Diversity in Science Fiction and Fantasy

This semester I made a reading based class for myself and a few friends called Non-Western Science Fiction and Fantasy. The initial title was Diversity in Science Fiction and Fantasy, but we had to narrow the subject a bit to get a coherent and manageable book list together. It ended up being a bit fantasy dominated, but here’s what we read.

The Girl From the Well by Rin Chupeco
Gunpowder Alchemy by Jeannie Lin
The Shadow Speaker by Nnedi Okorafor
The Bone Knife by Intisar Khanani
Ash by Malinda Lo
Steampunk World by various authors
1Q84 by Murakami
Solaris by Stanislaw Lem

There were other books that I investigated that I wish we’d gotten to read as well. The list that we drew from was:

Books and short fiction written by people of color:
The Girl From the Well by Rin Chupeco
Sorcerer to the crown by Zen Cho
Akata Witch, The Shadow Speaker by Nnedi Okorafor
PEOPLE OF COLO(U)R DESTROY SPECIAL ISSUES through Lightspeed Magazine
Steampunk World by Sarah Hans (anthology, various)
Gunpowder Alchemy by Jeannie Lin
The Girl with Ghost Eyes by M.H. Boroson
Killer of Enemies by Joseph Bruchac
Thorn by Intisar Khanani
The Bone Knife Intisar Khanani
Dragon Cauldron or Dragon of the Lost Sea Laurence Yep
Elf Aware K Tempest Bradford
Will Do Magic For Small Change Andrea Hairston
Amal el Mohtar short fiction through website – the honey month
Alyssa Wong short fiction through website
Kiini Ibura Salaam short fiction through website
Duane Niatum short ficton- the crooked beak of love
Diane Glancy short fiction through website (He has more than one ear)
Legend by Marie Lu
Nalo Hopkinson – short fiction
Nisi Shawl – short fiction through website, everfair
My Sister Rosa Justine Larbalestier
Shadowshaper by Daniel Jose Older
Ash by Malinda Lo
1Q84 by Murakami
Solaris by Stanislaw Lem

People of color written by white authors (these books were recommended on diverse perspectives websites):
The Drowning Eyes by Emily Foster
Six Gun Snow White by Holly Black
Toads and Diamonds by Heather Tomlinson
Sorrow’s Knot by Erin Bow
The House of Scorpion by Nancy Farmer

LGBT (I want to include and broaden this category but I was focusing on researching work about non-European perspectives. We’re going to do a follow up tutorial next semester focusing on LGBT works):
Pantomime by Laura Lam
Ellen Kushner Swordspoint
Slow River Nicola Griffith

Nonfiction (these were some other resources that came up in the course of the search):

“They Are Not Ghosts: On the Representation of the Indigenous Peoples of North America in Science Fiction & Fantasy” by Maureen Kincaid Speller

http://scholar.colorado.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1600&context=honr_theses

How to Write Protagonists of Colour When You’re White

http://www.malindalo.com/2010/06/avoiding-lgbtq-stereotypes-in-ya-fiction-part-1-major-lgbtq-stereotypes/