Week 6 Write-a-thon Partner: Two Hour Transport!

And it’s here! The last week of our 2022 summer Write-a-thon to cheer on our Six-Week Workshop students and generate new writing and connections in our broader community. Thank you for all your hard work this summer and your fundraising efforts. Make sure to pat yourselves on the back, no matter how much you accomplished!

For our final week, we welcome Two Hour Transport as our Write-a-thon partners! Two Hour Transport is a Seattle-based organization that hosts speculative fiction readings, open mics, book groups, and more ⁠— here’s our recent interview with them:

What is the mission and vision of your organization?

To promote new voices in science fiction, fantasy, and horror, and to create a strong, welcoming, and diverse community in Seattle and beyond.

How long have you been doing this amazing work?

Two Hour Transport was founded in 2015, and we will be celebrating our seventh birthday in July!

What is the coolest thing that has happened for your organization?

We have had some truly amazing authors feature for us! See our current list here.

What is the best speculative fiction book or story you’ve read recently?

Two Hour Transport hosts a quarterly book club called the Two Hour Transport Reading Group, and all the books we’ve read for it have been fantastic! Here’s a short list:

  • New Suns: Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color edited by Nisi Shawl
  • Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse
  • A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark
  • Nine Bar Blues: Stories of an Ancient Future by Sheree Renée Thomas
  • The Black Veins by Ashia Monet
  • Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor
  • A Ruin of Shadows by L.D. Lewis

What do you see as the role of speculative fiction across media (such as literature, TV, games, comics, film, etc.) in making our world a better place?

Speculative fiction takes us away, so that we can see ourselves differently. It lets us imagine futures, worlds, and ways of being that are uniquely human but outside the reach of forces in the present. At their finest, these stories connect us to parts of ourselves we could never name before, heal hidden wounds, and dare us to dream of better ways to live.

How can Write-a-thon participants get involved with your organization and your programming?

We host a monthly (currently virtual) reading with one hour of open mic and one hour of content from featured readers. Stop by and bring a piece of five minutes or less to read at the open mic! Our schedule is on the sidebar of our website, and a pinned post on our Facebook page. We announce events and provide Zoom links a week ahead of time.

We also host a monthly critique group and a quarterly book club. And we’re on social media here:

Is there anything else you’d like to share with the Write-a-thon community?

Yes! We would like to invite you to our next virtual event: Wednesday, August 24th, featuring Nisi Shawl and Eileen Gunn!

[Image alt text: Picture of an open mic that takes place on a disk in outer space with a dragon reading a story into a microphone in front of a vampire, alien humanoids, and a little black cat on the dragon’s tail. The scene is lit by a flying saucer overhead.]

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