Recommend some non-straight/white/male/anglo SFF anthologies

When looking for new speculative fiction by or about people other than the generally over-represented straight, able-bodied, white, anglophone, rich, cis male, my search began with looking at themed anthologies in the area. Stories I liked, I looked for more by the authors; other magazines an anthologies they were in, novels by them, etc. By way of the beginnings of a reading list for others trying to do the same thing, I'll try to compile here a list of anthologies that specifically cater to SF/F fiction and/or criticism by, for or about women, quiltbag, people of color, etc. This is a very incomplete list; I'll add more as and when suggestions or corrections are made in the comments, via Twitter or email (the more intersectional the better).

• Jack Dann, Wandering Stars: an anthology of Jewish fantasy and science fiction. Harper, 1974. (Also More Wandering Stars, 1981)
• Pamela Sargent, Women of Wonder: Science Fiction Stories by Women About Women. Random House, 1974. (Also More Women of Wonder, 1976 and The New Women of Wonder, 1978.)
• Virginia Kidd, Millennial Women. Delacorte Press, 1978.
• Camilla Decarnin, Eric Garber and Lyn Paleo, Worlds Apart: An Anthology of Lesbian and Gay Science Fiction and Fantasy. Alyson Publications, 1986.
• Janrae Frank, Jean Stein and Forrest J Ackerman, New Eves: Science Fiction about the Extraordinary Women of Today and Tomorrow. Longmeadow Press, 1984.
• Pamela Sargent, Women of Wonder, the Classic Years: Science Fiction by Women from the 1940s to the 1970s. Mariner, 1995.
• Pamela Sargent, Women of Wonder, The Contemporary Years: Science Fiction by Women from the 1970s to the 1990s. Mariner, 1995.
• Eric Garber and Jewelle Gomez, Swords of the Rainbow: Gay and Lesbian Fantasy Adventures. Alyson Publications, 1996.
• Lawrence Shimel, Things Invisible to See: Gay and Lesbian Tales of Magic Realism. Circlet Press, 1998.
• Helen Merrick and Tess Williams, Women of Other Worlds: Excursions Through Science Fiction and Feminism. University of Western Australia Press, 1999.
• Debbie Notkin, Flying Cups & Saucers: Gender Explorations In Science Fiction & Fantasy. Edgewood Press, 1999.
• Nicola Griffith, Bending The Landscape: Science Fiction v. 1: Original Gay and Lesbian Writing. Overlook Press, 2000. 
• Lee Martindale, Such A Pretty Face. Meisha Merlin, 2000.
• Sheree R. Thomas and Martin Simmons, Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora. Warner Books, 2000.
• Connie Willis and Sheila Williams, A Woman's Liberation: A Choice of Futures by and about Women. Warner Books, 2001.
• Andrea Bell and Yolanda Molina Gavilan, Cosmos Latinos: An Anthology of Science Fiction from Latin America and Spain. Wesleyan University Press, 2003.
• Lucy Sussex and Judith Buckrich, She's Fantastical: The First Anthology of Australian Women's Speculative Fiction, Magical Realism, and Fantasy. Sybylla Co-operative Press, 2003.
• Nalo Hopkinson and Uppinder Mehan, So Long Been Dreaming: Postcolonial visions of the future. Arsenal Pulp Press, 2004.
• Sheree R. Thomas, Dark Matter: Reading the Bones. Aspect, 2004.
• Richard Labonte and Lawrence Schimel, The Future is Queer. Arsenal Pulp Press, 2007.
• Justine Larbalestier, Daughters of Earth: Feminist Science Fiction in the Twentieth Century. Wesleyan University Press, 2006.
