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Book List: Black Authors of Speculative Fiction

This is not so much a book list as a list that will lead you to books.

 

I like to browse at the library (a pastime, unfortunately, that is on hold for the time being) and have discovered a lot of interesting authors that way. The new books section there is how I discovered Nnedi Okorafor, Rivers Solomon, and C.L. Polk. While I was encountering these authors for the first time, there was also a push for readers to deliberately work on including more diverse writers in their reading material.  Both then and now there’s an argument made that readers should just read what they want, without considering the race of the author.  It is valid to read just what you want to read, or to read the same kind of thing (or the same book) over and over– as Ranganathan says, every reader his book. But why not push your boundaries a little? If what you’re looking for is a good story, there are a lot of good stories you might miss out on if you aren’t deliberately seeking out Black authors. There is frequently a different aesthetic to their books, and the stories can catch you in ways you don’t expect. This difference leads to looking at speculative fiction genres through a new lens. In the case of Black people in the African diaspora, that aesthetic is generally referred to as Afrofuturism, a term first coined by Mark Dery. Nigerian writer Nnedi Okorafor recently differentiated that from the writing of Black Africans, which she identifies as Africanfuturism (you can read about that on her website, which I’ve linked to below, just scroll down to her name). Definitely, not everything Black writers come out with falls into this aesthetic. Considered althogether, Black speculative fiction covers a broad range of approaches to science fiction, fantasy, folkloric, and fluid fiction (a term coined by literary theorist Kinitra Brooks).  If you haven’t tried it,  look up some of these authors. I think you’ll find something you like.

I’m going to note that these are extremely brief and incomplete summaries, and it is a far from complete list. To learn more about these authors and their books click on the links. Enjoy!

 

Steven Barnes (Goodreads):  Barnes writes alternative history, science fiction. horror, nonfiction, sometimes with Tannarive Due or other co-authors.

Tannarive Due (author website) : Due writes horror and nonfiction, sometimes with Steven Barnes. Due is an academic who teaches and writes about Black speculative fiction, particularly horror.

Jewelle Gomez (author website) : Jewelle Gomez is best known as the author of The Gilda Stories, about a black lesbian vampire. She has written poetry, plays, and essays.

N.K. Jemisin (author website): N.K. Jemisin writes Afrofuturistic science fiction and fantasy. Jemisin won three consecutive Hugo awards for Best Novel for the books in her Broken Earth Trilogy.

Walter Mosely (author website): mysteries, science fiction, nonfiction.  Mosely is best known for his Easy Rawlins mystery series but has written in a variety of genres.

Samuel R. Delany (author website): science fiction, LGBTQ+ fiction, nonfiction. Delaney is the first Black person to be recognized as a modern science fiction writer.

Wrath James White (publisher website). interviews at Monster Librarian : extreme horror. Click on these links to see our reviews: Yaccub’s CurseSucculent PreyThe ResurrectionistSacrificeSloppy Seconds,and Vicious Romantic

Sumiko Saulson (author website): horror, graphic novels, nonfiction on black women in horror. In addition to writing fiction, Saulson is the compiler of 100 Black Women in Horror (click here to see our review)and editor of the anthology Black Magic Women: Terrifying Tales by Scary Sisters. 

Octavia Butler (official website of the Octavia Butler Estate): science fiction, alternative history, dystopian fiction Butler was the first recognized black woman author of modern science fiction and an inspiration for many Afrofuturist authors. See our review of her Earthseed Trilogy, which includes Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents here.

Tomi Adeyemi (author website) : YA Africanfuturist fantasy. Adeyemi is the bestselling author of the Legacy of Orisha series.

Evan Winter (Goodreads)interview at Tor.com: Africanfuturist epic fantasy.

Nnedi Okorafor (author website), Goodreads: Okorafor is an award-winning Nigerian-American science fiction and fantasy author who defines herself as an Africanfuturist and Africanjujuist (visit her author website for her explanation)

P. Djeli Clark (author website): Clark is an academic who writes nonfiction on Black speculative fiction, as well as a writer of Black speculative fiction, including alternative history, science fiction, and fantasy.

