We are delighted to introduce our keynote speakers for GIFCon 2026: The Technologies of the Fantastic. Our keynote speakers represent a huge breadth of knowledge and experience on fantasy and its interaction with technology, whether imagined or in our own world. This page will continue to be updated to help you get to know our speakers a little better before they take centre stage in May.
Registration, including workshop tickets, will open soon. Stay up to date on news about the full programme and speaker bios, as well as this year’s reading list:
Dr Oliver K. Langmead
Resisting Fascism with Fantasy
Wednesday, 13 May, 2:45 – 3:45 PM BST
Dr Oliver K. Langmead writes speculative fiction. His verse-novel, Calypso, was shortlisted for a Hugo award and a British Science Fiction Association Award, and named one of the best Science Fiction books of 2024 by the Guardian and Esquire magazine. His new novel, City of All Seasons, co-written with Aliya Whiteley, has been shortlisted for the 2026 Philip K. Dick Award, and his previous novel, Glitterati was shortlisted for a British Fantasy Award, and named one of New Scientist’s best Science Fiction books of 2022. He is a Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Lancaster, and in late 2018 he was the writer in residence at the European Space Agency’s Astronaut Centre in Cologne.
Dr Maha Atal
The Oligarchs Who Would be Kings: Technology and Fantasies of Global Order
Friday, 15 May, 11:30AM- 12:30PM BST
Dr Maha Rafi Atal is an academic researcher working at the intersection of business and international affairs, focusing on how multinational corporations acquire political power, how they exercise it, and how they can be held accountable. She is the Adam Smith Senior Lecturer in Political Economy at the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Glasgow and a Senior Research Associate at the Centre for Competition, Regulation and Economic Development at the University of Johannesburg. A member of the Centre for Fantasy and the Fantastic, she draws on popular culture from games to science fiction in her teaching and research on contemporary international politics. She is also an award-winning business journalist and an advisor to public and charitable bodies on corporate regulation. Her first book, When Companies Rule: Corporate Power from the East India Company to Silicon Valley will be published by Columbia University Press in 2026.
Jeff VanderMeer
Author Q&A
Thursday, 14 May, 3:45 – 4:45PM BST
Jeff VanderMeer is the author of Hummingbird Salamander; the Borne novels (Borne, The Strange Bird, and Dead Astronauts); and the Southern Reach series (Annihilation, Authority, and Acceptance), the first volume of which won the Nebula Award and Shirley Jackson Award and was adapted into a movie by Paramount. He has spoken at MIT, Columbia, Yale, and Vanderbilt, and gave the 2024 John Hersey Memorial Address at the Key West Literary Seminar. Environmental nonfiction by VanderMeer has appeared in Time, The Nation, Current Affairs, and Esquire, among others. VanderMeer founded the Sunshine State Biodiversity Group nonprofit in 2023.
Register for GIFCon 2026 here.
Author Spotlight: Vajra Chandrasekera
Thursday, 14 May, 4:45-5:45PM BST
We are overjoyed to announce that we’ll be hosting a special Author Spotlight event on Thursday, 14th May featuring award winning fantasy and science fiction author, Vajra Chandrasekera
Vajra Chandrasekera is from Colombo, Sri Lanka. His debut novel, The Saint of Bright Doors, won Nebula, Ignyte, Locus, and Crawford Awards, and was shortlisted for the Ursula K. Le Guin Prize, a Lambda Literary Award, and the Hugo Award, among others. His second novel, Rakesfall, is also nominated for a Nebula Award, was a New York Times Notable Book, and was chosen as one of the best books of 2024 by NPR and Esquire. His short stories, poems, and articles have appeared in many publications including Clarkesworld Magazine, West Branch, and the Los Angeles Times. At the Cullman Center, he will work on a novel that explores pre- and post-coloniality through the lens of Sri Lanka, with a particular focus on the transformations of Buddhist ideologies.