• Gene van Troyer and Grania Davis, Speculative Japan: Outstanding Tales of Japanese Science Fiction and Fantasy. Kurodahan Press, 2007. (See also Speculative Japan 2: The Man Who Watched the Sea, 2011 and Speculative Japan 3: Silver Bullet, 2012.) 
• Muhammad Aurangzeb Ahmad and Ahmed A. Khan, A Mosque Among the Stars. ZC Books, 2008. 
• Lynne Jamneck, Periphery: Erotic Lesbian Futures. Lethe Press, 2008.
• Catherine Lundoff, Haunted Hearths and Sapphic Shades. Lethe Press, 2008.
• Paolo Chikiamko, Ruin and Resolve: Pinoy SF for Charity. Rocket Kapre Books, 2009.
• Lavie Tidhar, The Apex Book of World SF. Apex Publications, 2009, and Apex Book of World SF 2, 2012 (ABWSF 3 forthcoming 2014).
• Connie Wilkins, Time Well Bent: Queer Alternative Histories. Lethe Press, 2009.
• Derwin Mak and Eric Choi, The Dragon and the Stars. DAW Books, 2010.
• JoSelle Vanderhooft, Steam-Powered: Steampunk Lesbian Stories. Torquere Press, 2010. (Also Steam-Powered 2, 2011)
• Paolo Chikiamko, Alternative Alamat: Stories Inspired by Philippine Mythology. Rocket Kapre Books/Flipside, 2011. 
• Kay T. Holt and Bart R Leib, Fat Girl in a Strange Land. Crossed Genres Publications, 2011.
• Catherine Lundoff and JoSelle Vanderhooft, Hellebore and Rue: Tales of Queer Women and Magic. Lethe Press, 2011.
• Lee Martindale, Ladies of Trade Town. Harphaven, 2011.
• Helen Merrick, The Secret Feminist Cabal. Aqueduct Press, 2011.
• Tobias S. Buckell and Joe Monti, Diverse Energies. Tu Books, 2012.
• Grace Dillon, Walking the Clouds: An Anthology of Indigenous Science Fiction. University of Arizona Press, 2012.
• Kay T. Holt, Winter Well: Speculative Novellas About Older Women. Crossed Genres Publications, 2013.
• Eduardo Jimenez Mayo and Chris N. Brown, Three Messages and a Warning: Contemporary Mexican Short Stories of the Fantastic. Small Beer Press, 2012.
• Michael M Jones, Scheherazade's Facade. Circlet Press, 2012.
• Hannah Kate, Wolf-Girls: Dark Tales of Teeth, Claws and Lycogyny. Hic Dragones, 2012.
• Jason Erik Lundberg, Fish Eats Lion: New Singaporean Speculative Fiction. Math Paper Press, 2012.
• Nick Mamatas and Masumi Washington, The Future is Japanese. VIZ Media, 2012.
• Brit Mandelo, Beyond Binary: Genderqueer and Sexually Fluid Speculative Fiction. Lethe Press, 2012.
• Alicia McCalla, Possibilities. ffpincolor books, 2012.
• Anil Menon and Vandana Singh, Breaking the Bow: Speculative Fiction Inspired by the Ramayana. Zubaan Books, 2012.
• Radcliffe and Stacia Seaman, Women of the Dark Streets: Lesbian Paranormal. Bold Strokes Books, 2012.
• Charles Tan, Lauriat: A Filipino-Chinese Speculative Fiction Anthology. Lethe Press, 2012.
• J.Y. Yang and Joyce Chng, The Ayam Curtain. Math Paper Press, 2012.
• Athena Andreadis and Kay Holt, The Other Half of the Sky. Candlemark and Gleam, 2013.
• Josie Brown, Daughters of Icarus: New Feminist Science Fiction and Fantasy. Pink Narcissus Press, 2013.
• Milton Davis and Balogun Ojetade, Steamfunk! MVMedia, 2013.
• Milton Davis and Balogun Ojetade, Ki-Khanga: The Anthology. MVmedia, 2013.
• Ivor W. Hartmann, AfroSF: Science Fiction by African Writers. Storytime, 2013.
• Nisi Shawl, Bloodchildren: Stories by the Octavia E. Butler Scholars. Carl Brandon Society, 2013.