Victor LaValle (author website): Lavalle teaches at Columbia University. He writes horror, science fiction, and fantasy. Lavalle has won the Bram Stoker Award for his novella The Ballad of Black Tom (for our review click here) and the graphic novel Victor Lavalle’s Destroyer (for our review, click here).

Nalo Hopkinson (author website): Born in Jamaica, Nalo Hopkinson describes herself as a writer of fantastical fiction. She’s written nine books, including the award-winning Brown Girl in the Ring. She’s a professor of creative writing at the Univeristy of California Riverside.

Alaya Dawn Johnson (author website): is the author of YA and adult urban fantasy and speculative fiction, including the Andre Norton award-winning Love Is the Drug at the Nebula Awards.

C.L. Polk (author website): C.L. Polk is the author of the Kingston Cycle, a fantasy which takes p;ace in a steampunk-like setting similar to Edwardian England. The first book, Witchmark, won the World Fantasy Award and was nominated for the Lambda, Nebula, Locus, and Aurora awards.

Daniel Jose Older (author website) : Daniel Jose Older’s writing includes historical fantasy for middle-graders, the award winning YA Shadowshaper series, and adult urban fantasy .

C.T. Rwizi: C.T. Rwizi is originally from Zimbabwe and Swaziland, lived in Costa Rica and the United States, and now resides in South Africa. His debut fantasy novel, Scarlet Odyssey, was just released. Read our review here.

L.L. McKinney (author website): McKinney is the author of the YA Nightmare-verse dark fantasy books, beginning with A Blade So Black.

Rivers Solomon (author website): Solomon’s first book, An Unkindness of Ghosts, was a finalist for the Lambda, Tiptree, Locus, and Hurston/Wright awards and won a Firecracker Award. Their novella, The Deep, a collaboration with the musical group Clipping (which includes Daveed Diggs, formerly of Hamilton) is an outstanding work of Black speculative fiction. Read our review here.

Valjeanne Jeffers (Goodreads), (author website): Jeffers is the author of the Immortals series. She has published fantasy, science fiction, and erotica, particularly in Afrofuturist subgenres such as steamfunk and cyberfunk

Justina Ireland (author website): Ireland is the author of the YA alternate history horror novel Dread Nation and its sequel, Deathless Divide. She has also written other YA fantasy novels and writes for the Star Wars franchise.

Nicky Drayden (author website): Drayden writes Afrofuturist science fiction and fantasy.

Andrea Hairston (author website):  Hairston is a playwright, novelist, and professor of theatre and Africana at Smith College. She is a feminist science fiction writer who has published novels, plays, and essays. Her book Redwood and Wildfire won the Tiptree and Carl Brandon Society awards.

Rebecca Roanhorse (author website): Roanhorse is an award-winning speculative fiction writer who has both Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo and African-American heritage. She has written post-apocalyptic urban fantasy and middle-grade fantasy, and writes for the Star Wars franchise.

 

 

Book Review: Searching for Sycorax: Black Women’s Hauntings of Contemporary Horror by Kinitra D. Brooks

Searching for Sycorax: Black Women’s Hauntings of Contemporary Horror by Kinitra D. Brooks

Rutgers University Press, 2017

ISBN-13: 978-0813584614

Available: Hardcover, paperback

 

In Searching for Sycorax, Kinitra Brooks argues that horror has excluded black women except as an “absent presence” (such as the witch Sycorax from Shakespeare’s The Tempest, who has shaped the characters through her prior actions but does not appear in the play) and must allow black women a space that historically they have not been granted.  Brooks contends that black women characters in horror are constructed problematically to further the character development of other characters, especially white women, through an examination of the characters of Selena from 28 Days Later and Michonne from The Walking Dead. Brooks notes that much critical examination of horror is focused on the experiences of white men and their binaries (white women and black men). Black women, then, are unseen in a great deal of critical horror theory simply because they fall outside these binaries.

