Award-winning author Nalo Hopkinson visited Mosher Alumni House on Feb. 21 to give insight on her novels and themes surrounding Afrofuturism — a genre that combines science fiction and fantasy with Black culture.

Hopkinson is known for her novels Brown Girl in the Ring, Blackheart Man and Midnight Robber. Malia Guy/Daily Nexus

Her visit was arranged by UCSB’s English Department’s Creative Critical Writing Initiative Program as their inaugural visiting scholar artist. UCSB professors Cathy Thomas and Michelle Petty-Grue moderated the event.

Hopkinson is known for her novels “Brown Girl in the Ring,” “Blackheart Man” and “Midnight Robber.” She earned the World Fantasy Award, the John W. Campbell Award and the Sunburst Award. In addition, she was the first Black woman and the youngest person to receive the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award.

Hopkinson’s stories usually include references to Caribbean culture and storytelling. Her narratives also pertain to the Black experience and representation of diverse people. 

In relation to her depictions of mermaids, she mentioned, “A skinny mermaid is a cold mermaid. So I try to represent them as curvy … I’m also interested in representing a range of age[s].”

Hopkinson tries to tackle topics of physical intimacy and sexuality in her stories. When asked about how these topics relate to her characters, Hopkinson said, “I assume their sexuality is part of their character development.”

She said she sometimes feels intimidated to cover such topics but is able to move past this fear by thinking of author Samuel “Chip” Delany, an author known for unabashedly talking about themes of class and sexuality in his work.

“I take it as principle that there [are] no bad words that you should be able to express what’s happening to characters. And when I get intimidated … I think, ‘What would Chip Delany do?’ And I take a deep breath and I dive in. I also remind myself that when I’m writing it’s just me and the keyboard and the screen. Nobody’s seeing it.”

Hopkinson also said that despite feeling intimidated, she always turns away from censorship.

“Don’t worry too much about censorship,” Hopkinson said. “Because if somebody wants to censor you, walk. Find somebody else who won’t.”

Hopkinson discussed her lived experiences as well. She is clinically diagnosed with nonverbal learning disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and fibromyalgia.

“There’s a flip side to all of them.” Hopkinson said. “What they call nonverbal learning disorder flip side is high verbal ability. ADHD makes it possible for you to think outside the box … and fibromyalgia gives me permission to rest,” Hopkinson said.

She said she’s become accustomed to questions surrounding her identity and various abilities. She noted the impact of these conversations on her students at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.

“I discovered when I started talking openly about it, particularly in the realm of teaching, it meant my students felt they could talk about the things that were affecting the way they worked as well,” Hopkinson said.

Hopkison said that everyone’s writing process will be different. 

“The rules about writing depend on your brain. You get to make them,” she said.