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Sep. 13th, 2008

  • 1:50 PM
writing literature vonnegut asshole
...since it just came up again...

Here's a nonexhaustive list of authors of speculative fiction writing in or translated into English who are not of European descent.

Nationality is not considered. Many of the writers in question have non-speculative work as well, and in some cases the majority of their work may be non-spec. Magic Realism is considered as a genre unto itself, currently.

The original post where this list was compiled is over a year and a half old. It's here (http://matociquala.livejournal.com/1181728.html), and additions and emendations are encouraged.

(For all your Carl Brandon Society Awards-nominating needs. And also for the recommended reading of anybody who thinks the work of SFF writers of color began and ended with Octavia Butler and Samuel R. Delany.)


Behind the cut, out of pity for your scroll bar....

Kobo Abe
Ray Anthony
James Stevens-Arce
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Steven Barnes
Marlorie Blackmand (Noughts and Crosses)
K. Tempest Bradford
Tobias Buckell
Levar Burton
Brenda Clough
Ted Chiang
M. Lucie Chin
Wu Dingbo
Tananarive Due
David Anthony Durham
Greg Van Eekhout
Louise Erdrich
Stella Evans
Minister Faust
Heinz Insu Fenkl
Eugie Foster
Amitav Ghosh
Owl Goingback
Hiromi Goto
Angélica Gorodischer (Kalpa Imperial, translation by Ursula K. Le Guin.)
Virginia Hamilton
Karen Harbaugh
Ernest Hogan
Nalo Hopkinson
Kazuo Ishiguro
Nora Jemisin
Ruchir Joshi (The Last Jet Engine Laugh)
Jackie Kay (Scottish-Nigerian fantasy, Strawgirl)
Yoji Kendo/Eric Kotani
Maxine Hong Kingston
Hari Kunzru
Larissa Lai (When Fox is a Thousand)
Yoon Ha Lee
Mary Soon Lee
Karin Lowachee
Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu
Yukio Mishima
Mary Anne Mohanraj
Toni Morrison
Walter Mosley
Haruki Murakami
E.C. Myers
Linda Nagata
Suniti Namjoshi
Gloria Naylor
Misha Nogha
Nnedi Okorafor
Helen Oyeyemi
Ruth Ozek
Fiona Patton
Tony Pi
Chelsea Polk
Ishmael Reed
Michelle Sagara/Michelle Sagara West
William Sanders
Charles Saunders
Nisi Shawl
Leslie Marmon Silko
Vandana Singh
S. P. Somtow
Cecelia Tan
Sheree Thomas
Wrath James White
Colson Whitehead
Frank Wu
Tetsu Yano
Erzebet Yellowboy
Lawrence Yep



Boy, it's kind of nice to see how many screens that fills up.

Now go buy some books.
  • Mood: pleased

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( 44 comments — Leave a comment )
[info]tlatoani wrote:
Sep. 13th, 2008 05:55 pm (UTC)
You know what I'd really like to see? A list of YA novels by non-Caucasian writers. The Ann Arbor Science Fiction Association (stilyagi.org, we're best known for putting on ConFusion) has been providing books to middle school libraries, and so far all of the schools we've done it for have been majority Black. I'd like to give the kids books by people who share that aspect of their experience, but as I don't personally read a lot of YA, I could use some help.

We recently supplied Braille books to a special needs teacher in Detroit, and learned in the course of that just how few SF books are actually available in Braille. But we usually send standard printed books, so the only problem is identifying what we want We've got a great general list, but it's awfully white.

Is there a YA list somewhere?
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[info]matociquala wrote:
Sep. 13th, 2008 05:58 pm (UTC)
Why don't we put one together? This one was assembled by the ancient power of Ask Livejournal. I'm pretty sure that other commenters here will have suggestions.

