Clarkesworld shines as a contemporary publisher of some awesome stories by writers of color; mad props to the editors. I think I need an additional 'core novels' list or some such -- N.K. Jemisin's Hundred Thousand Kingdoms would go on it, for example, and Larissa Lai's Salt Fish Girl (I'm cranky I ran out of room in my syllabus to include either), along with basically all of Delany and Butler, for starters. Big thanks to Nisi Shawl for editing the relevant volume of the WisCon Chronicles -- a big help.
I'm too sleepy to say anything else coherent, so I'm toddling off. Syllabus follows, as promised; I tried to strip out some of the mundane course business, but I didn't get it all. If you want a prettier PDF or Word version, e-mail me; I'm happy to share.
ENG 474: The Invisible Made Visible: Writers of Color in American Speculative Literature Course Description: In this course we will examine speculative literature authored by American writers of color. Speculative literature is a catch-all term meant to inclusively span the breadth of fantastic literature, encompassing literature ranging from hard science fiction to epic fantasy to ghost stories to horror to folk and fairy tales to slipstream to magical realism to modern myth-making -- any piece of literature containing a fabulist or speculative element. Writers of color will primarily be limited to non-white writers, although the nuanced details of that definition will be discussed further during class. Required texts: Dark Matter, ed. Sheree Thomas WisCon Chronicles vol. 5: Writing and Racial Identity, ed. Nisi Shawl So Long Been Dreaming (Mehan / Hopkinson) Tales of Neveryon, Samuel R. Delany Dawn, Octavia E. Butler Who Fears Death, Nnedi Okorafor Half-World, Hiromi Goto Course-pack from bookstore Week 1: 1/14 Mon: �Biting Tongues,� Amal el-Mohtar �The Bechdel Test and Race in Popular Fiction,� Alaya Dawn Johnson (http://theangryblackwoman.com/2009/09/01/the-bechdel-test-and-race-in-popular-fiction/) 1/16 Wed: "Mary Anne Mohanraj Gets You Up to Speed: Part I," John Scalzi's Whatever (http://whatever.scalzi.com/2009/03/12/mary-ann-mohanraj-gets-you-up-to-speed-part-i/) Sheree R. Thomas, �Introduction: Looking for the Invisible,� Dark Matter Honor�e Fanonne Jeffers, �Sister Lilith,� Dark Matter 1/18 Fri: �Racial Identity and Writing: A Dozen Writers and Thinkers Reflect � Part One,� ed. Eileen Gunn, WisCon Chronicles W.E.B. Du Bois, �The Comet,� Dark Matter Jewelle Gomez, �Chicago 1927,� Dark Matter� Week 2: 1/21 Mon: NO CLASS: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day 1/23 Wed: Charles Saunders, "Why Blacks Should Read (and Write) Science Fiction," Dark Matter Robert E. Howard, �Queen of the Black Coast� (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0600961h.html) Charles Saunders, Imaro excerpt (course-pack) 1/25 Fri: Charles Saunders, Imaro (course-pack) and "Gimmile's Songs," Dark Matter �Racial Identity and Writing: A Dozen Writers and Thinkers Reflect � Part Two,� ed. Eileen Gunn, WisCon Chronicles Week 3: 1/28 Mon: �Racial Identity and Writing: A Dozen Writers and Thinkers Reflect � Part Three,� ed. Eileen Gunn, WisCon Chronicles Walter Mosley, "Black to the Future," Dark Matter Evie Shockley, �Separation Anxiety,� Dark Matter 1/30 Wed: Nalo Hopkinson, �Introduction,� So Long Been Dreaming; �Greedy Choke Puppy� and �Ganger (Ball Lightning),� Dark Matter; �Riding