Laying Down the Lore with Dr Mykaela Saunders | Hugh D.T. Williamson Lecture 2025

Laying Down the Lore: a survey of First Nations speculative, visionary and imaginative fiction with Dr Mykaela Saunders.

Hugh D.T. Williamson Lecture 2025

Hear from a leading voice in Indigenous storytelling at our annual Hugh D.T. Williamson Lecture. Dr Mykaela Saunders, a Koori/Goori and Lebanese writer, researcher, and educator, will explore her groundbreaking research on First Nations speculative fiction. She’ll delve into seven key subgenres—fantasy, horror, climate fiction, science fiction, ghost stories & the gothic, futurism, and weird & slipstream fiction—and share how these genres allow First Nations writers and readers to reimagine and reflect on past, present, and future issues in inventive and unfamiliar ways. 

Investigating how First Nations writers are employing speculative fiction to tell their stories, Dr Mykaela Saunders reads these texts through a cultural genre lens, not a Western one, though, of course there is some overlap. She takes a long view of First Nations storytelling traditions, rejecting the idea that speculative, visionary or imaginative fiction is new or novel.

Hosted by Matt Coffey, Deadly Science Pathways Program Manager at Walter & Eliza Hall Institute, Melbourne.

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This event is proudly supported by The Hugh D.T. Williamson Foundation.   

Please note Auslan interpretation is available on request, for more information see our Access page.