A bunch of the authors listed above are YA writers, but I couldn't necessarily pick out which ones accurately. However, I'd love to see them promoted.
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[info]takumashii wrote:
Sep. 13th, 2008 06:24 pm (UTC)
The ones I'm sure of off the top of my head:

Marlorie Blackmand
Virginia Hamilton
Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu
Walter Mosley wrote one SF YA book, "47."
Lawrence Yep
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[info]takumashii wrote:
Sep. 13th, 2008 06:29 pm (UTC)
And also Claudia Mair Burney (The Exorsistah) and Jamie Martinez Wood (Rogelia's House of Magic). They don't mainly write speculative fiction; Burney seems to mostly write romances, and Martinez Wood writes pagan nonfiction.
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[info]magicnoire wrote:
Sep. 13th, 2008 06:45 pm (UTC)
Melissa de la Cruz is another.
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[info]kestrell wrote:
Sep. 14th, 2008 02:24 pm (UTC)
SF for blind readers
If you are interested in finding out more about accessible formats including braille for visually-impaired readers, please feel free to contact me through my LiveJournal account: I am a blind SF fan who writes and blogs about accessible formats. Sadly, braille is becoming more difficult to find due to the cost of production and shipping, but there are services which will produce braille for a fee, not sure what the fee might be. Many SF authors are willing to provide free etexts of their works. Also there is a service called Bookshare which I belong to but which students K-12 can get free subscriptions to, and which often carries a lot of SF and offers the service of transcribing the works into braille.
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[info]ginny_t wrote:
Sep. 14th, 2008 03:39 pm (UTC)
I skim shamelessly, so please don't yell at me if I'm repeating.

This post: http://oyceter.livejournal.com/750324.html has some POC writers for your list. There's also the 50books_poc community she links to. (I'm too lazy for coding today--sorry!)

Bear, thanks for the list!
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[info]bridgetmc wrote:
Sep. 14th, 2008 11:12 pm (UTC)
I found this list while I was celebrating Asian Pacific American Heritage Month on my IJ of Asian-American YA writers and their YA novels about Asian-American protagonists.

I hope that helps some.
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[info]nancylebov wrote:
Sep. 13th, 2008 06:09 pm (UTC)
And L.A. Banks.
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[info]tournevis wrote:
Sep. 13th, 2008 06:11 pm (UTC)
Stanley Péan too.
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[info]tournevis wrote:
Sep. 13th, 2008 06:12 pm (UTC)
He wrote Zombie Blues, which was translated. I don,t think anyother of his works were...
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[info]sinboy wrote:
Sep. 13th, 2008 06:13 pm (UTC)
Alaya Dawn Johnson.
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[info]rydra_wong wrote:
Sep. 13th, 2008 06:18 pm (UTC)
Some more additions (mostly snurched from [info]deadbrowalking):

Sesshu Foster (Atomik Aztek)
Bernardine Evaristo (Blonde Roots)
Jewell Parker Rhodes
Cathy Park Hong (Dance Dance Revolution -- dazzling poetry narrative set in a future quasi-Vegas)
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[info]matociquala wrote:
Sep. 13th, 2008 06:37 pm (UTC)
That last sounds fascinating.
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[info]rydra_wong wrote:
Sep. 13th, 2008 07:16 pm (UTC)
*nods fervently*

Really high-risk poetic games with a futuristic multi-lingual creole; I was blown away by it. [info]oyceter's review has a sample.
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[info]tanaise wrote:
Sep. 13th, 2008 06:22 pm (UTC)
Jennifer de Guzman
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[info]douglascohen wrote:
Sep. 13th, 2008 06:23 pm (UTC)
You can add Euan Harvey to the list. He's had two stories published in Realms of Fantasy and has two more forthcoming from us. And I think Aliette de Bodard is half-Vietnamese (will be published in ROF and has published elsewhere). That's all I can think of off the top of my head. Hope it helps.
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[info]aliettedb wrote:
Sep. 13th, 2008 08:48 pm (UTC)
And I think Aliette de Bodard is half-Vietnamese
Yes, definitely. I'm half-French, half-Vietnamese. Thanks for the plug, Doug :)

I had no idea Euan was not Caucasian (but then I pay very little attention to that sort of thing, I confess. Probably not a very healthy behaviour).

