Indigenous Writers are Changing Sci-Fi

[kestrell]

Kes: If you attended ReConvene this past Saturday, you might have heard Rebecca Roanhorse and Stephen Graham Jones, and I'm really excited about new books by Rebecca Roanhorse and Darcie Little Badger. Bookshare and NLS both have books by Roanhorse, but I recommend the audiobook so you get to really hear the language.

"We've Already Survived an Apocalypse"
Indigenous Writers Are Changing Sci-Fi
Long underrepresented in genre fiction, Native American and First Nations authors are reshaping its otherworldly (but still often Eurocentric) worlds.
By Alexandra Alter
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/14/books/indigenous-native-american-sci-fi-horror.html?action=click&algo=top_conversion&block=editors_picks_recirc&fellback=true&imp_id=305072715&impression_id=dd9c7091-e14d-11ea-a2b5-d5571a6a07a7&index=1&pgtype=Article®ion=ccolumn&req_id=977292612&surface=home-featured

Comments

[dewline]

I know one of the other authors profiled in that article, however poorly: Waubgeshig Rice. He's recently retired from reporting work for CBC News - in Winnipeg, then Ottawa, then Sudbury - to become a full-time parent and author. Have you gotten a look at Moon of the Crusted Snow yet?

[kestrell]

No--I'm transcribing authors's names and titles to my "To be read" list, but then I need to see if I can find their books in accessible formats or iin Kindle format. Bookshare includes Canadian authors, so I'm hoping I can find those authors's books there.

[elusiveat]

Thank you for sharing this.

For a while now I've been specifically wondering about *fun* fiction by indigenous authors, and didn't know where to start. This seems like a good starting point, although I'd welcome other suggestions.

I'm curious whether you or anyone else reading this knows of child-appropriate (early elementary school) stories and books by indigenous authors. Graphic novels would be awesome, but I'm guessing that might be harder because that format tends toward the grim. _Witch Boy_, _Nameless City_, and _Gunnerkrigg Court_ are about the level of lightness that I'm hoping for, but those specific titles are all by white authors.

[kestrell]

Rebecca Roanhorse mentioned that she has a children's book on the mythology-themed fiction label by Rick Riordan.

The article I linked to earlier mentioned a woman who created a website that examines images of indigenous people in children's lit, maybe that's a possible source?

One of my favorite writers is Joseph Bruchac, who has been writing fiction and nonfiction for adults and children since at least the 1980s. He's Abenaki [sp?], and he's just amazing.

Here are a couple of links I culled from previous posts I've made:

You know how much I love Coyote stories, and how much I love the LeVar Burton Reads podcast, so the following made my day:
"Skinwalker, Fast-Talker" by Darcie Little Badger, from the anthology _No Shit, There I Was_
read by LeVar Burton on LeVar Burton Reads
http://www.levarburtonpodcast.com/

2020 books by Native authors and authors of color
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/132826.2020_Books_by_Native_Authors_Authors_of_Colour

[elusiveat]

Thanks!

I'll definitely be saving these suggestions for later perusal.