LOS ANGELES VISIONARY ARTIST AND FUTURIST FABRICE GUERRIER MA ’15 (CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION) has been selected by 91短视频鈥檚 Alumni Association and its Awards and Nomination Committee as the 2025 Alum of the Year for his work as founder and CEO of (pronounced Syll-a-ble), the first collaborative worldbuilding production house for science fiction and fantasy storytelling.聽

鈥淏eing selected for this award feels quite unbelievable and affirms my work around collaborative worldbuilding,鈥� said Guerrier, who defines worldbuilding on his website () as 鈥渢he creation of intricate, plausible fictional universes often found in sci-fi, fantasy, and video games.鈥澛�

In collaborative worldbuilding, underrepresented creators from diverse cultures come together to imagine and publish their shared stories. 

A refuge of books

Born and raised in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Guerrier immigrated with his family to Coral Springs, Florida, when he was 13. Already fluent in French and Haitian Creole, Guerrier learned English as his third language. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of magic鈥� being Haitian from an Afrocentric world鈥� being from an island鈥� being able to speak multiple languages,鈥� said Guerrier. 

Nevertheless, Guerrier was an exile in a foreign country, forced to flee the 2004 Haitian coup d鈥櫭﹖at. He says while he 鈥渨anted to be an American,鈥� the more he tried to fit in, the more he felt like he was destroying a precious part of himself. 

Guerrier found refuge at Northwest Regional Library, where he worked as a page, volunteered, helped with community programming, and explored everything from manga and comics to encyclopedias and films to nonfiction and sci-fi books. His curiosity sparked Syllble, an idea that was furthered while reading 鈥淏lindness,鈥� an essay in Jorge Luis Borges鈥� 鈥淪even Nights鈥� collection, as a sophomore at Florida State University.聽

鈥淚 resonated with how Borges described being in a library as the closest thing to heaven, and how his blindness allowed him to see things in different ways. The impact of his words inspired me to become a writer,鈥� said Guerrier. 

Healing and growth

After graduating from Florida State in 2013 with a bachelor of science degree in international affairs and a leadership studies certificate, Guerrier decided to pursue a master of arts in conflict transformation from 91短视频鈥檚 Center for Justice and Peacebuilding (CJP).听

As a graduate assistant at the Zehr Institute for Restorative Justice, he worked with its then-director and CJP professor, Carl Stauffer MA ’02 (conflict transformation), and conducted 鈥渉umbling and eye-opening鈥� field research on the impact of Fambul Tok International in promoting reconciliation in communities after an 11-year civil war in Sierra Leone (West Africa). 

鈥�91短视频 was a place of healing for me,鈥� Guerrier said. 鈥淢y peace studies showed me how personal and interpersonal work affects peace in the world.鈥� 

Guerrier worked with CJP Professor Emeritus Barry Hart MDiv ’78 to explore theories and practices of Strategies for Trauma Awareness & Healing (STAR), and in 2014, he started a chapter of Coming To The Table (), a racial healing and reconciliation organization aimed at Taking America Beyond the Legacy of Enslavement鈥攁 program that began at CJP. Guerrier later served on CTTT鈥檚 board of managers and became its youngest national president.聽

Looking to the future

After graduating from 91短视频 in 2015, Guerrier worked on two novels, revising one to the point of exhaustion. 

鈥淚t was probably one of the most painful and loneliest experiences I鈥檝e ever had,鈥� he said. 

Guerrier began researching collaborative writing techniques in Hollywood and beyond, which led him to invite three writers to his home to create a story together. The successful session set Syllble in motion. 

Today, Syllble is enabling marginalized voices across the globe to conceive and tell the stories of their shared universes in order to disrupt modern-day inclinations toward disaster and doom. 

鈥淚magining radically hopeful futures allows us to replace the realities imposed by capitalism and technology and media with something that鈥檚 beautiful, nourishing, warm, and healing,鈥� said Guerrier. 鈥淚t is how we reclaim what it means to be human.鈥�

Guerrier will share his story at 91短视频 TenTalks, held on Saturday, Oct. 11, at 1:30 p.m. in Martin Chapel during Homecoming 2025. For a full schedule of Homecoming events and activities, visit emu.edu/homecoming.