That's a fascinating list. I know some of those people, but I clearly need to check out the others. Thanks for compiling!
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[info]aliettedb wrote:
Sep. 13th, 2008 08:58 pm (UTC)
Also, Craig Gidney, Rochita Loenen-Ruiz (she writes mostly non-fiction and poetry, but she has a story forthcoming in Weird Tales), and Jamie Ford (published in Glimmertrain, has a book forthcoming from Ballantine).
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[info]douglascohen wrote:
Sep. 13th, 2008 09:12 pm (UTC)
You're welcome. And to be honest, I'm not 100% certain about Euan. I've never seen a full picture of him, but I've seen a partial picture of him on either his website or blog. He definitely doesn't look Caucasian. He also lives in Thailand, and most (if not all) of the tales he's sent to ROF have featured protagonists with a far eastern background. So can I guarantee he's not Caucasion? No. But put all these things together ...I'd be surprised if he isn't. Hopefully making this assumption doesn't get me in trouble with someone. I have an excellent relationship with Euan via email, so I'd be shocked if anything I've written here would upset him. But at the same time, I've never felt the need to ask, "What's your nationality?" Why should I? He's a nice guy and he sends us great stories. That's all that matters to me.
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[info]euanharvey wrote:
Sep. 26th, 2008 01:42 am (UTC)
Ethnically, I'm about as Caucasian as they come: mostly English with a small dash of Scottish and German. Surprised? :-) I think that photo doesn't really resemble the true me (which may be why I picked it . . . ) Mind you, I've been living in Thailand for eleven years now; my wife is Thai, my kids are (obviously) half-Thai, and outside work, most of my friends are Thai. About the only time I speak English is when I'm at work (or bimbling around on the internet). So . . . I guess culturally I'm sort of a mix. And thanks for the kind words, Doug. You're the man.
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[info]douglascohen wrote:
Sep. 26th, 2008 01:47 am (UTC)
Aha! I learned something! :)
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[info]beccastareyes wrote:
Sep. 13th, 2008 06:59 pm (UTC)
I will say that the burgeoning interest in anime and manga has lead to a number of prose novels by Japanese authors being translated, especially when they inspired a comic, television or movie adaption. (For instance, I have translated copies of "Crest of the Stars" by Hiroyuki Morioka, and books from the "Slayers" series by Hajime Kanzaka, the "Twelve Kingdoms" series by Fuyumi Ono and the "Scrapped Princess" series by Ichiro Sakaki all because those novel series gained interest in the US first as television adaptations brought over from Japan.)
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[info]pigeonhed wrote:
Sep. 13th, 2008 07:22 pm (UTC)
Andrea Hairston? Her novel Mindscape is wonderful.
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[info]fledgist wrote:
Sep. 13th, 2008 07:57 pm (UTC)
W.E.B. DuBois wrote some short stories that count as SF.

Where does John Barnes fit (he doesn't look pink-skinned to me?).
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[info]matociquala wrote:
Sep. 13th, 2008 08:02 pm (UTC)
Steven Barnes is African-American. I honestly have no idea how John identifies. (I can assure you that he is an erudite-American, and quite a fine raconteur, which ought to be an ethnicity--as "geek" ought to be a sex.)
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[info]fledgist wrote:
Sep. 13th, 2008 08:16 pm (UTC)
I know the former, I just wondered about the latter since his photographs don't indicate a typical European-American. I count myself as a Curious-Multiracial.
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[info]fledgist wrote:
Sep. 13th, 2008 08:18 pm (UTC)
Clarification
I mean I know that Steven Barnes is an African-American, I don't have the good fortune to know him personally.
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[info]matociquala wrote:
Sep. 13th, 2008 08:26 pm (UTC)
Re: Clarification
Gotcha. *g*
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[info]elsue wrote:
Sep. 13th, 2008 07:58 pm (UTC)
Not sure about Linda Nagata--her picture doesn't reflect it, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. I think Nagata's her husband's name. Could be mistaken.
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[info]matociquala wrote:
Sep. 13th, 2008 08:03 pm (UTC)
I do not know her to ask, unfortunately. (My initial list was mostly people I know personally, so I had some idea how they identify. However, the current list has growwwwn.)
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[info]shweta_narayan wrote:
Sep. 13th, 2008 08:05 pm (UTC)
Thank you!
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[info]neutronjockey wrote:
Sep. 13th, 2008 09:15 pm (UTC)
It is plausible that Dr. Wu manipulated his own genome to qualify for this list...
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[info]morgan_dhu wrote:
Sep. 13th, 2008 10:34 pm (UTC)
From my own list of speculative fiction writers of colour, some names of people I have read/heard about but not yet read anything by:

