"The partnership is the brainchild of Shoreline’s Reference & Instruction Librarian Chloe Horning, who was inspired by the campus Community Read of Octavia’s Brood, a science fiction anthology exploring issues of social justice.

“I’ve volunteered with Books to Prisoners in the past,” said Horning, “and have been inspired by their commitment to increasing social equity by encouraging the pursuit of knowledge and self-improvement through books. With the introduction of Octavia’s Brood to campus, and the in–depth discussions about equity that anthology is prompting amongst the campus community, I just felt like the time was ripe for a collaboration with Books to Prisoners, as prison justice is one of the most important social justice issues facing society today.”"

Read more here!

Did you dress up and attend Star Wars The Force Awakens, shamelessly groaning with pleasure? 

The editors may or may not have shown similar behaviors :-)

We're hinored to be part of the come down.

Check out the full list here: http://microcosmpublishing.com/toplists/122

"There are SO MANY Anthologies! The vast majority of Speculative Fiction produced is in short story form, and the best way to get into all the different authors and subgenres available is through anthologies. The magazine market is where Speculative Fiction really started (like most popular fiction). However, it has of yet, hasn’t produced any dedicated titles just for POC writers. (Let me know I you know of one!) So if you want to go a-sampling through the bazaar of Black Speculative Fiction looking for your new favorite author, an anthology is the best way to go. Publication in an anthology is a great stepping stone for new authors who are sharpening their skills (and who may be trying to build an audience towards their first great novel).

And there are many that are wonderfully edited. This past year, Octavia’s Brood was bar-none the best, especially as it explicitly focused on the social justice aspirations implicit in so much Black Speculative Fiction. Stories for Chip: A Tribute to Samuel R. Delany also came out this past year. I’m aiming to get in a review of that one early next year."

Read their full round-up here: http://blacknerdproblems.com/black-speculative-fiction-the-view-from-here/

Daniel Heath Justice picks: Octavia's Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements, edited by Walidah Imarisha and adrienne maree brown 

"I can't say enough awesome things about this book. It's a collection of mostly stories that cross borders between science fiction, fantasy, dark fantasy and horror. Not all of the authors are professional writers, but they are all coming out of social justice movements and organizations. They're all looking at variations on what we call "visionary literature," and thinking about how our imaginations can change the future in a time when things are looking pretty scary. In all of the stories, they're projecting a future where the struggle is being realized through diversity of experience and perspective, and where there's a place for people of colour, queer folks, poor folks and rebellious folks."

Read the whole list here: http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thenextchapter/trevor-cole-and-the-season-s-best-sci-fi-and-fantasy-1.3371337/the-best-sci-fi-and-fantasy-of-the-season-1.3371350

"Shhh… I’m imagining a better world. So are the writers of Octavia’s Brood! Written by activists and organizers from around the globe, this otherworldly collection of visionary short stories employs some pretty radical speculative fiction to imagine worlds free from war, prisons, capitalism and oppression. For science fiction fans looking to explore the final frontiers of equality and social justice, this anthology will take you where no beings have gone before—out of this (unequal) world."

Read the whole piece: http://msmagazine.com/blog/2015/12/23/your-holiday-reading-list-top-10-feminist-books-of-2015/

OMG!!!

Innosanto Nagara, the creator of A is for Activist and Counting on Community, an incredible children's book, made a list for Buzzfeed of holiday gifts that work for "activisty" families. There are a lot of fantastic childrens book on here, and we made the list!

He said: "I was never much of a science fiction fan myself, but this, I can get into. And so can the teenagers in my community household. And pretty much everyone I know who reads. If you’re not sure who in the family to get this for, I’d say give it to all of them."

 

Check it out here!

 

Can science fiction spur social change? Sci-fi often evokes images of space travel and future technology, but fantasy worlds are also being used to examine attitudes towards sexism, racism, violence and other injustices. Through imagination and prose, sci-fi writers are challenging the status quo to create alternative realities. We'll speak to authors using the genre to critique our existing universe.

Walidah Imarisha is a guest, along with Daniel Jose Older, Zen Cho, and Mark Oshiro. adrienne maree brown makes a guest appearance!

Watch the show!

adrienne maree brown, an independent science fiction scholar and a social justice activist, has been chosen as the 2015-16 Le Guin Feminist Science Fiction Fellow. Brown lives in Detroit, Michigan, and is the coeditor of Octavia’s Brood: Science Fiction from Social Justice Movements, published last March by AK Press, San Francisco.

