Some Books to Read for Black History Month

[bibliogramma]

The Carl Brandon Society has released a short list of recommended science fiction and fantasy books for Black History month.

The announcement of the list and some further details about The Carl Brandon Society can be found here.

The list itself:

So Long Been Dreaming: Postcolonial Science Fiction & Fantasy edited by Nalo Hopkinson and Uppinder Mehan
Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany
My Soul to Keep by Tananarive Due
The Coyote Kings of the Space Age Bachelor Pad by Minister Faust
Mindscape by Andrea Hairston
Wind Follower by Carole McDonnell
Futureland by Walter Mosley
47 by Walter Mosley
The Shadow Speaker by Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu
Zahrah the Windseeker by Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu
Stormwitch by Susan Vaught


47 by Walter Mosley is the winner of the 2006 Parallax Award, given to works of speculative fiction created by a person of colour.

Stormwitch by Susan Vaught is the winner of the 2006 Kindred Award, given to any work of speculative fiction dealing with issues of race and ethnicity regardless of the race or ethnicity of the author.

While visiting the Society's website, I also collected a list of novels and short story collections that were considered for the 2006 Parallax Awards.

Prince of Ayodhya, by Ashok Banker
Fledgling, Octavia E. Butler
Mella and the N'anga: An African Tale, by Gail Nyoka
Phoenix Tales: Stories of Death and Life, by Gregory Bernard Banks
Atomik Aztek by Sesshu Foster
Kynship: The Way of Thorn and Thunder by Daniel Heath Justice
Zephyr Unfolding by Nicole Givens Kurtz
The Crown: Ascension by Hannibal Tabu

Also listed on the website are a number of short stories and other works considered for the 2006 Parallax Award, plus all the works considered for the 2006 Kindred Award.

I've read a handful of these books myself, and can certainly recommend all of them:

So Long Been Dreaming: Postcolonial Science Fiction & Fantasy edited by Nalo Hopkinson and Uppinder Mehan
Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
Mindscape by Andrea Hairston
Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany
Fledgling, Octavia E. Butler

And several others recommended by the Society have been on my "want to read" list, and this seems like a perfect excuse to order them. There's always time to explore a new author, and to look for a different perspective.