My Year in Review

I'm in awe of those of you who are able to publish so often!

2023 kicked off my debut short story, "Space Treads," at Uncanny, 3673 words. It's a story written in Black rhythm, about two Black kids escaping the confines of school, to find... refuge? warning? peril? in the wilderness. That story is award eligible so please consider this labor of thoughtfulness and love. 'Space Treads' is an intentional reverse homage to the Critical Race theorist Derrick Bell's, Space Trades.

In addition, I was named a Hurston/Wright Summer Fellow and took a lovely workshop with Nisi Shawl. I've since taken lots of workshops and classes with Writing the Other and can't recommend them highly enough!

And, I was awarded the 2023 Canopus Award for Interstellar Writing, part of Mae Jemison's 100 Year Starship project. I love a space program that recognizes the need for humanities and the arts in our endeavors through the universe.

Finally, I want to remind myself that I did successfully receive an invite to the Roots. Wounds. Words. 2024 annual retreat, but I had to turn it down to financial constraints. I hope, though, that folks can support them and they can grow their scholarship funds so that economically marginalized folks like me won't have to turn them down.

2023 is the first year I started believing in myself as a writer--not just that I could do it, but I could do it while balancing so many things. Writing speculative fiction is a way to grapple with the horrors of this world, while also finding small beads of joy and hope. I can't wait to share with y'all some exciting news for 2024!

Parlei Riviere