Malka Older is a writer, aid worker, and sociologist. Her science-fiction political thriller Infomocracy was named one of the best books of 2016 by Kirkus, Book Riot, and the Washington Post, and shortlisted for the Neukom Institute Literary Arts Award. The Centenal Cycle, which also includes Null States (2017) and State Tectonics (2018), is a finalist for the Hugo Best Series Award of 2018. She is also the creator of the serial Ninth Step Station, currently running on Serial Box, and her short story collection And Other Disasters will come out in December 2019. Named Senior Fellow for Technology and Risk at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs for 2015, she has more than a decade of field experience in humanitarian aid and development. Her doctoral work on the sociology of organizations at Sciences Po Paris explores the dynamics of post-disaster improvisation in governments.
Madeline Ashby is a science fiction writer, futurist, speaker, teacher, and immigrant living in Toronto. Madeline Ashby has worked with Intel Labs, the Institute for the Future, SciFutures, Nesta, Data & Society, The Atlantic Council, the ASU Center for Science and the Imagination, Changeist, and others. She has spoken at SXSW, FutureEverything, MozFest, and other events. Her essays have appeared at BoingBoing, io9, WorldChanging, Creators Project, Arcfinity, MISC Magazine, and FutureNow. Her fiction has appeared in Slate, MIT Tech Review, and elsewhere. She is the author of the Machine Dynasty novels. Her novel Company Town was a Canada Reads finalist.
Mishell Baker is the author of the urban fantasy novel Borderline--a Nebula, Tiptree, and World Fantasy Award finalist—as well as its sequels Phantom Pains and Impostor Syndrome. Her short fiction has appeared in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Daily Science Fiction, and Electric Velocipede. She is represented by Russell Galen and lives with her family in Los Angeles.
Heli Kennedy is a writer, actor and filmmaker. She is the author of three comic book series for the Emmy Award-winning show, Orphan Black (BBC America, IDW Publishing), and also writes for video game publisher UBISOFT. Her films have traveled the festival circuit and her latest short, Frigid, won her the City of Toronto Award for Best Actress. Heli is alum of Norman Jewison’s Canadian Film Centre, The Second City and Sheridan College. When not writing a novel for tweens about greed and credit debt, Heli plays boardgames and hangs with her mouthy husky, Nyla. IG & TWITTER: @helikennedy