Join the NYS Writers Institute for a conversation with William Alexander, Cuban-American science fiction and fantasy author and winner of the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature for his first novel, Goblin Secrets (2012).

In praise, the late Ursula K. Le Guin said, "I wish I could have read it when I was eleven.”

Alexander’s debut science fiction novel for adults, Sunward, was a finalist for the 2026 Philip K. Dick Award, and a Library Journal Best Book of the Year.

The new novel follows the story of a human space traveler charged with mentoring “baby bots,” juvenile AI who are developmentally in their teens, training them how to interact within society, and essentially becoming their foster mom.