Cirrus@Austlit

The links below are a collection of pieces sourced from outside the AustLit database. Links (which open in a new tab) will take you directly to the work itself.

• Read Up: an initiative of the Stella Prize, this is a series of five lists (Diverse Cultures, Feminism, LGBTQI+, Minds & Bodies, and Respectful Relationships) that are designed to guide thinking on things that matter.

• Love Oz YA: this website, arising from the original #loveOzYA hashtag, gathers together a range of information around the topic, including a dedicated section on diversity.

• Visibility Fiction: as well as including reviews, interviews, and general blog posts, this site also publishes free, inclusive YA short stories. None of the fiction is, to date, by Australian authors, but Australians do contribute other material.
• Character Index: published on international author Polanth Blake's personal website, this is an index to a wide range of diversity in speculative fiction, including physical/neurological, sexual/gender, and racial diversity. The list has a North American focus, and includes a category for Native American characters.

• Science Fiction in the Antipodes: An Australian Speculative Fiction Roundtable: Strange Horizons editor Joyce Chng talks to Gillian Polack, Tehani Croft, Ambelin Kwaymullina, and Matthew Farrer.

The links below are a collection of pieces sourced from outside the AustLit database. Links (which open in a new tab) will take you directly to the work itself.

• 'Spike Lee Produced Netflix Film "See You Yesterday" Brings Us the Black Time Travelers We Need': as well as addressing this specific film, the article also explores the idea that 'The further back in time Black people go, the more dangerous the journey.'
   
• Strange Horizons: this special issue (April 2019) focuses on African speculative fiction, and includes Mazi Nwonwu's essay 'The State of Play of Nigerian SFF Today'.
   
• 'Five SFF Books Drawn from Neglected Histories': by author Ausma Zehanat Khan, this list explores non-Eurocentric fantasy worldbuilding. No Australian authors, but an interesting overview of current fantasy.
   
• 'History of Black Science Fiction': a collection of essays, most by American author Nisi Shawl, on various texts and authors. Doesn't include Australian authors, but not limited to American authors.
   
• Afrofuturism Reading List and Resources -- Starting Places: author Maurice Broaddus (author of the revisionist King Arthur trilogy The Knights of Breton Court as well as a number of Afrofuturist and steamfunk works) sets out a starting list of resources (fiction, non-fiction, and audio-visual) for those interested in Afrofuturism.

• Native Superheroes Are the Norm at this All-Indigenous Comics Store: this column gives a fascinating overview of a range of comic books that feature Native American heroes. No Australian authors, but a valuable insight into First Nations writing in the US.

• 12 Sci-Fi + Fantasy Novels with African Inspired Settings: while no Australian authors are included here, it covers a range of works by authors including Nnedi Okorafor (Nigerian-American), Tade Thompson (London-born to Yoruba parents), Karen Lord (Barbadian), Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o (Kenyan), and Marlon James (Jamaican).

• A Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy, Made by Black People for Black People: focuses on African and African-American works, with no Australian content, but an excellent and wide-ranging set of suggestions, including conventions.
   
• 100 African Writers of SFF, Part One: Nairobi: British author Geoff Ryman traces writers of speculative fiction who fit within what he calls the 'dubious concept' of "Africa"–'mostly people with African citizenship in Africa, but I’m not going to be draconian'.
• 100 African Writers of SFF, Part Two: Writers in the UK: the second part of Geoff Ryman's ongoing survey of African SFF.

• Wilder Beasts: The Global Scary and Supernatural: a conversation between Sami Shah and Nadia Niaz about genre and horror fiction from beyond the Anglosphere (podcast).

• The Black Fantastic: Highlights of Pre-World War II African and African-American Speculative Fiction: written by popular-fiction researcher and reference librarian Jess Nevins, this is a lively, detailed overview of pre-war speculative fiction by African and African-American authors.

• Apex Magazine, Issue 99: edited by Amy H. Sturgis, this special issue is devoted to speculative fiction by Native American authors, with authors Allison Mills, Rebecca Roanhorse, Pamela Rentz, and Muri Kurisato. Apex releases their online content incrementally: all works will be available online by 22 August 2017.

