Science Fiction Festival

Friday 27 March 2026 • 3pm

The annual Octavia E. Butler Library Science Fiction Festival celebrates the genre of science fiction while honoring the legacy of Octavia E. Butler, who wrote about wanting to provide opportunities for young people to write in the genre. Butler is known for immersing herself in research to ground her writing in reality while imagining what if...., if only..., and if this goes on.... Our festival brings together writers, artists, scientists, and creators to inspire our students to see themselves in the future and imagine how they can be the next generation of thinkers and creators.

KAOS Network / Ben Caldwell

KAOS Network, led by Ben Caldwell, is an artistic oasis in Leimert Park, cultivating shared experiences in BlackDesign, music, and technology. We empower South LA through trans-media arts and a city-supported zero-emissions initiative to enhance community health and mobility.

https://www.kaosnetworkz.com/

KAOS Kids

KAOS Kids empowers Los Angeles through A-STEAM workshops, where Arts redefine access to science, tech, engineering, and math for ages 9 months to 99 years. Our open-source model fosters business growth and networking, aligning with Sankofa principles—looking seven generations forward and back. United in creativity-driven pathways, families and individuals cultivate innovation, become educators linked by KAOS Network’s 40-year legacy, and engage in monthly art walks to showcase and profit from their designs, nurturing future innovators.

Dara Caldwell-Ross is a speech-language pathologist and community-rooted educator with more than 20 years of experience supporting children, families, and programs across hospitals, clinics, schools, homes, early intervention services, and community spaces. Her work is shaped by cultural responsiveness, lived experience, and a commitment to family-centered, intergenerational communication support.

https://rootspeak.org/

As an innovative Creative Technologist at Magnopus, she is dedicated to designing and developing immersive experiences that blend digital and physical realms, leveraging VR, AR, AI, and game engines such as Unreal Engine and Unity. An alumna and a former instructor of the GRX Immersive Labs Unreal Engine and Virtual Production Fellowship, she is passionate about empowering diverse communities through education in real-time and virtual production, and motion capture. She holds dual B.S. degrees in Computer Science and Computer Engineering from Spelman College and North Carolina A&T, and an M.S. in Computer Science Multimedia and Creative Technologies from the University of Southern California.

Casey Anderson (they / them) is designing and repurposing technologies to activate participatory practice, primarily involving explorations of sound, in diverse cultures and communities. Performances, exhibitions, and residencies include MOCA - Los Angeles (CA), ISSUE Project Room (NY), STEIM (NL), Atlantic Center for the Arts (FL), Mass MOCA (MA), The Walker Art Center (MN), and The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA (CA). Over the last two decades they have lead numerous initiatives at the intersection of arts programming and community organization, including hybrid web-journal/festivals (the Experimental Music Yearbook, with John P. Hastings and Scott Cazan), as well as community arts centers/venues like Trade School (with Arden Stern), the wulf., BETALEVEL, and Machine Project. As an educator they have taught at ArtCenter College of Design and UCLA. They currently live in Los Angeles, California, own and operate the organizational initiative a wave, and teach at KAOS Network.

https://www.caseyanderson.work/