Annual anthologies:

• Heiresses of Russ (various editors). Lethe Press, 2011-. Annual anthology of best lesbian speculative fiction from previous year.
• cf. Wilde Tales (annual anthology of gay SFF).
• Dean Francis Alfar and Nikki Alfar, Philippine Speculative Fiction. Kestrel. 2005-.
• Sword and Sorceress
• Warrior Wisewoman

Magazines/Journals:

• Expanded Horizons: http://expandedhorizons.net/magazine/
• Femspec: http://www.femspec.org/
• Icarus: The Magazine of Gay Speculative Fiction: http://lethepressbooks.com/icarus.htm
• Indian SF: http://indiansf.wordpress.com/
• International Speculative Fiction: http://internationalsf.wordpress.com/
• Jungle Jim: http://www.junglejim.org/
• Luna Station Quarterly: http://lunastationquarterly.com/

 Publishers:

• Crossed Genres Publications (multiple themes, but all books and magazine also promote inclusiveness and underrepresented groups)
• Dagan Books (ditto)

FeministSF and IWD

As most people who have cause to interact with me over fiction or reviews at TFF know already, I'm running a little behind on everything at the moment, so writing this post only 8 days after International Women's Day is actually slightly ahead of the curve, by this month's standards...

A while ago I found lying around a few copies of a flyer that we made to call for stories for the Feminist Science Fiction themed issue of TFF (published as TFF 2010.19). We did have better flyers, which I think we sent to WisCon 2009 and elsewhere, but this is the only one I apparently still have copies of:

(Click through for a readable version of the text.)

My first thought when I looked at this, nearly four years later, was "Why am I apologising for the word 'feminism' in there?" Maybe that's a bit strong—I just wanted to make it clear that a "feminist SF" issue didn't have to be only stories about and by women—but I think I was a bit sensitive and defensive about the topic at the time. A female friend at the time had recently said something to me like, "I don't think you mean feminist; you mean feminine. Feminism did great things in the 1960s, but we don't need it any more, do we?" (While obviously I disagree with that, and the introduction to that feminist issue in part answered that question, I also don't want to start preaching to women about what feminism should or shouldn't mean for them.)

I'm also not sure I entirely agree with my formulation in that call for submissions that all speculative fiction that addresses issues of sex, gender, sexuality and sexual identity falls under the category of feminist. On the one hand, there are plenty of themes within the gender/sexuality area that are not in themselves specifically feminist (masculinity, m/m queer stories, etc.), so my attempt at a broad church was maybe a bit too woolly. On the other, the most interesting feminist writing is that which is properly intersectional, which recognises that male privilege and discrimination against women do not exist in a vacuum, but intersect significantly with racism, trans- and homophobia, classism, linguistic dynamics, cultural imperialism, colonial privilege and ableism. So yes, all of those things belong in feminist science fiction.

There will never come a time when feminist science fiction is not welcome at The Future Fire.

Although the CFS for the themed issue was from several years ago, and in some ways it served its function which was to raise awareness of the fact that we're very interested in including more fiction from a feminist perspective and featuring a more equitable balance of male and female authors, I would like to end this IWD post with a call for submissions—or a call to arms—of sorts: we'd love to receive more feminist speculative fiction, especially intersectional feminist stories, in TFF. Come up with stories that challenge not only one but several hierarchies; write stories that show in a radical light the full variety and beauty of the world, rather than just the straight, white, anglo males who fill the Masterworks and Mammoths of our genre; send us stories that are militant, angry, amazing, pushy, hilarious, challenging, mind-blowing, astonishing, useful, beautiful, feminist, postcolonial, intersectional and new.

We See a Different Frontier: ToC

We're delighted to be able to announce the beautiful table of contents for the We See a Different Frontier anthology of colonialism-themed speculative fiction co-edited by Fabio Fernandes. We're really looking forward this hitting the bookshelves at the beginning of July 2013.

• Preface by Aliette de Bodard
• Introduction by Fabio Fernandes
• The Arrangement of Their Parts, Shweta Narayan
• Pancho Villa’s Flying Circus, Ernest Hogan
• Them Ships, Silvia Moreno-Garcia
• Old Domes, J.Y. Yang
• A Bridge of Words, Dinesh Rao
• The Gambiarra Effect, Fabio Fernandes ^*
• Droplet, Rahul Kanakia
• Lotus, Joyce Chng
• Dark Continents, Lavie Tidhar
• A Heap of Broken Images, Sunny Moraine
• Fleet, Sandra McDonald
• Remembering Turinam, N.A. Ratnayake
• Vector, Benjanun Sriduangkaew
• I Stole the D.C.’s Eyeglass, Sofia Samatar
• Forests of the Night, Gabriel Murray
• What Really Happened in Ficandula, Rochita Loenen-Ruiz
• Critical afterword by Ekaterina Sedia ^*

