body of work, and the Western Australian Premier’s Prize. He works across multiple genres, and his creative works focus on exploring the intersection between environments and people.  He lives on Ngunnawal Country in Canberra.

Dr Helen Marshall is an Associate Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Queensland. She has won the World Fantasy Award, the British Fantasy Award and the Shirley Jackson Award for her three collections of short stories. Her debut novel The Migration argued for the need to remain hopeful, even in the worst circumstances. It was one of The Guardian’s top science fiction books of the year. Her second novel The Lady, the Tiger and the Girl who Loved Death was released in 2025. She is also the lead author on Story Thinking and the Real-World Applications of Sci-Fi Writingout from Bloomsbury.

Sean Williams is a #1 New York Times-bestselling, multi-award-winning writer for readers of all ages. He is the author of over sixty books and one hundred and twenty shorter publications, including series, novels, stories and poems that have been translated into multiple languages for readers around the world. As well as his original works, he has collaborated with other authors, written stories in the Star Wars and Doctor Who universes, and developed narratives for the stage and screen. In the course of his research, he has visited Antarctica, been locked in a sleep study with three other artists, hunted for ghosts in Old Parliament House, and made music for Adelaide’s biggest sound system. He lives in Kaurna Country, South Australia, and is Discipline Lead of Creative Writing at Flinders University.