The Le Guin Feminist Science Fiction Fellowship, now in its third year, is sponsored equally by the Center for the Study of Women in Society, Robert D. Clark Honors College, and the UO Libraries Special Collections and University Archives. The award supports travel for the purpose of research on, and work with, the papers of feminist science fiction authors housed in the Knight Library.

Read more!

The Tiptree Fellowship program, created earlier this year, is designed to provide support and recognition for the new voices who are making visible the forces that are changing our view of gender today. Each Fellow will receive $500. The work produced as a result of this support will be recognized and promoted by the Tiptree Award.

Walidah Imarisha is working on several projects that work with the concept of visionary science fiction. One project is  a new collection of poetry called Tubman’s Uncertainty Principle. These poems explore Black women’s freedom struggles historically, currently, and futuristically through a poetic framework of quantum physics. Imarisha is also  is writing a novel that expands on her short story “Black Angel,” originally published in the anthology Octavia’s Brood.  Imarisha writes,

With characters like a big-haired grumpy Black woman/fallen angel turned reluctant superhero, a Palestinian anti-racist skinhead, an undocumented girl whose parents have been sold to a sweatshop, I explore issues of crime, punishment, gender, sexual identity, war, race, faith and religion, xenophobia, colonialism and redemption.

 

Read all here! http://tiptree.org/welcome-to-the-website-of-the-james-tiptree-jr-literary-award-council/whats-new

 

We are so incredibly happy and honored to say that, including print and e-books, Octavia's Brood has almost sold 14,000 copies! To celebrate, our publisher AK Press is offering that until the end of November, people can use coupon code "WOOHOO" on their website to get 25% off anything (including however many copies of Octavia's Brood, hardcopy or ebook, you might want)! http://www.akpress.org/octavia-s-brood.html

No one is Illegal recently sat down with co-editor Walidah Imarisha!

Check it out!

Black Market Reads is a weekly talk show about Black literature, creativity, and cultural production, brought to you by The Givens Foundation for African American Literature, and featuring Black artists who love to read. - Hosts: Erin Sharkey and Junauda Petrus.

Walidah and adrienne got to sit down with them to talk about Octavia Butler and social change.

Listen here!

Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine reviews Octavia's Brood, and says the writers have remarkable talent: "Their passionate voices demand and deserve to be heard; the fervor and confidence and power of their imaginations ensure that they will be."

We're experiencing full nerd joy about this :-)

Read the full review!

 

Watch this incredible speech by Co-editor adrienne maree brown at the launch of #ArtChangeUS in New York, October 26, 2015:

http://howlround.com/livestreaming-the-launch-of-artchangeus-arts-in-a-changing-america-new-york-mon-oct-26-artchangeus

 

Nov. 14, 2015 

Portland, OR

Cascade Media Convergence Keynote

6 pm

Smith Memorial Union room 328

Portland State University

Free and open to the public

 

Octavia’s Brood co-editors Walidah Imarisha and adrienne maree brown will give the keynote address focusing on science fiction and social change

 

https://www.facebook.com/events/189245164742202/

 

Nov. 15, 2015

Portland, OR

Cascade Media Convergence Workshop

10-11:30 am

Smith Memorial Union Rm TBA

Portland State University

Open to the public; Need to register for conference, which is a $10-$15 suggestion donation (no one turned away)

 

Octavia’s Brood co-editors adrienne maree brown and Walidah Imarisha will lead a direct action and sci fi workshop where participants will use familiar stories of other worlds (such as Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Oz, Harry Potter, etc.) to design direct action campaigns that parallel the world we are fighting for in the here and now. By the end of the session, regimes will be toppled, evil forces vanquished and solid skills in direct action organizing developed.

 

http://2015.cascademedia.cc/

 

Nov. 16, 2015

Seattle, WA

Seattle Central Presentation/Reading

11am-12noon 

Broadway Performance Hall

Seattle Central Community College

Free and open to the public

Public Presentation: Octavia’s Brood Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements with Walidah Imarisha, adrienne maree brown and Gabriel Teodros

 

Nov. 16, 2015

Seattle, WA

Seattle Central Presentation/Reading

2pm-3:30pm 

Location: BE1110

Seattle Central Community College

Free and open to the public

Octavia Butler Emergent Strategy Training/Session: Co-editors/writers will present about emergent strategy, a way of moving forward towards collective organizing vision that focuses on resilience, adaptation, deep connections and transformative justice. Participants will then be lead through an organizing strategy session based on the works of Octavia Butler and other radical sci fi writers. 

