Winter Program | 2026
The theme is ENTANGLEMENT ... just in time for cuffing season.
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Across two thematic arcs, we'll think deeply about the ways we're bound — to each other, to ideas, to art, to power. What seduces us? What holds us? And, what liberates us?​​​
Arc I: Power, Pleasure, and Politics in Fantasy
We all love fantasy—for the world-building, complex characters, supernatural forces, and dragons, of course. The perception of fantasy (from high to romantasy) is often that it's just an escape. However, this arc will reveal how multifaceted this genre can be and why it's worth treating with sincerity.
Arc II: When Art Collides: Conversations Between Mediums
Art influences art, which influences art, which influences art (ad infinitum). Talk about entanglement! We could probably explore this theme over decades, so it's only fitting that we kick off this 'conversation' in the inaugural season of The Nightlight Society.
Arc I: Power, Pleasure, and Politics in Fantasy
This arc considers how fantasy and speculative fiction handle power: who has it, who wants it, and how it’s expressed through relationships, systems, and desire.
We’ll ask questions like:
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What does fantasy let us say about power that realism doesn’t?
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How do authors build (or break) systems of control and status quo?
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Where do desire, domination, consent, and rebellion show up on the page—and how do we write them well?​
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Confirmed Events
Reading Night: BYOF (bring your own fantasy)​
Open reading night and optional discussion spaces
Location: The Commons, San Francisco
Date: TBD
Podcast: Rewriting the Fairy Tale​
Exploring the 'erotics of power' in fantasy
Featuring: Rachel Borders , Writer, Director, Fantasy Enthusiast, All-around Renaissance woman
Podcast: Fictional Friendships, R​eal Longing
The parasocial bonds we form with characters and what that says about modern loneliness
Featuring: Corye Pike, LCSW
Dispatch
Reading lists and writing prompts
Arc II: When Art Collides: Conversations Between Mediums
This arc is about creative process—specifically, what happens when artists work across forms. We’re interested in the translation of ideas across text, image, sound, and movement—and what’s gained (or lost) in translation.
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We’ll ask questions like:
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How does the medium shape the message?
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What changes when a piece is adapted into a new form?
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How do artists think differently when they collaborate across disciplines?
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What can writers learn from visual artists? What can composers learn from writers?
Confirmed Events
Salon: Food in Literature
Join us for dinner and discussion on the role of food in literature
Location: TBD
Date: TBD
Podcast: Soundscapes of Magic​
Creating fantasy worlds through music
Featuring: Kelsey Woods, Emmy award-winning Composer (Percy Jackson, Rings of Power, Outlander)
Workshop: Translate This
Turn a piece of art or writing into a new form
Location: TBD
Date: TBD
Dispatch
Short interviews with writers and artists