Why I am nominating Requires Hate for best fan writer Hugo

The anonymous author of the blog Requires Only That You Hate (generally known by her Twitter handle @requireshate or "RH") writes regular reviews, opinion pieces, polemics and even recommendations in the field of science fiction/fantasy books, stories, film, anime, and the like. As anyone who reads the blog knows (and many people do) RH doesn't pull any punches when it comes to attacks against what she perceives as bigotry, privilege and hypocrisy. There are those who dislike the way she writes and some of the things she says, which is why I want to say a few words here about why I am joining a group of people (as suggested by Aliette de Bodard and others on Twitter) in nominating her for the best fan writer Hugo category this year.

1. Requires Only That You Hate contains great writing. RH is a sensitive and discriminating reviewer, is passionate and articulate and knows genre well. Her commentary is frequently entertaining as well as informative, and always well-informed, strongly argued, and thoughtful.
2. The themes addressed by RH are relevant and important to all of genre. She particularly focuses on works that are inclusive (or criticises those that are not) in terms of gender, race, sexuality/identity, and the respectful representation of such. The underrepresentation of women, non-whites/non-anglos, queer and disabled voices in mainstream speculative fiction is one of the key issues that we aim to address in TFF as well, so obviously I think this is very important.
3. RH's blog is as full of positive reviews and strong recommendations as it is of lambasting and slating the many problems in genre and its fandoms. She has a good eye for the gems in the midden, and is sincere and generous with her time and effort. Several of her recmmendations have improved my reading list considerably over the last couple of years.
4. Obviously RH is not afraid of criticism and controversy (although I don't think she actively courts either), and is perfectly willing to use inflammatory rhetoric to make a point about objectionable or offensive works, artists or commenters. Some people have been upset by this, but I think it's incredibly important that she spares neither the luminaries of the genre nor the lowliest fan from a critical eye. One doesn't need always to agree with her criticisms to recognise that it's important to be paying attention to these kinds of problem she highlights, such as misogyny, homophobia, colonialism, rape culture, anglophone essentialism and prejudice apologism.
5. To those who object to RH's tone or occasional violent rhetoric (she happily bandies about words such as "misandry", "killallmen" and "feminazgul") I say only this: if a person sees discrimination and real harm being committed, ignored and defended by people who are respected in our genres, she has a right to be angry. That is no reason not to listen to what she has to say. You may still disagree with it, but have the basic decency and intellectual honesty to disagree with the content, not the tone.
6. I can't think of another blog or venue for critical and opinion writing in SF&F that is more essential to the ongoing health of the genre, and she deserves recognition for that.

If you would like to nominate RH or someone else in this or any other category in this year's Hugos, and are elligible to do so through your membership of Chicon, Lonestarcon or Loncon (and you have until Jan 31 to sign up if you want to be), you can do so via the 2013 Hugo nomination ballot.

Outlaw Bodies blog carnival redux

Just before the release of the Outlaw Bodies anthology (paperback: Amzn | UK |  B&N | Powell's | Foyles | BookDepo etc.; e-book: Wizard's Tower | Amzn | UK) a few weeks ago, we began a blog carnival, logging a series of promotional guest posts and also trying to keep track of what reviews had shown up so far. The anthology has been available from Amazon and other bookstores for just over a month now, and it has been well received as far as I can tell. If you don't have a copy yet, and perhaps you have some gift tokens you need to spend (or even a last minute present to buy for the e-reader in your life), we'll share here a few more posts from people talking about the themes involved and reasons you should read this anthology.