This is a much more focused participation-heavy event. We need to know how many are attending so we can set up the breakout sessions. RSVP NECESSARY! Please email Sharon Spence-Wilcox by Thursday, November 12th at sharon.spence-wilcox@seattlecolleges.edu

 

Nov. 17

Portland, OR

Mt. Hood Community College Reading

12-1 pm 

Visual Arts Theater

Mt. Hood Community College

Free and open to the public

 

An Octavia’s Brood reading/presentation with co-editors Walidah Imarisha and adrienne maree brown, and contributor David Walker

 

Nov. 17

Portland, OR

Mt. Hood Community College Workshop

3-4:30 pm 

Town and Gown

Mt. Hood Community College

Free and open to the public

 

Octavia’s Brood co-editors adrienne maree brown and Walidah Imarisha will lead a direct action and sci fi workshop where participants will use familiar stories of other worlds (such as Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Oz, Harry Potter, etc.) to design direct action campaigns that parallel the world we are fighting for in the here and now. By the end of the session, regimes will be toppled, evil forces vanquished and solid skills in direct action organizing developed.

 

“There is nothing new under the sun,

 

 

"The first step toward re-imagining a world gone terribly wrong

 

 

 

Check out the slideshow here!

https://blacktothefuture.princeton.edu/

"Did Marvel make a mistake in entrusting the realist Coates with its most prominent black hero? Maybe not. He’s adept at creating tales built on the quest for social justice, and afrofuturism as it is embodied in fiction has been called the ultimate tool for social justice. Writer Walidah Imarisha, co-editor of Octavia’s Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements, in a recent interview with The Nation, had this insight:

Any time we try to envision a different world—without poverty, prisons, capitalism, war—we are engaging in science fiction. When we can dream those realities together, that’s when we can begin to build them right here and now.

In science fiction, we don’t have to stay contained within what is possible. We can start with the question “What do we want?” rather than the question “What is realistic?”

Read the full piece here: http://lithub.com/how-will-the-greatest-african-superhero-handle-race-in-america/

"I recently picked up a fascinating book called Octavia's Brood co-edited by Walidah Imarisha and adrienne maree brown.

In a discussion about the book, Walidah Imarisha said, "All organizing is science fiction. What does a world without poverty look like? What does a world without prisons look like? What does a world with everyone having enough food and clothing look like? We don't know. It's science fiction, and it is as foreign to us as the Klingon homeworld."

I had never heard of organizing being discussed in such a way, and it led me to reflect on the importance of envisioning and dreaming of the kind of society we fight to create. I also found myself reflecting on this statement in a different light: All organizing is also theological and spiritual. A simple explanation of this is that organizing and activism is faith in action.

- See more at: https://sojo.net/articles/new-creation-how-science-fiction-deepens-my-theology#sthash.8WgF2Sva.dpuf

Octavia's Brood is proud to be listed as 1 of only 2 fiction on Black Lives Matter Nashville Reading List!!

https://blacklivesmatternashville.wordpress.com/2015/07/09/blacklivesmatter-a-biography-for-the-revolution/

(From September 12, 2015)

While we were gathered together (for Ferguson is the Future), we (Nalo Hopkinson, Nnedi Okorafor, Sofia Samatar, Rasheedah Phillips, Nisi Shawl, Tananarive Due, Steven Barnes, adrienne maree brown, Walidah Imarisha, Daniel Jose Older, Andrea Hairston, Lisa Bolekaja) did a timed writing exercise weaving together science fiction and social justice. First we worked together to generate a scenario – here’s what we created:

our writing scenario:
topics we wanted to weave together:
race, justice, community

violence: environmental, economic, generational, emotional, physical, psychological, spiritual, etc
intraracial erasure of black queer women
violence vs women
movement/barriers to movement

characters!

1. sandra (invoking sandra bland). 13 year old storyteller. an empath who uses art to heal. lost legs as a punishment.

2. joey, the sentient lizard. carries sandra as a symbiotic relationship. receives food and companionship.

3. gbassi. 60 yr old queer woman of color. physicist.

