In this Book

  • Infinite Constellations: An Anthology of Identity, Culture, and Speculative Conjunctions
  • Book
  • Edited by Khadijah Queen and K. Ibura
  • 2023
  • Published by: The University of Alabama Press
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summary
A gathering of innovative, speculative fictions by writers of color, both established and emerging
 
The innovative fictions in Infinite Constellations showcase the voices and visions of 30 remarkable writers, both new and established, from the global majority: Native American/First Nation writers, South Asian writers, East Asian writers, Black American writers, Latinx writers, and Caribbean and Middle Eastern writers. These are visions both familiar and strange, but always rooted in the mystery of human relationships, the deep honoring of memory, and the rootedness to place and the centering of culture.

The writers in this anthology mirror, instruct, bind and unbind, myth-make and myth-invert, transform and transmute, make us belly-laugh or hum our understanding, gasp or whisper gently, and remember that sometimes we need to holler and fight as we grieve. Any dangers herein, imagined or observed in poem and story, transport us: moving from latent to extant, then unleashed.

This work does not presume; it presents and blossoms, creating a constellation of appearances, a symphony of belonging.

“In collecting this work,” note editors Khadijah Queen and K. Ibura, “we felt humbled by the love threaded throughout the voices speaking to us in stories and poems that vault beyond expectation and settle in our consciousness as an expansion of what’s possible when we tend to one another with intention. We felt lifted, held aloft in these arrangements of language. We hope that as you read each story and poem, you will find the same sense of empowerment and celebration that we know has sustained us over countless generations, and in their beauty and humor and intelligence and complexity, continue to enrich us still.”

CONTRIBUTORS
George Abraham / Kenzie Allen / Shreya lla Anasuya / Thea Anderson / Wendy Chin-Tanner / Alton Melvar M. Depanas / Yohanca Delgado / Jennifer Elise Foerster / Aerik Francis / André O. Hoilette / Brian K. Hudson / K. Ibura / Pedro Iniguez / Ruth Ellen Kocher / Ra’Niqua Lee / Tonya Liburd / Kenji C. Liu / Shalewa Mackall / Lucien Darjeun Meadows / Melanie Merle / Juan J. Morales / Thirii Myo Kyaw Myint / Cindy Juyound Ok / Daniel José Older / Soham Patel / Lynn C. Pitts/ Khadijah Queen / Sheree Renée Thomas /  Sarah Sophia Yanni / dg nanouk okpik / shakirah peterson
 

Table of Contents

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  1. Cover
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  1. Title Page, Copyright
  2. pp. i-iv
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  1. Contents
  2. pp. v-viii
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  1. Introduction: Speculating Us
  2. Khadijah Queen and K. Ibura
  3. pp. ix-xiv, 1-2
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  1. Oskʌnu·tú
  2. Kenzie Allen
  3. pp. 3-4
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  1. She Sang to Me Once at a Place for Hunting Owls
  2. dg nanouk okpik
  3. p. 5
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  1. The Swan
  2. Lynn C. Pitts
  3. pp. 6-32
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  1. Anti-Confessional, Again
  2. George Abraham
  3. pp. 33-34
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  1. Plink
  2. Yohanca Delgado
  3. pp. 35-37
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  1. Dream of a Space Tattoo
  2. Juan J. Morales
  3. p. 38
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  1. Carville National Leprosarium, 1954
  2. Wendy Chin-Tanner
  3. pp. 39-40
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  1. Hello, Ghost
  2. Soham Patel
  3. pp. 41-42
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  1. The Sacred Interrupted
  2. Mary Lou Johnson
  3. pp. 43-48
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  1. Digital Medicine
  2. Brian K. Hudson
  3. pp. 49-69
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  1. reflection on spices
  2. Sarah Sophia Yanni
  3. p. 70
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  1. Against Allegory (I = Eve & Satan)
  2. George Abraham
  3. p. 71
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  1. how to battle
  2. Ruth Ellen Kocher
  3. p. 72
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  1. My Mother Told Me I Am Under Shango
  2. Tonya Liburd
  3. pp. 73-74
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  1. From Senegal to Senatobia
  2. Sheree Renée Thomas
  3. pp. 75-105
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  1. Returning
  2. Aerik Francis
  3. p. 106
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  1. Above Ground
  2. Melanie Merle
  3. p. 107
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  1. Red Green Blue
  2. Cindy Juyoung Ok
  3. pp. 108-119
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  1. Violet
  2. Lucien Darjeun Meadows
  3. p. 120
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  1. After,word
  2. George Abraham
  3. pp. 121-126
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  1. how can there be so much death and also so much love
  2. Sarah Sophia Yanni
  3. pp. 127-129
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  1. Dream of the Sun Spirit
  2. Juan J. Morales
  3. p. 130
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  1. The edge of descent, digression's highway
  2. Jennifer Elise Foerster
  3. p. 131
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  1. Mermaid Names
  2. Ra'Niqua Lee
  3. pp. 132-145
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  1. The Last Kingdom
  2. Jennifer Elise Foerster
  3. pp. 146-148
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  1. Yangon
  2. Thirii Myo Kyaw Myint
  3. pp. 149-157
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  1. letter to the hiring manager
  2. Sarah Sophia Yanni
  3. p. 158
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  1. Ways to Use Silhig Lánot
  2. Alton Melvar M. Dapanas
  3. pp. 159-161
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  1. Dream of a Wolf
  2. Juan J. Morales
  3. p. 162
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  1. Antelope Canyon Hotel
  2. Thea Anderson
  3. pp. 163-174
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  1. Transmigrations: A Future History of Multiple Bodies of Water
  2. Kenji C. Liu
  3. pp. 175-179
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  1. A Final Song for the Ages
  2. Pedro Iniguez
  3. pp. 180-190
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  1. on bended knee
  2. shakirah peterson
  3. pp. 191-196
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  1. MILE 22—
  2. Lucien Darjeun Meadows
  3. pp. 197-198
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  1. One week away and the forest has changed
  2. Jennifer Elise Foerster
  3. p. 199
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  1. Playing MacBeth at the Electra Theatre on Beadon Street
  2. Shreya Ila Anasuya
  3. pp. 200-214
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  1. sealing the room
  2. André O. Hoilette
  3. pp. 215-219
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  1. Sufficiency
  2. Shalewa Mackall
  3. pp. 220-221
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  1. canon
  2. Sarah Sophia Yanni
  3. pp. 222-227
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  1. The Longest Stretch
  2. Lucien Darjeun Meadows
  3. pp. 228-229
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  1. DownRiver
  2. Melanie Merle
  3. pp. 230-231
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  1. Date: Post Glacial
  2. dg nanouk okpik
  3. pp. 232-233
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  1. The Passing
  2. Daniel José Older
  3. pp. 234-250
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  1. Contributor Bios
  2. pp. 251-258
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  1. Notes & Acknowledgements
  2. pp. 259-261
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  1. Reading & Teaching Guide
  2. pp. 262-268
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  1. About the Editors
  2. pp. 269-272
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