the Red,� So Long Been Dreaming 2/1 Fri: Samuel R. Delany, "Racism and Science Fiction," Dark Matter Samuel R. Delany, "Aye, and Gomorrah," Dark Matter Week 4: 2/4 Mon: �Racial Identity and Writing: A Dozen Writers and Thinkers Reflect � Part Four,� ed. Eileen Gunn, WisCon Chronicles Samuel R. Delany, Tales of Neveryon 2/6 Wed: Samuel R. Delany, Tales of Neveryon 2/8 Fri: Samuel R. Delany, Tales of Neveryon Week 5: 2/11 Mon: �Racial Identity and Writing: A Dozen Writers and Thinkers Reflect � Part Five,� ed. Eileen Gunn, WisCon Chronicles Charles W. Chesnutt, �The Goophered Grapevine,� Dark Matter 2/13 Wed: Steven Barnes, "The Woman in the Wall," Dark Matter Derrick Bell, "The Space Traders," Dark Matter 2/15 Fri: Ama Patterson, �Hussy Strut,� Dark Matter Octavia E. Butler, "The Monophobic Response," Dark Matter Week 6: 2/18 Mon: Octavia E. Butler, Dawn 2/20 Wed: Octavia E. Butler, Dawn 2/22 Fri: Octavia E. Butler, Dawn Paper #1 Thesis Due Week 7: 2/25 Mon: �Racial Identity and Writing: A Dozen Writers and Thinkers Reflect � Part Five,� ed. Eileen Gunn, WisCon Chronicles Draft of Paper #1 Due; Workshop 2/27 Wed: �The Russ Categories,� M.J. Hardman, WisCon Chronicles 3/1 Fri: Suzette Mayr, �Toot Sweet Matricia,� So Long Been Dreaming Amal el-Mohtar, �Selkie Stories Are For Losers,� Strange Horizons (http://strangehorizons.com/2013/20130107/selkie-f.shtml) �WisCon, Stories, and Ontological Blackness� Maurice Broaddus, WisCon Chronicles Week 8: 3/4 Mon: Nnedi Okorafor, Who Fears Death Paper #1 Due 3/6 Wed: Nnedi Okorafor, Who Fears Death 3/8 Fri: Nnedi Okorafor, Who Fears Death Week 9: 3/11 Mon: �Racial Identity and Writing: A Dozen Writers and Thinkers Reflect � Part Six,� ed. Eileen Gunn, WisCon Chronicles �Ooku� excerpt, Fumi Yoshinaga, WisCon Chronicles E. Lily Yu, "The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees" 3/13 Wed: Amal el-Mohtar, �Song for an Ancient City,� and �The Meaning of This Translation,� WisCon Chronicles; �The Green Book,� Apex Magazine 3/15 Fri: Jaymee Goh, �The Dirigible of Dreams: Steampunk, Race, Histories, and Visions of Inclusivity,� WisCon Chronicles Karin Lowachee, �The Forgotten Ones,� So Long Been Dreaming Week 10: 3/18 Mon: Jane Irwin, �Restarting Clockwork Game: A Self-Examination of White Privilege Through an Ongoing Work,� and �Excerpts from Clockwork Game,� WisCon Chronicles 3/20 Wed: Eden Robinson, "Terminal Avenue," Celu Amberstone, �Refugees,� So Long Been Dreaming 3/22 Fri: Greg Van Eekhout, �Native Aliens,� So Long Been Dreaming Ken Liu, �Paper Menagerie,� io9 Week 11: 4/1 Mon: Aliette de Bodard, �Scattered Along the River of Heaven,� Clarkesworld; �Shipbirth,� Asimov�s /3 Wed: Vandana Singh, �The Woman Who Thought She Was a Planet,� Trampoline and �Delhi,� So Long Been Dreaming Uppinder Mehan, "Final Thoughts," So Long Been Dreaming 4/6 Fri: Tobias Buckell, "Toy Planes," (handout, from Nature online) Los Bros. Hernandez, Mechanix (handout) Week 12: 4/8 Mon: Hiromi Goto, Half-World 4/10 Wed: Hiromi Goto, Half-World 4/12 Fri: Hiromi Goto, Half-World Week 13: 4/15 Mon: John Chu, �The Water That Falls on You From Nowhere,� and �Thirty Seconds from Now� PRESENTING: _____________________________________________________ PRESENTING: _____________________________________________________ 4/17 Wed: Ted Chiang, �Liking What You See� (http://www.ibooksonline.com/88/Text/liking.html) Alice Sola Kim, �Beautiful