• Lori Selke, Frankenstein and Me (guest post at the Wordsmith's Forge)
• M. Svairini interviewed by Vylar Kaftan
• Vylar Kaftan interviewed by Anna Caro
• Lori Selke, Outlaw Bodies in the News (guest post at Dennis R. Upkins)
• Anna Caro interviewed by Emily Capettini (coming soon)
• Emily Capettini Interviewed by Fabio Fernandes (coming soon)

New Issue: 2012:25 (Outlaw Bodies)

"The repossession by women of our bodies will bring far more essential change to human society than the seizing of the means of production by workers."
--Adrienne Rich

Issue 2012.25

• ‘Winds: NW 20 km/hr’, Stacy Sinclair (artwork by Rachel H. White)
• ‘The Remaker’, Fabio Fernandes (artwork by Robin E. Kaplan)
• ‘Elmer Bank’, Emily Capettini (artwork by Laura-Anca Adascalitei)
• ‘Her Bones, Those of the Dead’, Tracie Welser (artwork by Miranda Jean)
• ‘Millie’, Anna Caro (artwork by Rhiannon Rasmussen-Silverstein)
• ‘Good Form’, Jo Thomas (artwork by Miguel Santos)

Outlaw Bodies is an anthology published by our parent imprint Futurefire.net Publishing and guest co-edited by Lori Selke.
Outlaw Bodies is available from the usual sellers, including:

• Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk
• Wizard's Tower Books (e-book)
• Lulu.com

Review copies available on request.

Guest post: The Clothes Our Bodies Wear

by Anna Caro

In anticipation of a new job, I went on a shopping expedition the other week. The results included three pairs of black trousers, officially women’s but as unisex looking as these things get really, which I needed to have taken up, two shirts and a knitted vest (men’s) and a dress, striped at the top with a dark skirt. A successful, if expensive, haul.

It’s always been this way for me, wearing clothing commonly identified with almost the full range of the gender spectrum. As a small child I fluctuated with apparent ease between the smocked, floral dresses my grandmother made, and my favourite brown corduroy dungarees. Even as a teenager, when I wouldn’t have dared shop for men’s clothes, I still scored some items from a batch donated to my brother by a member of his archery club.

Guest Post: Bodies in Utopia, Bodies in Space

This blog deals primarily in speculations about the future of sex, gender, and society. So does the new publication by The Future Fire, the Outlaw Bodies anthology co-edited by Lori Selke.

The book focuses on characters who are yearning for something more, some way out of the binary that is gender, the divide between the flesh and the digital, the disparities and inequalities that result from those dichotomies, and dares the reader to dream of different spaces, of Other spaces.

This collection points to the body in a very specific way: to ask about its limitations and push beyond them.

Guest post: Outlaw Bodies: Furries

by Kyell Gold

If you’ve been on the Internet in the last five years, you probably know about furries—or think you do. (Hint: It’s not just people who wear costumes.) Furries have been around for twenty years, and the community they’ve built in that time has become one of the more open and welcoming to all kinds of people who often can’t find a home in mainstream society. Early on, for reasons that are still debated in the community, the LGBT presence in the fandom was very strong. That openness has persisted to the present day and grown even wider. Before civil unions were even legal, gay couples held hands and openly expressed their commitment at furry conventions. Transgendered and transsexual people move in the community with confidence.

People often ask why these and other diverse communities have found a home in furry. It’s a complicated question that I’m not going to answer in one post. But I think it has a lot to do with one of the core aspects of the furry fandom.

Guest post: Hush!

by Kay T. Holt

I have a secret. A gift. It sets me apart in ways that are both dangerous and rewarding; it’s like being a superhero. I can’t fly or walk through walls, but I do have a special sense: I’m hard of hearing. I think of it as the opposite of ESP. Anything others can hear, I can hear... Differently. If at all.

In the ordinary world, my hearing loss is disadvantageous. I rarely pass a day without blundering into social pitfalls as a result of missing or mis-hearing something subtle or important. And I can’t just listen-up for threats like most people. Cars, bicyclists, creepers on my tail? Even if someone helpful shouts a warning, I may not hear it. And if I do, I may not understand what I’ve heard in time for it to make a difference. After a lifetime of injuries and insults, I’ve developed survival habits: I glance over my shoulder a lot, always double-check before crossing the street, keep my back to the wall, stay as far to one side of paths and sidewalks as I can, and look up often from whatever I’m reading or fiddling with in my hands. Whenever I’m out with someone and they ask why I’m distracted, I tell them, “I’m just paying attention.” To everything, all the time. It’s exhausting.