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This is the third volume in this highly praised series (the first won the World Fantasy Award). Previous works have been praised for their eclectic mix of stories, offering a panorama of themes and styles. For instance, the 2021 edition included a story about a woman struggling with her identity and relationship in the face of a thought-recording device, a tale of a man fostering a rapidly evolving robot, and an adventurous narrative about a sentient robot dog engaging in space piracy. These stories not only explored advanced technologies and speculative scenarios but also delved deep into human emotions, relationships, and societal issues.
Themes of personal struggles, such as dealing with depression, anxiety, and feelings of alienation, were also prominent. These were manifested through unique and powerful metaphors, like a woman whose detachable body parts symbolized her sense of disintegration and invisibility, or a story that portrayed the torment of self-contempt through the constant barrage of negative thoughts from imaginary entities.
The anthology also ventured into mythic dimensions, echoing the voices and histories of entire cultures through concise yet profound storytelling. For example, flash fiction pieces in the collection reached the heights of epic poetry, encapsulating the journey of human life and cultural evolution.
With such a backdrop, the 2023 volume continues this tradition of blending speculative elements with profound human experiences and cultural narratives. It's likely to feature stories that push the boundaries of imagination while staying grounded in the complexities of the human condition. Readers can anticipate a collection that entertains, provokes thought, and offers new perspectives on the future and the present. The anthology is not just a showcase of speculative fiction; it's a celebration of African storytelling, creativity, and the endless possibilities within the realm of speculative fiction.
Born in New York and raised mostly in Houston, P. DJÈLÍ CLARK (he/him) spent part of his childhood in Trinidad and Tobago, the homeland of his parents. He is the author of the novel A Master of Djinn and the novellas Ring Shout, The Black God's Drums, and The Haunting of Tram Car 015. He has won the Nebula, Locus, and Alex Awards and been nominated for the Hugo, World Fantasy, and Sturgeon Awards. His stories have appeared in online venues such as Tor.com, Daily Science Fiction, Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, Apex, Lightspeed, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and in print anthologies, including Griots, Hidden Youth, and Clockwork Cairo. He is also a founding member of FIYAH Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction and an infrequent reviewer at Strange Horizons.
Called "violent, poetic, and compulsively readable" by Maclean's, science fiction author Tobias S. Buckell is a New York Times bestselling writer born in the Caribbean. He grew up in Grenada and spent time in the British and US Virgin Islands, and these places influence much of his work. His Xenowealth series begins with Crystal Rain. Along with other stand-alone novels and his more than fifty stories, Tobias's works have been translated into eighteen different languages. He has been nominated for such awards as the Hugo, Nebula, Prometheus, and John W. Campbell Award for Best New Science Fiction Author. His latest original novels are Hurricane Fever, a follow-up to the successful Arctic Rising, which NPR says will "give you the shivers," and the acclaimed Halo: Envoy. He currently lives in Ohio, with his wife, twin daughters, and a pair of dogs. He can be found online at TobiasBuckell.com.
Tananarive Due (tah-nah-nah-REEVE doo) is an award-winning author who teaches Black Horror and Afrofuturism at UCLA. She is an executive producer on Shudder's groundbreaking documentary Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror. Her books include Ghost Summer: Stories, My Soul to Keep, The Good House, and The Reformatory. She and her late mother, civil rights activist Patricia Stephens Due, coauthored Freedom in the Family: A Mother-Daughter Memoir of the Fight for Civil Rights. She is married to author Steven Barnes, with whom she collaborates on screenplays. They live with their son, Jason.
Xan van Rooyen is an award-winning autistic and non-binary storyteller from South Africa, currently living in Finland. Xan has a Master's degree in music, and-when not teaching-enjoys conjuring strange worlds and creating quirky characters. You can find Xan's stories in the likes of Three-Lobed Burning Eye, Daily Science Fiction, and Galaxy's Edge among others. They have also written several books including Waypoint Seven (Mirari Press), and My Name is Magic (Tiny Ghost Press). Xan is also part of the Sauútiverse, an African writer's collective, with stories in the multi award-nominated anthology Mothersound as well as the forthcoming Sauúti Terrors anthology (Flame Tree Press). Xan has also had a number of non-fiction articles published, which you can find in the Locus Award winning Afro-Centered Futurisms in Our Speculative Fiction (Bloomsbury, Australia) among others. You can find Xan online here: https: //linktr.ee/xanvanrooyen
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