“As the month of October winds down, I want to talk about Black Speculative Fiction Month. It was born in 2013, when indie authors Milton Davis and Balogun Ojetade were discussing the Alien Encounters event with the Program Coordinator at the Auburn Avenue Research Library. The concept blossomed into reality the next day…” Read more here: A Small Gang of Authors: Black Speculative Fiction Month by Ruth de Jauregui.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords
Please follow and like us:
3 replies on “Reblog: Black Speculative Fiction Month”
Hi-ya. I read the article, but because I’m not a Google+ member (and don’t wanta be) I couldn’t comment there. Anyhow, it’s appalling that it took the publishing world so long to get onboard. I do GET that black readers… especially children… want to see (and should see!) characters in books (and movies, TV, etc) that look like them and have similar experiences. On the other hand, there are black characters in my books, but that’s because there are black people in my life, and I don’t make a big deal about it. It’s just natural. But to me, one of the greatest compliments ever paid to me about my writing was what my daughter-in-law, who happens to be black, told me after reading my first novel. She related to the characters so well, she thought they were all black at first. THAT’S what I want to hear. People are people, and we all share so many commonalities, skin color shouldn’t matter.
Thank you so much for checking out the article. I’m sorry you weren’t able to leave a comment there, but I’m so grateful you left one here. I’ll let the author know.
Unfortunately, until the world becomes more accepting of diversity- until everyone realizes “it’s just natural”, representation in fiction will be an issue. It’s not just about the color of people skin, it’s also about culture and acceptance. It’s also good to realize that characters can be written in ways that appeal to a wide audience, as opposed to expecting a wide audience to accept status quo characters because that’s the way it’s always been done. I think it’s great that your books are diverse because your life is diverse.
Thank you so much for your words. I’m still working on my first novel and it’s filled with diverse characters because that’s the world I live in.
Like most speculative fiction fans and despite working in the business (nonfiction in the pre-ebook era), I was pretty oblivious to the resistance to Black authors and books featuring Black (and other POC) characters until my own son needed a book to read for his language arts (aka English) class. He was resistant to reading anyway, but finally took Tunnel in the Sky after I told him the main character is Black.
That set me on this journey and the establishment of my book website. There is still so much to do.
Congratulations on your book!