How Long ‘Til Black Futures Month? by N. K. Jemisin was a collection that arose from one of the threads in my reading. I’ve been wanting to read her work for a while now, though, particularly since she is a black woman reading all the awards in genres that regularly imagine a future without black people or people of color at all. I’m a sci-fi nerd, mostly in the visual sphere, though: films, television series, etc. I rarely get to do pleasure reading these days – mostly reading books that are directly related to my teaching practice in one way or another – so I haven’t been able to read a short story collection in way too long.
This was a delight that also, unexpectedly, opened me up to writing some short fiction of my own.
Jemisin in the introduction wrote:
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In reading that, I thought of how much I love to find sci-fi with strong women characters, particularly black or Latinx women. I’m a writer who has dabbled in fiction; why don’t I write some, what have I internalized that has allowed me to critique the absence of people like me and yet not create something to fill the gap?
I say, forget that.
So, since finishing the book, I’ve written two flash fiction pieces and outlined a longer short story. I’ve written a few ideas for additional pieces I think I could see to fruition with some time. I have my eyes set on applying to Viable Paradise. Applications are due by June 1 so I have time to finish a few short stories, edit, send them out into the world to see how they land.
How Long ‘Til Black Futures Month? Maybe it’s coming soon and maybe I’m a part of it.
I have a few collections on my list for sci-fi by poc and radical visioning texts, which I think fit with the trend that I’ve been exploring of revolutionary mothering, because mothering is, of course, a project in creation, in visioning a future and being a part of nurturing that future.
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