Lifestyle & Entertainment

T&T writer Brandon O’Brien named sci-fi convention poet laureate

LoopNews

February 12, 2025 6:18 PM ET

9 mins read

Set to attend the World Science Fiction Convention in Seattle, Washington as its Poet Laureate this August, author and poet Brandon O’Brien always knew he was meant to tell stories. It’s what he’s been doing practically all his life, it’s merely the medium that has changed over the years.

While in secondary school, O’Brien began in the arts with spoken work for youth advocacy and raising awareness to social issues, as a member of the 2 Cents Movement.

Finding a space

Shifting from spoken to written poetry, he felt a pull towards speculative fiction—with a particular proclivity for science fiction—but never felt that there was much of a space for this genre in contemporary Caribbean literary spaces. O’Brien credited the Bocas Lit Fest for exposing him to the likes of Grenada-raised Tobias Buckell, Barbadian Karen Lord and Jamaican Nalo Hopkinson, all prominent writers who coloured the genre with their unique Caribbean voices.

“I discovered that speculative fiction was also something you can do while being in the Caribbean,” he shared. He referred to the moment when he understood that he wanted to create in that genre as “one of the most rewarding parts of [his] process.”

His work with the 2 Cents Movement introduced him to the Bocas Lit Fest, and from there, he learned about other speculative fiction writers, and took part in Karen Lord’s workshops. The festival helped to make it possible for him and other young writers to attend conventions overseas, something that he is engaged in today to allow the new generation of young writers to have similar experiences and opportunities.

In 2008, as a member of his secondary school’s poetry club, O’Brien attended the Brave New Voices Poetry Festival in Washington. This exposure showed him the possibility of writing and performing spoken word as a career. “That was how I learned that people make their living just by doing poetry,” he said.

He admitted being shy about his work at first, unsure of how readers would react to it, something that many artists may struggle with in the early stages. “When I was young, I was also writing my own stories, but I didn’t want anyone to read them,” he said. But despite these apprehensions, O’Brien continued to hone his craft.

By this point, having learned from published authors at the workshops and armed with a greater sense of possibility about what life as a writer could be like, O’Brien set his sights on being published. Fantasy and science-fiction publication Uncanny Magazine took an interest in his poem “god-date” and included it in their ninth issue published in March 2016.

Since his appearance in Uncanny, O’Brien has been published in Fireside Magazine, Strange Horizons and New World, Old Ways: Speculative Tales from the Caribbean, among others; he’s also edited for FIYAH: A Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction and had his first poetry collection, Can You Sign My Tentacle? win the 2022 Elgin Award.

Now, after almost a decade since having his work first published in Uncanny and with a full published collection under his belt, O’Brien has readers actively engaging with his work, and is receiving invitations to literary festivals—last year, he attended the NecronomiCon Providence: The International Conference and Festival of Weird Fiction, Art, and Academia in Rhode Island in August 2024 as its Poet Laureate.

The poet spoke of the conventions as rewarding, giving him the experience of meeting other writers and “knowing that they were fulfilling the dream of being read”, one that he first had all those years ago.

Writing for his supper

O’Brien had made it his goal to be a full-time writer, and had worked toward being able to depend on his writing for survival while also achieving the same work-life balance that most traditional workers aim for.

He refers to it as a “difficult balance”, explaining that it’s more difficult to work while being worried about what’s next because it can hinder his ability to give his best.

Getting to a place where the work is steady enough and the revenue from publications is sufficient to sustain a lifestyle has been quite the process.

“As a creative, and especially as a creative in the Caribbean, there is this very upsetting tendency to be worried about where the next paycheck is going to come from. You are never able to predict when someone will see value in your work,” he said, lamenting that, “sometimes, work will dry up.”

“I’m now at the point where I can say that my own creative work is paying the bills,” he said, adding that the publication of Can You Sign My Tentacle? in 2022 helped to make that happen.

Although, by his own admission, he’s “not there yet”, O’Brien is grateful to be able to support his lifestyle through writing, for getting to a point where he doesn’t have to be as worried about the upcoming months as he once did.

“I am close enough that I know that in the moment when I’m working on something, I don’t need to work on the future and that is very refreshing, I can take care of myself without having to work too hard.”

His advice to other writers in the same position is to make the craft the priority.

“Focus on the writing first. You can’t get to the other point until you have something finished. Otherwise you get too much in your head and it gets in the way of actually doing the work.”

He also impressed upon the importance of writing for yourself rather than for others.

He said that people often have the wrong perception of published authors and their income—either that they’re broke or making heaps of money. “It’s funny [but] neither of  those are true,” he confirmed.

Curious about Caribbean authors

O’Brien discussed his presence as a Black writer at science fiction conventions as necessary and as the result of deliberate efforts to include diverse voices in spaces that have traditionally been predominantly white.

“Those conventions know that there isn’t enough diversity in these spaces and are working to make these things happen,” he said. He referenced The Dream Foundry’s Con or Bust, an initiative established to issue grants that fund writers of colour to attend conventions. O’Brien was a recipient of the grant in 2017, and was able to attend the World Science Fiction Convention in Helsinki.

This type of exposure is crucial for inspiration as well as networking, opening young writers from various backgrounds with different perspectives to opportunities for growth, craft-improvement and eventual publication. He urged young writers who aspire to make it to these events to be patient and to stay encouraged.

Interest in Caribbean writing is something he enjoys about his interactions at the conventions. He uses it as an opportunity to put attendees onto other fellow writers from the region.

“It’s encouraging when they ask questions about Caribbean fiction,” he said. “I tell them that you can look for these people, you can look for these voices.”

In preparation for the World Science Fiction Convention, O’Brien has been writing a blog for the organisation.

You can read it here.

Follow Brandon O’Brien on IG for more information on his writing and travels or visit his website to view his newsletter and Patreon.