João Paulo Coutinho Guimarães

João specializes in contemporary experimental poetry and Science Studies. His first book, “American Experimental Poetry and the New Organic Form” was released by Bloomsbury in 2025. In that project he explored the relation between poetic language and the so-called “languages of nature” (the divine word, the genetic code, cybernetic information, biosemiotics, etc). He is currently wrapping up a project about American innovative poetry and aging, titled “Whirlpools of Time”, also under contract with Bloomsbury. This new book investigates how older experimental American poets challenge the notion that vanguardism is a caprice of youth and the idea that old age is a time of recapitulation, resignation and recapitulation. He has also edited two essay collections for transcript publishing: “Aging Experiments: Futures and Fantasies of Old Age” and “Fear of Aging: Old Age in Horror Fiction and Film”. He is a researcher at the University of Porto (ILCML), where he runs the FCT-funded project “Extraterrestrial Posthumanism: the Search for Life in Astrobiology, Science Fiction and Bio Art.”

André Almeida

[Short Bio]

Inês Caldas

Inês is a Graphic Designer and Visual Artist currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Literary, Cultural and Interart Studies at the University of Porto. She holds a degree in Communication Design (2017) from the Faculty of Fine Arts of the same institution and completed a program in Illustrated and Animated Storytelling at St. Joost School of Art & Design in the Netherlands (2016). Her research focuses on Digital Humanities, Intermedial Studies, Speculative Fiction, and Posthumanist thought. She is currently writing her MA thesis, “Science in Fiction and Fictional Realities: A New Cosmology of the 21st Century Human”, which critically examines the sociocultural impact of Artificial Intelligence across the domains of Art and various literary and narrative forms. Professionally, Inês is engaged in illustration, design, independent publishing and media arts. She is the co-writer, co-editor, and founder of aguça mag (2021), an independent publication dedicated to Illustration and Graphic Arts. Inês is also a founding partner of Asteróide Fértil (2023), a cultural association based in Braga, Portugal, specializing in Media Art.

Jasmin Endo Tran

Jasmin is an MA candidate at the University of Porto in Portugal, where she focuses on Literature, Psychoanalysis, and Philosophy. Her research explores Comedy and Short Stories. Before starting her Master’s degree, she worked as a Documentary Journalist.

Rita Mota

[Short Bio]