4. kudzu. outsider, stranger, think they are bringing justice. plant based biology. believe mobility is punishment, so them being here means they are likely criminal on home planet.

5. underground superfungus

setting:

– age of punishment is 10 and above
– tech divide (smart houses and symbiotic beasts)
– not seen as dystopic
– structured to stop gathering
– nonlinear parallel earth time
– majority of people think punishment is to make immobile

conflict:
– violence is normalized. sandra’s story challenges that.
– sandra is considered a criminal
– conflict around mobility! sandra vs kudzu, or sandra plus kudzu.

Then, in a total of 25 minutes, with one break for feedback, these stories were generated.

Read the stories here: https://blacktothefuture.princeton.edu/collective-story/

Alice Mar-Abe wrote a beautiful reflection on Ferguson is the Future.

Here's a taste:

"I quickly understood that this event would go beyond the usual when Professor Benjamin began with a call and response of a quote from renowned sci fi author Octavia E. Butler. Three times, she proclaimed, “There is nothing new under the sun,” and each time the audience chanted back, “But there are new suns.” This was our “clarion call” for the entire day.

In the words of Adrienne Maree Brown (sci-fi scholar, artist, healer): “All organizing is sci-fi; if you’re trying to change the world, you’re engaging in sci fi activity.” As writer and organizer Walidah Imarisha put it, “All deep social change at the time it was created was considered unrealistic.”

Read the full reflection here: http://www.nassauweekly.com/ferguson-is-the-future/

"Much of my thinking about speculative fiction has been shaped by the Allied Media Conference community. AMC is an annual gathering in Detroit that brings together artists, organizers, teachers, journalists —anyone who makes media that responds to the world around them in creative and collaborative ways. I’ve been attending the conference for about a decade, and we understand “media” in the broadest sense of the word. It includes zines, films, dance performances, clothing — anything that helps you communicate.

In the past five or so years, a group there began incorporating sci-fi and speculative fiction into our conversations about media. I’d read sci fi before, but it was really as a result of conversations at AMC that my interest deepened and that I came to write this story for the Octavia’s Brood anthology. I was fascinated by the idea, advanced by Adrienne Maree Brown and Walidah Imarisha (OB‘s co-editors), that all social justice organizers are creating “speculative fiction” in a sense, in that they’re envisioning a world that doesn’t exist yet, putting their faith in the possibility of that world, and working toward it."

 

Read the rest here: https://midwestbsfa.wordpress.com/2015/10/12/interview-with-octavias-brood-contributor-dani-mcclain/

"Located downstairs in the JBH reading room, Octavia's Brood  is a collection of short stories celebrating Octavia Butler and her writings. Moderated by the co-editor Adrienne Maree Brown, attendees listened to short readings of speculative fiction, inspired by Butler, that question what our relationship with the future will be. Afterward, attendees were able to purchase the book and have them signed by the authors in attendance."

 

Read the rest here:
http://www.blacksci-fi.com/features/article/black-fantastic-2015-afrofuturism-comes-to-harlem/#.Vhn8WKTfjPw

Autumn Brown wrote a beautiful piece, a 'future anthropology', that gives a lot of insight on her Octavia's Brood story Small and Bright - check it out in the James Franco Review: http://thejamesfrancoreview.com/2015/10/05/a-future-anthropology-by-autumn-brown/

"I was a writer, but not a fiction writer. The story found me anyway. In 2010, I had just moved with my partner, my two year old, and my two month old infant to rural Minnesota from Brooklyn, NY. It was an intentional move and a welcome change, but nonetheless destabilizing as moving always is. Here I was, unmoored from my east coast community of radical artists and activists, living in my own private wild. Maybe my mind was looking for a way to process the change. Regardless the story hit me like a careening automobile, dragging me by the undercarriage until I cried mercy and started writing.

I had a beginning and an ending, a character about to be permanently separated from her infant son, and from the underground community where she had lived all of her life, for a shocking and mysterious crime. She was about to discover (as was I), the nature of the world on the surface of the planet, a place no one among her people in a thousand years had seen and lived to tell the tale."

After Ferguson is the Future, our friend and favorite horror writer Tananarive Due created a short horror film to blend science fiction and social justice! And we are super excited to see Octavia's Brood in a cameo appearance - see if you can find it. 

https://tananarivedue.wordpress.com/2015/10/05/on-blending-art-and-social-justice-my-short-film-lost/