White Bodies,� Strange Horizons 4/19 Fri: Ted Chiang, �Stories of Your Life� Larissa Lai, �Rachel,� So Long Been Dreaming Week 14: 4/22 Mon: Indrapramit Das, �muo-ka�s Child,� Clarkesworld N.K. Jemisin, �Non-Zero Probabilities,� Clarkesworld Thesis Due PRESENTING: _____________________________________________________ 4/24 Wed: K. Tempest Bradford, �Until Forgiveness Comes,� Strange Horizons Saladin Ahmed, �The Faithful Soldier, Prompted, Escape Pod 4/26 Fri: Outline Due Week 15: 4/29 Mon: Final Paper Draft Due 5/1 Wed: Mary Anne Mohanraj, �Jump Space,� Thoughtcrime Experiments, �The Princess in the Forest,� Bending the Bow, and �WisCon 34 GOH Speech,� WisCon Chronicles 5/3 Fri: Review and Closing Comments FINALS WEEK: 5/6 Mon: FINAL PAPER DUE @ NOON ****** Additional Reading of Interest Writer of color SF/F anthologies & magazines (not necessarily American): AfroSF: Science Fiction by African Writers, edited by Ivor W. Hartmann Apex Book of World SF, vol. 1 & 2, edited by Lavie Tidhar Bending the Bow (Indian SF), edited by Anil Menon and Vandana Singh Dark Matter & Dark Matter II, edited by Sheree R. Thomas The Dragon & the Stars (Chinese culture-inspired science fiction), edited by Derwin Mak, Eric Choi and Tess Gerritsen Indian SF Magazine: http://indiansf.wordpress.com It Happened Tomorrow, Indian science fiction, edited by Bal Phondke People of the Book: A Decade of Jewish Science Fiction & Fantasy, ed. Rachel Swirsky and Sean Wallace So Long Been Dreaming: Postcolonial SF, edited by Nalo Hopkinson and Uppinder Mehan Three Messages and a Warning: Contemporary Mexican Short Stories of the Fantastic, edited by Eduardo Jimenez Mayo, Chris N. Brown, and Bruce Sterling Walking the Clouds: Indigenous SF, edited by Grace L. Dillon Wandering Stars: Jewish SF, and More Wandering Stars, edited by Jack Dann Single Author Collections: Chesya Burke, Let�s Play White Octavia Butler, Bloodchild and Other Stories Ted Chiang, Stories of Your Life Aliette de Bodard, Scattered Among Strange Worlds Rana Dasgupta, Tokyo Cancelled Samuel R. Delany, Driftglass, Distant Stars, Atlantis: Three Tales, Aye and Gomorrah and Other Stories Minister Faust, E-Force: Sixteen Stories of Ultra-Freaking Awesomeness Craig Gidney, Sea, Swallow Me and Other Stories Hiromi Goto, Hopeful Monsters Nalo Hopkinson, Skin Folk Alex Jennings, Here I Come Stephen Graham Jones, The Ones That Got Away Minsoo Kang, Of Tales and Enigmas Mary Anne Mohanraj, Silence and the Word Amal el-Mohtar, The Honey Month Daniel Jos� Older, Salsa Nocturna Kiini Ibura Salaam, Ancient, Ancient Nisi Shawl, Filter House; Something More and More Yasutaka Tsutsui, Salmonella Men on Planet Porno Vandana Singh, The Woman Who Thought She Was a Planet Charles Yu, Sorry Please Thank You Other: The Carl Brandon Society: http://www.carlbrandon.org The Geffen Award (Israeli SF and Fantasy): http://geffen.sf-f.org.il/?page_id=79
Did you do something strange in how you wrote up this entry? It has VERY long lines and can only be read by scrolling sideways several (seven) times on the top line and almost as many on others??
Was in a rush, so used the PRE tag, which lets you put stuff without formatting.
I found a workaround by pasting the text into a word processor window and reading it there, and then just deleting it when I was done. I will have to keep this option in mind for when such problems occur in the future!