Brooks then examines how black feminist literary theorists, in their work to have black women writers included in the canon, have excluded genre fiction and authors (such as Octavia Butler) from critical examination, even though there are horror elements in many classic works of black women’s writing. While black feminist literary theorists have often chosen to examine black women’s writing through the lens of trauma theory or a magical realist framework, Brooks makes an argument for using a critical horror studies approach to black women’s literary works, carving out a place specifically for black women’s genre fiction which she calls “fluid fiction”, using it to explore the works of Nalo Hopkinson. Brooks defines fluid fiction as fiction by black women writers that blurs the boundaries of speculative genres and challenges mainstream genre limitations. It centers black women, reflects the intersections of their oppressions,  and is grounded in African religious practices and folkloric elements.

Brooks then suggests that the flowing nature of black women’s fiction, music, and art, can be used to redefine the horror genre using the framework of “folkloric horror”. Folkloric horror highlights and centers traditional African religions, such as Vodou and Santeria, treating them with respect; includes an acceptance of spirit possession; focuses on a young woman’s spiritual journey and discovery of the self, under the guidance of elders; and celebrates the black spiritual feminine. Many works by black women writers (such as Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Gloria Naylor’s Mama Day) explore horror tropes such as ghosts and curses in the context of the folkloric horror framework.

I have seen a lot of people recently saying that anybody should be able to write from any point of view. Searching for Sycorax argues that black women have a unique view that until recently has not only been unappreciated but has actually been unseen, despite its influence on genre writing. As I’m currently reading a companion collection of short stories I will say that I am finding the stories of black women writers of horror that I have read overall are fresh, genuine, and original in a genre that often depends on tired tropes without challenging them. It is difficult for me to imagine someone else writing them. Since Brooks’ book was initially published there has been work done to make the horror genre more inclusive, but it’s necessary to move beyond the argument that quality work will naturally rise to the top, and make a specific effort to seek out and promote quality work by black women to both widen the audience for horror and bring it to the attention of members of the horror community who may not be aware of it.

This is an academic book and the writing reflects that. Also, because Brooks is wide-ranging in the texts she covers, including some titles that may be more familiar to people in the horror community and some that may be more familiar to black feminist literary critics and readers, it requires some patience and work to read it through and understand (it is not easy to read literary criticism even if you are familiar with the texts being discussed). It is worth the effort to read this, as a continued effort is made for the horror community to grow as an inclusive space. This is an original and thoughtful exploration of a topic that has received little attention; it is the only book I have been able to find that focuses critically on the work of black women writers of horror fiction, and belongs in the collection of any academic library, although I hope it will find a much wider audience. Very much recommended.

Participate in the African-American Read-In With Zombie Michele Lee and MonsterLibrarian.com!

As you probably know, February is Black History Month in the United States. To honor that, MonsterLibrarian.com brings you a message from Zombie Michele Lee announcing a project she’ll be spearheading this month. We hope you’ll participate!

Hi, this is Zombie Michele with a special announcement. In honor of Black History Month I’ll be hosting Monster Librarian’s first (online) African American Read In and you are enthusiastically invited to join in!

 

How to join: February 6th, 7th & 8th join us online on Twitter ( we’ll be using the hashtag #MLAAReadIn), on Facebook or here at Musings of the Monster Librarian.

 

All you have to do is read a book (or two or a dozen) written by an African American writer (stay tuned for a list, if you don’t know where to start) and tell me on those sites, or email me at zombiemicheleATgmailDOTcom (with spam guards removed) what book you’re reading. We’d love to hear what you think of it as well, but all we require for reporting is which books were read.

 

I picked a three day scope so that you have plenty of time to join in. There is no minimum number of books you have to read. There is no genre you have to stick to (though being a speculative fiction site we’ll be focusing on science fiction, fantasy, horror, mystery and romance authors). Read as little or as much as you like of what you like!

