If you’re a fan of speculative fiction, you must read N. K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth trilogy. After devouring the first book, I finished the second and third books and am still catching my breath. These Hugo-winning novels are a feat of wonder, sorrow, and delight, from the elegant, powerful language to the awe-inspiring craft. And […]
Tag: women’s lit
Book review: The Fifth Season
Mind. Blown. I finished the first book in N.K. Jemison’s Hugo-award-winning The Broken Earth trilogy, The Fifth Season, and I’m reeling from its sheer awesomeness. This speculative fiction novel for adults encompasses a vast, immersive, world that resonates with our own culture, particularly the way we treat anyone we deem “other.” The plot is continually […]
Fond farewell to Literary Mama
This month is the first in almost nine years that I haven’t helped to prepare the September issue of Literary Mama. This summer, I handed the Poetry Editor reins to my talented colleague and poetic co-conspirator Juli Anna Herndon so I could pursue a writing career. The Poetry department, and the overall site, is in […]
Book review: Saints and Misfits
There are three kinds of people in 15-year-old Janna Yusuf’s life: saints, misfits, and monsters. Saints make the world a better place, like Janna’s elder-care charge, Mr. Ram, and her too-good-to-be-true prospective sister-in-law Sarah Mahmoud. They can be a little intimidating. Misfits are people like Janna. Whether she wears her burkini at the beach with […]
Book review: Sisters of the Revolution
Sometimes I forget how fulfilling it can be to read explicitly feminist writing. So I have been enjoying the heck out of Sisters of the Revolution: A Feminist Speculative Fiction Anthology edited by Ann and Jeff Vandermeer. Speculative fiction is a catch-all phrase for science fiction, fantasy, and other harder-to-classify writing with a fabulist “what-if” slant. […]