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Writing Prompt Contest Winner: Samya Fraser
Writing Prompt: Open a dictionary, find a word (any word), and write a story (500 words or fewer) based on that word. Being Prompt I could see in her face, she wanted to scream. Of course, I knew she wouldn’t. The same could not be said for everyone at this table, but mum – I’ve never…
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Game of Thrones in Post-Apocolyptic Africa, Fan Fiction and Bad TV…
Canadian climate fiction foreboding (Winnipeg Free Press) Cli-Fi is an anthology of speculative fiction stories about climate change, all written from a Canadian perspective and several with strong Indigenous themes. Editor Bruce Meyer explains that the anthology is the result of a challenge by Margaret Atwood in 2015 who, at a discussion around the Al Gore…
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No, I Will Not Be Watching HBO’s Confederacy and Neither Should You
Here are just a few reasons why HBO’s proposed Confederacy show certainly will not be on my to-watch list: 1) I will not watch any fantasy show about an alternative reality where the Confederacy won the war and slavery was never abolished. Period. It is a thinly veiled white supremacist fantasy cloaked in liberal whyte guilt. I’ll…
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S.T. Sanchez, author of Sunwalker
When did you first consider yourself a writer? I didn’t consider myself a writer until I published my first book, but that is truly just a personal feeling. Holding a physical book in my hand with my name on it made it seem real. There is nothing like it. Why did you choose to write…
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Last Exit to Montauk by Phillip Vega
When he approaches her at the market, he has no idea the next three weeks of his life would change him forever. It’s the late 1980s, summertime, on the North Shore of Long Island. The air stirs with possibilities as it often does during this time of year. And so begins the romance between one…
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Sci-Fi Feminist Icons, Fan Fiction, Nnedi Okorafor and more…
Science Fiction’s Under-Appreciated Feminist Icon (The Atlantic) Feminist science fiction has a notable history, but the genre has long been dominated by stories written by, and solely featuring, men. I can’t help but feel awkward reading one of the most celebrated short stories of the genre, Isaac Asimov’s 1941 tale “Nightfall,” which contains no women at…
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Challenges Facing Chinese Literature, Sci-Fi in the Trump Era…
Chinese literature still facing challenges reaching broader audience overseas (Global Times) While China boasts a good amount of best-selling authors, only a few of them have managed to make any headway in English-speaking countries. Besides Mai, Galaxy Award and Hugo Award winner Liu Cixin and Nobel Literature Prize winner Mo Yan, there are not many…
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Harry Potter turns 20, Queer South Asian Fiction, and more…
It’s Pride Month, and here are five queer South Asian speculative stories to raise a toast (Scroll.in) The speculative fiction community has progressed right along, and it’s hard to find a science fiction or fantasy story these days that is openly homophobic in its plot or insinuation. And it’s not only the foreign or white…
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Writing Prompt and Contest!
It’s time to flex your writing muscles again and have a little fun with words. This time, we’re going to go full word-nerd! Even if you’re not a writer at heart, give it a try: Writerly Friday Contest Guidelines: Submit your story no later than July 21st to Questions@BernetaHaynes.com for a chance to have your story featured…
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Yes, the U.S. hates poor people. Big surprise.
The United States hates poor people. That shouldn’t come as a surprise, nor should it surprise anyone to hear Trump (perhaps the most accurate and vulgar embodiment of this country) say he doesn’t want a “poor person” in his cabinet. The US president told a crowd on Wednesday night: “Somebody said why did you appoint a rich…
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By Berneta L. Haynes
From the Editor
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