There is so much going on in the world right now. The critical movement of Black Lives Matter. The coronavirus that still threatens our most vulnerable and even the healthy. I’m not the voice to speak about those issues directly. I’m going to talk about writing and how fantasy fits into our lives and the pressing issues of today.
I’m participating in a write-a-thon with Clarion West. So far I’ve mostly been meeting my goals, but it’s great to have outside pressure and they have some really neat programs. I’ve gone to a writing workshop there before (and got to meet one of my favorite authors, Marie Brennan). They are dedicated to improving diversity in speculative fiction by offering scholarships for attending classes to people in marginalized groups. See the end for how you can support that mission.
Speculative fiction (fantasy, science fiction, horror, magic realism) is the imagination of humankind. Broadening that imagination is both more entertaining and important for giving us new ways of thinking about the world.
If all you do is look at fantasy from the outside, you may see Tolkien and Martin and think that it is all white men. I have a particular view towards how we talk about diversity: if we exclusively talk about the lack of people of color and women in a field, we are harming those who are already in the field. Instead, I offer that we should promote the people of color and women who are already making speculative fiction richer in perspective and imagination, encouraging a new generation to see it as a possibility. If all you have experienced is discussions about the lack, then be prepared: you’ve missed some awesome authors. Authors who may reawaken a love for the genre in you if it has gone dormant.
Here are some of my favorite authors who are people of color:
- N.K. Jemisin: Well known for The Broken Earth trilogy that rightfully won just so, so many awards and broke my heart in the best of ways. She is one of the best worldbuilders out there, if not the best. Her magic and social systems are so fascinating and her characters are so real. I enjoyed reading her earlier work too.
- Zen Cho: I really love her short stories, and her novels are a lot of fun too. I first read The Terracotta Bride and just could not stop thinking about it. If that’s not for you, try her novels for a more happy story.
- Tomi Adeyemi: I enjoyed her books, particular the first one in the series, Children of Blood and Bone. I hope to see her develop further as an author and will be very interested in seeing what she decides to do with her next series after the current is done.
- Neal Shusterman: I don’t read much SciFi, but I picked up Scythe by chance and absolutely loved it. I just keep thinking about it over and over in my head, thinking about right and wrong and wondering what I would do in that situation because it could conceivably happen (at least partially). Perfect SciFi.
- Julie C Dao: I’ll be honest, I’m only just starting Forest of a Thousand Lanterns, but based on the first chapter, I’m loving it so far.
- Silvia Moreno-Garcia: I’m about halfway through God of Jade and Shadow. I’m not generally a big fan of contemporary setting fiction (albeit this is historical in the 20th century, not exactly modern day), but the mythology come to life is really fascinating. I’m tired of Roman and Norse mythological retellings, so it’s great to see a different source.
Even though historically women have often been excluded from recognition in the genre (I say recognition because women were excluded from anthologies and even famous female authors like McCaffrey and Le Guin sometimes get excluded from lists of great older fiction despite being huge forces heavily inspiring later generations), I didn’t include any white women on this list. If you aren’t reading women (such as Marie Brennan who I mentioned earlier), then you just aren’t really reading fantasy right now. It’s not hard to find them. Heck, it’s not hard to find the authors I listed above. Yes, women are overclassified into YA, which might limit reach to adults, but I don’t care how old you are, you should be reading some of that YA. It’s great.
There’s also great queer authors, great Jewish authors, and great foreign authors being translated into English. My apologies for any authors of color I missed on this list that I’ve loved but just not read the bio and all the authors on my to-read list that I just haven’t gotten to.
Go out and read more guides with a broader experience to pull from. I’m ramping up my reading in all directions (thank you to King County library and the Libby app, I couldn’t do this otherwise. I’ll buy the best of what I read as possible.) and will be looking at books on those lists.
Circling back to Clarion West, I’m expecting to finish my next novel over the course of the write-a-thon. If you like the mission, please feel free to hop over there and donate. You can do so by supporting authors signed up for the write-a-thon. That includes me, but feel free to pick out a different writer if you want. Take a look here. Learn more about them here.
Thanks so much for reading. Stay safe and for those who have extra time at home right now, go read some of those amazing authors of color.
Alia