 

I’ll do all the heavy lifting (aka, filling out the reports to make this event official). You just have to read!

 

To help you out, Zombie Michele has hunted down some booklists of reading material you can use to get started below:

YA/Adult List from the event site- http://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Involved/Action/AARI/Young_Adults_Adults.pdf

Young Children’s List from the event site- http://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Involved/Action/AARI/Young_Children.pdf

A book list from the Cincinnati Libraryhttp://www.cincinnatilibrary.org/booklists/?id=africanamericanwriters

 

And our own (not exhaustive) list of African American speculative fiction books. Many of these books are available digitally, so even if you’re a last minute joiner there’s no problem. Just download a book and jump in!

N.K. Jemisin

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (Inheritance Trilogy #1)

The Broken Kingdoms (Inheritance Trilogy #2)

The Kingdom of the Gods (Inheritance Trilogy #3)

 

David Anthony Durham

Acadia: The War with the Mein (Acadia #1)

The Other Lands (Acadia #2)

The Sacred Band (Acadia #3)

 

Octavia Butler

Parable of the Sower

Kindred

Fledgling

Dawn (Xenogenisis #1)

Adulthood Rites (Xenogenesis #2)

Imago (Xenogenesis #3)

Lilith’s Brood

Parable of the Talents

Wild Seed

Seed to Harvest

Mind of My Mind

Clay’s Ark

Bloodchild and other Stories

Patternmaster

Survivor

 

Samuel R. Delany

Times Square Red, Times Square Blue

Babel-17

Tales of Neveryon

Dhalgren

Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand

Trouble on Triton

Nova

The Einstein Intersection

Hogg: A Novel

Atlantis: Three Tales

Dark Reflections

Aye, and Gomorrah: And Other Stories

Return to Neveryon

Flight from Neveryon

The Fall of the Towers

Distant Stars

The Jewels of Aptor

The Ballad of Beta 2

City of a Thousand Suns

The Mad Man

Bread & Wine: An Erotic Tale of New York

They Fly At Ciron

 

Steve Barnes

The Cestus Deception (Star Wars: Clone Wars novel)

Beowulf’s children

Great Sky Woman: A Novel

Dream Park

The Barsoom Project

Casanegra: A Tennyson Hardwick Novel

Shadow Valley

Zulu Heart

Charisma

Lion’s Blood

Far Beyond the Stars (Star Trek Deep Space Nine)

Saturn’s Race

The Kundalini Equation

The Decent of the Anansi

Firedance

Assassin and other stories

Gorgon Child

Iron Shadows

 

Tananarive Due

My Soul to Take

The Good House

Blood Colony

My Soul to Keep

The Between

The Living Blood

Joplin’s Ghost

 

 

L.A. Banks

Shadow Walker (Neteru Academy)

Finders Keepers (Dark Avengers)

Loser’s Weepers (Dark Advengers)

Death’s Excellent Vacation (contributor)

My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding (contributor)

Love at First Bite (contributor)

Minion (Vampire Huntress)

Stroke of Midnight

The Thirteenth (Vampire huntress)

Vegas Bites (contributor)

The Awakening (Vampire Huntress)

The Wicked (Vampire Huntress)

The Hunted (Vampire Huntress)

The Forsaken (Vampire huntress)

The Ancestors

Bad Blood (Crimson Moon #1)

Bite the Bullet (Crimson Moon #2)

Undead on Arrival (Crimson Moon #3)

Cursed to Death (Crimson Moon #4)

Never Cry Werewolf (Crimson Moon)

The Bitten (Vampire Huntress)

The Darkness (Vampire Huntress)

The Forbidden (Vampire Huntress)

The Cursed (Vampire Huntress)

The Damned (Vampire Huntress)

The Shadows (Vampire Huntress)

L.A. Banks’ Vampire Huntress: Dawn and Darkness

L.A. Banks’ Vampire Huntress: The Hidden Darkness

Creepin’

Minion

Voices from the Other Side: Dark Dreams II (Contributor)

