Joe Graves is a pastor, writer, and social entrepreneur exploring how the stories we tell shape faith, power, and possibility. He is the founding pastor of Central City Church—now Cityview Church—and has helped launch and lead multiple nonprofits, including the Columbus Violence Reduction Fund, Little Bottoms Free Store, and the Ohio Writers’ Association, where he currently serves as President. An author of both fiction and nonfiction, his work blends speculative imagination with ethical and spiritual questions; his recent novel, My Family at the End of Everything, uses science fiction to explore themes of faith, politics, and the futures we imagine together. Across his writing and leadership, Joe is passionate about renewal—of communities, organizations, and the narratives that bind or liberate us—and about creating spaces where people can imagine more compassionate and courageous ways of being together.
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The Progressive Planter
Ohio Writers’ Association
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EXPERIENCES
Show Date
Fri 4 Sep 2026 3:00 PM to 3:50 PM
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| Title Short | Unbound Futures: Reimagining Our World Through Science Fiction |
| Venue | Convo Table 05 |
| Experience Description | Science fiction, more than a prediction of the future, has been a way to analyze and make sense of our present.
Unbound Futures is a collaborative storytelling experience that uses science fiction and speculative imagination to explore the ethical, social, and spiritual questions shaping our world. Together, we’ll loosen the grip of familiar narratives about who we are, what is possible, and what the future must look like.
Rather than analyzing socio-political problems directly, participants will work in small groups and individually to explore complex social concerns through the lens of story. Through guided prompts, storytelling basics, and reflective conversation, each participant will write a flash fiction piece (or have the tools to write one) that engages with a social issue.
No writing experience is required. Sharing is always optional, and curiosity is the only prerequisite.
By stepping into speculative worlds, we practice becoming unbound—from inherited assumptions, constricting identities, and stories that limit our capacity to hope. Participants will leave with new language, fresh questions, meaningful metaphors, and an expanded sense of what futures might be possible when we dare to imagine together. |
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