• The POC Guide to Writing Dialect in Fiction: American writer Kai Ashante Wilson (whose fiction is rich in people of colour, including queer characters) discusses the position of the 'author who writes dialect as an insider, as a native speaker, but who faces the disadvantages of being a POC outsider in the publishing context'. The author writes from his own perspective, but the general argument is broadly applicable.

• BlackSpecFic: A Fireside Fiction Company Special Report: undertaken by Fireside Fiction, an American small press specialising in speculative fiction, this report was an examination of over 2000 short stories in more than 60 periodicals, to assess the publication of stories by writers of colour. The published report is accompanied by a series of long-form essays, responses, and interviews, as well as making its full statistical data available. Focused on American publications.

• An Interview with Leanne Hall: Leanne Hall, author of young-adult novels This is Shyness and Queen of the Night, speaks to the Readings blog.

• Indigenous Australians in Comics: A detailed, illustrated blog post from the National Library of Australia, tracing the changing depiction of Indigenous Australians in comics and graphic novels. Please note: this post includes imagery that may be considered sensitive.

• NEOMAD website: NEOMAD, the three-episode story of young heroes from the Pilbara region, was written with the assistance of over forty young people from the Ieramugadu (Roebourne) community in Western Australia, and released as part of the Yijala Yala Project. The project maintains a rich website for the project.

• 'We Need Diverse Books because ...': An article written by Ameblin Kwaymullina for Melbourne's Wheeler Centre, 'We Need Diverse Books Because ...' makes a passionate case that 'We need diverse books because a lack of diversity is a failure of our humanity'.

• 'On Diversity, Intersectionality, and the Future': This piece from Ambelin Kwaymullina, a guest post for The Stella Prize, discusses the intersection of gender and diversity.

• An Interview with Rebecca Lim: Made available on ABC Splash, a website devoted to learning resources, this is a half-hour interview with Rebecca Lim, author of (among other works) the Earthbound Quartet.

• The Stella Interviews–Sarah Ayoub: While Sarah Ayoub isn't included on this page (her work is contemporary YA, rather than speculative fiction), this interview covers many aspects of seeking diversity in Australian fiction.

• The Stella Interviews–Randa Abdel-Fattah: Like Sarah Ayoub, Randa Abdel-Fattah's fiction falls outside the scope of this exhibition, but the author herself has much to say about diversity in Australian writing.

• On Writing PoC when You Are White: A blog post from Justine Larbalestier, which she clarifies her position on the subject of white authors writing protagonists of colour.

• Diversity Is Magic: A Roundtable on Children’s Literature and Speculative Fiction by Rochelle Spencer: A roundtable discussion, published in the Los Angeles Review of Books, between a number of American writers of children's and young-adult fiction.

• 'Ambelin Kwaymullina’s Guest of Honour Speech, from Continuum X': An abridged and edited version of Ambelin Kwaymullina's speech, first delivered 8th June 2014 at Continuum X, Melbourne.

• 'A Few Thoughts on Other Cultures and Diversity in SFF', Aliette de Bodard: written by French-based author Aliette de Bodard, this essay examines some of the strictures and pitfalls of writing as an outsider.

• 'Reflecting on Indigenous Superheroes, Indigenous Futurisms and the Future of Diversity in Literature': another piece by Ambelin Kwaymullina, this one is shorter than some of her other engagements with this topic, but offers a range of interesting links to outside material.

• People of Colour List: a running list from Dark Matter Zine of reviews, blog posts, interviews, and more that discuss works including people of colour. Contains a mixture of SFF and non-SFF. Note: Dark Matter Zine emphasises that inclusion on the list does not equal recommendation.

• Asian Science Fiction & Fantasy: The Essential Reading List (2016): compiled by Mithila Review and based on recommendations by leading speculative authors and editors, this is a list of some of the most successful examples of Asian SF—speculative fiction by an Asian author or those with a meaningful connection with Asia.

• 'Crossing Lines: Deconstructing Black Superheroes': written by American author Naamen Gobert Tilahun, this piece is focused on the American comics industry, but makes interesting points about the representation of non-white characters as heroes.

