Maurice Broaddus
“There are few things that can renew a person like 1.) being surrounded by people who love you and 2.) being around and challenged by other creative types.”
Author Maurice Broaddus used his fellowship to study under Andras Visky, a university professor and esteemed playwright in Romania. With his own play in his mind, Broaddus took valuable notes from Visky. “Andras taught me so much about structure and the nature of conflict that it has helped me re- think my approach to prose writing,” Broaddus said. After Romania, his next destination was Pennsylvania. There he connected with horror writer Brian Keene and appeared in his podcast The Horror Show, which
became the most downloaded episode in the show’s history. After business came fun: he joined local writers in celebrating Keene’s 50th birthday. The party became a great opportunity to reconnect with old friends.
The fellowship also awarded Broaddus the resources to engage
his Indy community in learning and the arts. He participated in Sawubona Lab 46208, which he describes as “a project designed to create a front porch school where neighbors can teach the youth, in leadership, entrepreneurship, and art.” During the program, he worked alongside artist Jamahl Crouch and poet Januarie
York, and ended up writing two stories based on each of them. Broaddus also gave a talk at the Kheprw Institute about African Americans in speculative fiction. Eventually, the momentum from these art-meets-community functions led him to launch a series of community workshops, or “Afrofuturism Fridays.” His work with the Kheprw Institute eventually inspired his novelette, El is a Spaceship.
Due to the increased visibility the fellowship granted him, Broaddus was approached by DC Comics to pitch a novella and by a Hollywood studio to write a novella with the potential of becoming a TV series. He will also teach at this year’s Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers’ Workshop at UC San Diego.