 

Timothy N. Stelly, Sr

Human Trial

Human Trial II: Adam’s War

 

Brandon Massey

Covenant

Don’t Ever Tell

The Ancestors

The Other Brother

Vicious

Cornered

Thunderland

Dark Dreams (contributor)

Voices From the Other Side: Dark Dreams II (contributor)

Whispers in the Night: Dark Dreams III (contributor)

Within the Shadows

Dark Corner

Twisted Tales

 

L.R. Giles

The Darkness Kept

The Serpent and the Stallion

Live Again

Trick Shot (a short story)

Lover’s Spat (a short story)

The Track (a short story)

Doc Damage’s Very Bad Day (a short story)

Southern Hospitality (a short story)

Wilson’s Pawn & Loan (a short story)

Power and Purpose (a short story)

The Shadows Gallery

 

Walter Mosley

All I Did was Shoot My Man

When the Thrill is Gone

The Long Fall

Known to Evil

The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey

Devil in a Blue Dress

Stories: All-New Tales

Killin Jihnny Fry

Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned

Little Scarlet

White Butterfly

Blonde Faith

Black Betty

Cinnamon Kiss

A Red Death

47

A Little Yellow Dog

Six Easy Pieces

Diablerie

The Man in My Basement

Fearless Jones

The Tempest Tales

Fear Itself

Fortunate Son

Bad Boy Brawly Brown

Walkin’ the Dog

R L’s Dream

Gone Fishin’

Blue Light

The Wave

Manhattan Karma

 

Charles Saunders

Imaro

Imora II: The Quest for Cush

The Trail of Buhu (Imaro III)

 

R.A. Baker

Rayna of Nightwind (Taren)

 

Nalo Hopkinson

So Long Been Dreaming: Postcolonial Science Fiction & Fantasy

Midnight Robber

The Salt Roads

Brown Girl in the Ring

The New Moon’s Arms

Skin Folk

The Chaos

Mojo: Conjure Stories

Whispers from the Cotton Tree Root: Caribbean Fabulist Fiction

 

Chesya Burke

Dark Faith (contributor)

Let’s Play White

Whispers in the Night: Dark Dreams III (contributor)

Voices From the Other Side: Dark Dreams II (contributor)

Dark Dreams (contributor)

 

Maurice Broaddus

Beauty Has Her Way

Dark Futures: Tales of Dystopian SF (contributor)

Dark Faith (editor)

Orgy of Souls

King Maker (Knights of Breton Court #1)

King’s Justice (Knights of Breton Court #2)

King’s War (Knights of Breton Court #3)

Apexology: Science Fiction and Fantasy (contributor)

Whispers in the Night: Dark Dreams III (contributor)

Harlan County Horrors (contributor)

Devil’s Marionette

 

Wrath James White

Succulent Prey

The Resurrectionist

Population Zero

The Book of a Thousand Sins

Yaccub’s Curse

 

John M. Faucette

Crown of Infinity

Siege of Earth

The Warriors of Terra

The Age of Ruin

 

Linda Addison

Animated Objects

Consumed, Reduced to Beautiful Grey Ashes

Being Full of Light, Insubstantial

How to Recognize A Demon Has Become Your Friend

 

Kevin Grevioux

New Warriors (Marvel Comics)

ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction

Adam: Legend of the Blue Marvel

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

DevaShard: at first light

 

Andrea Hairston

Mindscape

Redwood and Wildfire

 

Nisi Shawl

 

Sheree Thomas

Anansi

Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora (editor)

Dark Matter: Reading the Bones (editor)

 

Nnedi Okorafor

Who Fears Death

Zahrah the Windseeker (YA)

The Shadow Speaker (YA)

Long Juju Man (YA)

Akata Witch (YA)

Iridessa and the Secret of the Never Mine (YA)

 

Seressia Glass

Vegas Bites (contributor)

Shadow Blade

Shadow Fall

Shadow Chase

Dream of Shadows