#pridecreators: 10 LGBTQIA creators of color in SFF


To celebrate Pride Month, I am highlighting ten LGBTQIA creators of color in the field of SFF.  I ask those of you who would like to participate, to highlight your favorite LGBTQIA creators using the hashtag #pridecreators

Ten LGBTQIA creators of color (order is arbitrary!)

1. Nalo Hopkinson has just created the Lemonade Award to “to recognize five people and groups who in the previous year have done something that makes positive change in science fiction community.” Check out the Strange Horizons article for more information on how to help. Strange Horizons has also recently hosted a Nalo Hopkinson special with short story story, podcast, and roundtable. Nalo has co-edited People of Color Destroy Science Fiction.

2. Alyssa Wong (@crashwong) won the Nebula award this year with her story “Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers” in Queers Destroy Horror special issue of Nightmare Magazine. Alyssa has a new story in Uncanny Magazine, “You’ll Surely Drown Here if you Stay.” Check out this page for information on how to support Alyssa’s work.

3. Na’amen Gobert Tilahun (@naamenism) has a new novel out: The Root,  the first in his The Wrath & Athenaeum trilogy. The Root just came out from Night Shade Books. Na’amen has a column at John Scalzi’s The Big Idea, talking about identity, race, inclusion, and the new novel.

4. Lisa M. Bradley  (@cafenowhere) is a poet and writer whose debut collection, The Haunted Girl, is available from Aqueduct Press. For a quick taste of Lisa’s work, check out “Aboard the Transport Tesoro“, a poem in Uncanny Magazine. Lisa has written many wonderful longer poems, including “Una Canción de Keys” in Strange Horizons and we come together we fall apart, in Stone Telling and in Here, We Cross, a collection of queer and genderfluid poetry from Stone Telling (disclaimer: I edited the collection).

5. S. Qiouyi Lu (@sqiouyilu) has two wonderful recent poems in inkscrawl: Consistencies and Particularities. A recent translation by S. Qiouyi Lu and Ken Liu (“Chimera”, by Gu Shi) is available at Clarkesworld. They also have a great Ace Author Spotlight on The Pack of Aces. You can find out how to support S. Qiouyi Lu on this page (yes, they have a Patreon!).

6. Amal El-Mohtar  (@tithenai) – is a Nebula nominee this year with “Madeleine,” included in Queers Destroy SF special issue from Lightspeed. In this issue you can also read a series of brilliant essays by the LGBTQIA members of the speculative fiction community; many of the essays are by writers of color. For more Amal’s work, check out her collection The Honey Month, with stories and poems about different flavors of honey. Amal will be the Guest of Honor at the next Wiscon.

7. Henry Lien (@henrylienauthor)’s composition, choreography, and performance of “Radio SFWA” was a highlight of 2016 Nebula Awards. You can listen to the song on Youtube, and read about it on Henry’s website. I loved his story “Bilingual” in March 2015 issue of Fantasy and Science Fiction.

8. For a taste of Carmen Maria Machado‘s (@carmenmmachado) gorgeous short fiction, try the Nebula and Shirley Jackson Award nominated “The Husband Stitch,” “Descent” in Nightmare Magazine, and “Help me Follow my Sister into the Land of the Dead,” in Lightspeed. Carmen Maria Machado’s debut fiction collection, Her Body and Other Parties, is forthcoming from Graywolf Press next year.

9. Craig Laurance Gidney (@etherealladhas a short fiction collection Skin Deep Magic (Rebel Satori PressAmazon), which seems to have flown under the radar for a lot of people. It is really cool and worth your attention!

10. M. Sereno (@likhain) is a wonderful artist and poet. Her portfolio is available at Artstation. For a taste of Mia’s written work, check out these poems: Brown woman at Safety Beach, Victoria, in June (Uncanny Magazine); Seeds (Strange Horizons); Adarna (Strange Horizons); The Exile, i (Stone Telling). Mia has a Patreon, where she shares work in progress.

M. Sereno. Radiance. Retribution
M. Sereno. Radiance. Retribution