On November 26 & 27 we’re hosting our second-ever AugurCon, our virtual celebration of speculative literatures! We’re joined by over 45 amazing guests, including authors, poets, editors, and publishing professionals, to explore the intersections of the world we know—and the ones we dare to imagine.

We connected with Samantha Garner, author of the literary sci-fi novel The Quiet is Loud, who is a panel host at this year’s AugurCon.

Get your ticket to attend her panel:

Worldbuilding the Real World: Creating the Fictional Here
Sunday, November 27 at 12:30–1:30 PM EST / 9:30–10:30 AM PST

To see the full weekend program schedule, visit our website.

At Augur, we talk a lot about “stories for the futures we need.” We know what it means to us—but what does that mean to you?

As a writer and reader, the future I need is filled with BIPOC stories that are varied and widely-read. We’re getting there, which is encouraging, but I’m impatient.

Scenario time: you’re talking to a writer who’s just starting out, just penned their first poem or short story. What is the number one thing you would tell them that you wish someone had told you—of both the good and the maybe-not-so good?

When you’re just starting out it can be easy to get caught up in what other writers are doing, or feel like certain opportunities are passing you by while you find your pace. I didn’t have the career trajectory I saw happening seemingly all around me, and at times it was discouraging. I wish someone had told me early on that my own journey as a writer is unique and worth honouring, and to focus on what I was exploring.

Your book, The Quiet is Loud, combines myth and fantasy in a contemporary setting. What is it about the real world that invites imagination? Where is your favorite place to set your stories?

When writing The Quiet is Loud, it was helpful for me to draw on real-world elements and wonder “what if?” until I got to an interesting place to tell a story. I’m a history lover and also too curious for my own good, so I suppose those things help. Even when I write settings that are more obviously fantastical, I’m inspired by elements from our own histories, woven in a different way.

We know writing is a huge, time consuming endeavour, but also, for some a calling. Have you ever had to take a break from writing to attend to other commitments? What is your relationship to the title, or identity of, “writer”?

I have chronic depression, and when it flares up, my focus on writing is often the first thing to go. I’ve been writing my whole life and it really does feel like a calling for me, so I used to react badly to these flareups. I felt like a core part of myself was on shaky ground. But over the years I saw that taking a break to focus on my mental health didn’t permanently affect my sense of self-as-writer, and it would still be there for me when I could return to it.

Hear more from Samantha: Get your ticket to AugurCon 2022

Samantha Garner is the author of the literary sci-fi novel The Quiet is Loud. Her short fiction and poetry have appeared in Broken Pencil, Sundog Lit, Kiss Machine, The Fiddlehead, Storychord, WhiskeyPaper, and The Quarantine Review. She lives and writes in the Toronto area.

Join Samantha at AugurCon! Our panel on Worldbuilding the Real World: Creating the Fictional Here takes place on Sunday, November 27. Get your ticket to AugurCon 2022 now!