• 'Writing While Indigenous/Writing While Chinese : Intersectionality in Oz YA': a conversation between Ambelin Kwaymullina and Rebecca Lim.

• 'Asian Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: A Round Table Discussion': none of the authors involved in this discussion have lived or worked in Australia, the issues of diaspora and identity remain highly relevant to a modern Australian culture.

• Lontar: The Journal of South East Asian Speculative Fiction: so far, Lontar has not published any Australian authors. But it is a diverse and international publication of works by authors from across South-east Asia, as well as works set in reimagined Asian countries.

• PoC-centric and POC-written Steampunk: via the blog Silver Goggles, a list of steampunk works written by or prominently featuring people of colour. Currently, Stephanie Lai is the only Australian author represented, but the list is subject to expansion (and the authors who aren't Australian are also worth checking out).

• 'In History and Fantasy, Diversity Is the Tradition': an essay by American author Myke Cole, outlining the diversity in such armies as those of Ancient Rome, and what this should suggest for modern fantasy writing. No Australian content, but the argument is generally applicable.

The links below are a collection of pieces sourced from outside the AustLit database. Links (which open in a new tab) will take you directly to the work itself.

• Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction!: issue twenty-four of Uncanny magazine, this issue includes a range of short stories, poetry, and non-fiction. No Australian authors, but the non-fiction in particular explores a rich range of topics.

• 'The Alien Says Don’t Take Your Meds: Neurodiversity and Mental Health Treatment in TV SF/F': by Australian author Tansy Rayner Roberts for Uncanny magazine, this article looks at the ways in which SF deals with neurodiversity, both well and poorly.

• 'Staircases in Space: Why Are Places in Science Fiction Not Wheelchair-Accessible?': an excellent article for Gizmodo by Marina Galperina, this focuses on major franchises, including Star Wars, Star Trek, and Doctor Who.

• 'Blind Warriors, Supercrips, and Techno-Marvels: Challenging Depictions of Disability in Star Wars': an open-access academic article by Josefine Wälivaara, a postdoctoral researcher at Umeä University, Sweden. (Journal of Popular Culture, July 2018).

• '4 Stories with Awesome Autistic Protagonists': a blog post by author Ada Hoffman on the Barnes & Nobles website, this sets out works, most of them #ownvoices, that exploration autism and world-building.

• '"She Was Born a Thing": Disability, the Cyborg and the Posthuman in Anne McCaffrey's The Ship Who Sang': a critical article by Ria Cheyne of Liverpool Hope University, this examines ableist ideologies that create tension within McCaffrey's novel. McCaffrey was an American author, but the argument has broader applicability. (Originally published in Journal of Modern Literature, 36.3 (2013): pp.138-156.)

• The Monster in the Mirror: On Horror, Disability, and Loving Both at Once: written by American author Emily Foster, this is an essay – deeply personal, but embedded in an understanding of genre – 'about Growing Up Mentally Ill while surrounded by all of this dollar store horror'. Foster argues that 'the notion of disability has been worked over in the genre so much that it has become corny'. (No Australian content.)

• Disability in Kidlit: a website (run outside Australia and with an international focus) offering a wide range of engagements with the question of children's lit. and protagonists with disabilities.

• Beyond Ableism and Ignorance: Disability and Fiction, Danielle Binks: published in Kill Your Darlings (30 September 2014), this is an interview with the people behind Disability in KidLit.

• Disability Books: a Goodreads list curated by the same people who are behind Disability in Kidlit, Disability Books is a very long and wide-ranging list, navigable by a staggering range of individual categories, from 'Blind in one eye' to 'cardiomyopathy', 'PTSD' to 'severe burns'. The authors listed are from all over the world.

• 'So, You Wanna Write a Blind Character?': written by Elsa Sjunneson-Henry, an author based in the US, this is a perspective on writing blindness from a partially blind author.

• 'Overcompensating: Magical Erasure of Blindness in SFF': another piece by Else Sjunneson-Henry, this piece talks about the ways in which speculative fiction erases disability through superpowers. Includes discussion of Zeroes.

