andré carrington presents "Audiofuturism: Science Fiction Radio Drama and the Black Fantastic imagination"

André carrington’s “Audiofuturism” traces the overlooked history of Black science-fiction and speculative radio drama from the 1950s through the present. The presentation examines how radio adaptations brought Black speculative writing to broad audiences and how voice, silence, sound effects, and performance transformed literature into an audible form of cultural memory.

Drawing on scripts, recordings, production documents, and authors’ archives, carrington connects radio drama with Black literary traditions, media history, American studies, and the politics of twentieth- and twenty-first-century culture. The discussion moves from the World War II-era series *New World A-Coming* and its antiracist, Black-press roots to a 1960s radio adaptation of Samuel R. Delany’s *The Star-Pit*, the 2002 Seeing Ear Theatre version of Octavia E. Butler’s *Kindred*, and the BBC’s 2016 adaptation of Toni Morrison’s *Beloved*, written by Patricia Cumper. Together, these examples show how writers and radio dramatists collaborated and experimented to imagine Black futures and reinterpret history.

When: Thursday, November 5th 2026

Showtime: 7:00 pm

Venue: Red Emma’s, 3128 Greenmount Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland

Presenter: André carrington, a scholar of race, gender, and genre in Black and American cultures and an English professor at the University of California Riverside. Born in Baltimore and raised in Silver Spring, he is the author of *Speculative Blackness*, *The Black Fantastic: 20 Afrofuturist Stories*, and *Audiofuturism*.

Tickets: Price not available

RSVP: An RSVP option is provided through the event page.

Run time: Not specified

Ages: Not specified

Accessibility: No accessibility information is provided.

Venue information: Red Emma’s is a worker-owned and democratically managed cooperative. The bookstore and café’s listed hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 9:00 am to 8:00 pm and Sunday from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.