Chris Baker (Kokopu Dreams)

Gregory Bernard Banks (several collections of short stories)

Priya Sarukkai Chabria (Generation 14)

Daniel Heath Justice (Kynship, Wyrwood, Dreyd))

Ulises Silva (Solstice)

Zainab Amadahy (The Moons of Palmares)
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[info]wetdryvac wrote:
Sep. 14th, 2008 12:56 am (UTC)
Many thanks.
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[info]snickelish wrote:
Sep. 14th, 2008 02:00 am (UTC)
Maurice Broaddus, fantasy-horror writer.
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[info]stillsostrange wrote:
Sep. 14th, 2008 01:59 am (UTC)
Marjorie M. Liu, if I haven't missed her in comments already.
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[info]ellen_datlow wrote:
Sep. 14th, 2008 03:38 am (UTC)
If she hasn't been mentioned Shweta Narayan, Clarion graduate whose story Terri Windling and I recently I bought for The Beastly Bride.
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[info]ellen_datlow wrote:
Sep. 14th, 2008 03:39 am (UTC)
Also
William F. Wu
Chesya Burke
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[info]rednikki wrote:
Sep. 14th, 2008 04:35 am (UTC)
Huh. I'd already been reading several of those authors with no idea they were POC.
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[info]la_marquise_de_ wrote:
Sep. 14th, 2008 10:28 am (UTC)
May I add Miyuki Miyabe, who technically writes detective fiction, but with a very sfnal edge? (Crossfire is about telekinesis and pyrokinesis; The Devil's Whisper is about mind-control. A wonderful wonderful writer.
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[info]doortoriver wrote:
Sep. 14th, 2008 05:29 pm (UTC)
That is an AWESOME list! Thank you!
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[info]zeborahnz wrote:
Sep. 15th, 2008 06:51 am (UTC)
Witi Ihimaera's books get shelved in general fiction or "New Zealand fiction" depending on the store, but (though I don't know how he'd describe it himself) I'd call "Sky Dancer" sf/fantasy; it had time travel and everything.
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[info]full_metal_ox wrote:
Sep. 16th, 2008 02:07 am (UTC)
Russell Bates, a Kiowa, wrote "How Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth", the Emmy-winning episode of the animated Star Trek.

The Golden Age pulp sf/fantasy writer Nictzin Dyalhis, although he was at great pains to shroud his background in mystery, seems to have been of mixed Welsh/Native Mesoamerican descent.

Jess Nevins's research into all sorts of genre fiction esoterica (he's the author of a series of reader's guides to "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen", for example) can lead a reader down no end of engrossing bunny trails; here are a few that would seem to be germane to your subject:

http://ratmmjess.livejournal.com/188234.html?thread=2751818
http://ratmmjess.livejournal.com/184052.html
http://ratmmjess.livejournal.com/185010.html (I presume wuxia counts as fantasy?)

And, just for the sheer merry hell of it, this geekish tour-de-force, reminiscent in its way of Poul Anderson's "Uncleftish Beholding":

http://nofearofthefuture.blogspot.com/2007/05/alternate-history-of-chinese-science.html
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( 44 comments — Leave a comment )

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