• 'Disability Fiction': A list, from Dark Matter Zine, of reviews, blog posts, interviews, and more that discuss works where characters have disabilities. Contains a mixture of SFF and non-SFF. Note: Dark Matter Zine emphasises that inclusion on the list does not equal recommendation.

• Speculative Fiction Books with Disabled Characters: an extended version of the above list, which is still in progress and aiming for a total of 1000 books. Note: the compiler emphasises that inclusion on the list does not equal recommendation.

The links below are a collection of pieces sourced from outside the AustLit database. Links (which open in a new tab) will take you directly to the work itself.

• 'Diversity: More Than White Women': this article by Australian author Foz Meadows explores the ways in which SF texts ignore a diversity of female characters, or pit them against one another.

• 'Non-Binary Authors to Read': established in March 2018, this quarterly column by A.C. Wise on website The Book Smugglers highlights books by non-binary authors. None of the currently listed authors are Australian. The link will take you to the list of instalments.

• 'Trans SFF by Trans Authors':  a GoodReads list established by Bogi Takács to track works where there is at least one major trans/nonbinary/gender nonconforming/genderqueer/etc. character and the author publicly identifies as trans/nonbinary/gender nonconforming/genderqueer/etc. Does not necessarily include Australian authors, although the list is subject to editing.

• 'Adult SFF by Diverse Authors, pre-2010': another list initiated by Bogi Takács, this time to trace works first published in English before 2010, to ensure that older works do not fall out of focus. Does not necessarily include Australian authors, although the list is subject to editing.

• 'Foz Meadows and Coral Bones: Being Genderqueer': Australian author Foz Meadows meditates on her own identity and the writing of her Shakespearean novella Coral Bones.

• Ways to Fill a Gap: LGBTQIA Representation in Australian YA: a guest post for LGBTQ Reads (linked below) by Emily O'Beirne, this is a thoughtful long read on the history of LGBTQIA fiction in Australia.

• Writing Women Characters into Epic Fantasy without Quotas: written by American Kate Elliott, this essay challenges the idea that 'there is little scope for women taking an active and interesting role in epic stories set in fantasy worlds based in a pre-modern era.' No Australian content, but the argument is applicable to fantasy more broadly.

• 'Science Fiction's Invisible Women': while this piece, from The Guardian, doesn't mention Australian authors, it is an engaging overview.

• 'The Courier's New Bicycle': an in-depth review of Kim Westwood's novel from Hugo-Award-winning science-fiction critic and publisher Cheryl Morgan.

• 'We Read To Know We Are Not Alone: Examining the Lack of LGBTQI Characters in Australian Youth Literature': An essay, published in Kill Your Darlings, by reviewer and critic Danielle Binks.

• 'Gay YA': an enormous, still-growing website focusing on issues of sexuality and gender in YA fiction. Despite the name, it covers not only gay and lesbian relationships in fiction, but also lists books whose characters are bisexual, transgender, intersex, and asexual / aromantic.

• 'LGBTQ Reads': a growing website that lists works with LGBTQ characters. While it covers a full range of works, it does have a specialised SFF section.

• 'LGBTIAQ Listing': A list, from Dark Matter Zine, of reviews, blog posts, interviews, and more that discuss works where characters are not hetereosexual, not binary, or otherwise queer. Contains a mixture of SFF and non-SFF. Note: Dark Matter Zine emphasises that inclusion on the list does not equal recommendation.

• 'Browsing the Aisles: A Foray into Speculative Fiction': from the Sydney Review of Books, this long-form essay by Jane Sloane focuses particularly on The Orchid Nursery and such predecessors as The Handmaid's Tale.

• 'So Gay: A List of Australian Children's and Young Adult Contemporary Realist Novels with LGBQ Characters 1985 – 2015 (plus three remixes)': a long-form piece by author Jenny Pausacker, this offers lists of Australian fiction, as well as analyses of the works themselves. The focus is on general fiction, not speculative fiction. See also the general category 'Gay Fiction' on Pausacker's website.

• 'Gay-themed Picture Books for Children': compiled by a librarian based in the United States (and with, therefore, a strong focus on US books), this is a broad survey of books for children whose families include LGBTQ people. Does not focus specifically on speculative fiction.

• The Art of Seeing Aboriginal Australia's Queer Potential: a critically engaged but also personal and reflective piece from artist Troy-Anthony Bayliss on sexuality and post-colonialism.

• 'Focus on Lesbian/Queer Women Writers: Guest Post by Eden S. French': published by the Australian Women Writers' Challenge, this piece by French, an author of queer fantasy, explores her experience of growing up as a queer reader of fantasy and horror.

• '45 Must-Read YA Books Featuring Gay Protagonists': published on the Epic Reads website in June 2017, this list, despite the title, covers LGBTQ works, helpfully divided into the individual letter categories both in a graphic and in the annotated list. Includes some speculative fiction and some Australian authors (though no speculative fiction by Australians), but not explicitly focused on either.

The links below are a collection of pieces sourced from outside the AustLit database. Links (which open in a new tab) will take you directly to the work itself.

• 'How Science Fiction Found Religion': Benjamin Plotinsky's long-form essay was published in City Journal in 2009. While not concerned with Australian science-fiction, it offers a fascinating overview of a perceived trend in the genre.

• Science Fiction / Fantasy Authors of Various Faiths: an extremely long list of SFF authors according to their avowed religious faith. In addition to various branches of Christianity (including Latter-day Saints), Judaism, and Islam the list includes such faiths as Hindu, Baha'i, Tenrikyo, Scientology, and Wicca. The compilers note that they have failed to locate any Sikh SFF writers and that Buddhist SFF writers are rare. International focus.

• Jewish Science Fiction and Fantasy: a bibliographical list of works of Jewish science fiction and fantasy. The list is not annotated and does not describe how the works are defined as 'Jewish', but notably includes only select works by prolific authors (e.g., Ben Bova), so the defining characteristic appears to be the fiction rather than the author's identity. Seemingly last updated in 2014. American focus.

• 'Religious Science Fiction': a brief essay by Jo Walton, one of the most esteemed contemporary writers on and of speculative fiction. Again, this is a general overview, and not specifically about Australian writing.

• Religious Science Fiction [list]: from the same resource as SFF Authors of Various Faiths (above), this is a list of primary and secondary reading materil, including anthologies of religious SFF and critical works.

• Islam and Science Fiction: a website devoted to tracing science-fiction works that involve Muslim characters or build Islam into their world. Occasionally discusses Australian works.

• Islamicates Volume 1: a freely available anthology of short stories inspired by Muslim cultures. Published on Islam and Science Fiction. None of the stories are by Australian authors. (Note: we have linked to a PDF version. Also available for ereaders.)

• 'Creation Writing: Is Sci-fi a 21st-century Religion?': a brief and general survey of the inter-relationship between the two forms, from The Guardian.

• 'Beyond the Warp Drive: Science Fiction's Search for Transcendence': Masako Fukui talks about human transcendence in science fiction. As with other material here, the focus is not on Australian works specifically.

• 'All That Isn’t Said: Kaye M. talks Islamophobia in YA': focused on American literature, this is an engaging, highly personal piece about politics of representation in the wake of 9/11. Doesn't discuss Australian literature specifically. The author is also involved with Muslim Squad, a site for Muslim creatives.

• Sci Phi Journal: an online journal of science fiction and philosophy, which publishes a combination of fiction and non-fiction. While the focus is not exclusively on religion, religion is a frequent component of the journal's philosophical examinations of science-fiction universes. Note: while some content is freely available, some is restricted to subscribers.

• 'The Surprising Intersection of Islam and Scifi': written for io9 by Beth Elderkin, this is an overview of the anthology Islamicates Volume 1.

• 'The Islamic Roots of Science Fiction': written by Charlie Jane Anders for io9, this is an overview of early works of science fiction by Islamic writers. (Note: does not mention Australian writers, or modern works.)

• 'This Is the Muslim Tradition of Sci-fi and Speculative Fiction': written by Muhammad Aurangzeb Ahmad, this is an historical overview of speculative fiction in the Arab-speaking world.