Glimpse: An Anthology of Black British Speculative Fiction

by Reynaldo Anderson (Foreword), Leone Ross (Editor)

Glimpse is the first anthology of speculative fiction by Black British writers, showcasing a variety of distinctive and exclusive narratives. They include Afrofuturistic, magic realism and transformational stories, glancing into different worlds and new lives. These stories create a dichotomy between the comfortable and the mysterious, tantalizing in their mystique and refreshing in their insight. The contributors include award winning and internationally renowned fiction writers, poets and visual Patience Agbabi, Muli Amaye, Alinah Azadeh, Judith Bryan, Patricia Cumper, Joshuah Idehen, Melissa Jackson-Wagner, Peter Kalu, Ronnie McGrath, Katy Massey, Claudia Monteith, Chantal Oakes, Irenosen Okojie, Koye Oyedeji, Nii Ayikwei Parkes, Jeda Pearl, Aisha Phoenix, Akila Richards, Ioney Smallhorne and Gemma Weekes.

212 pages, Paperback

Published March 23, 2023

Reviews

[Jess Barbour · Rating 5 out of 5]

To be completed honest, I only picked up and started reading this after I’d booked tickets to the literature festival talk on it. But it completely blew me away, the introduction very clearly sets out the context and importance of this book in the literary world, and I learnt so much information from it. The subtle connections of the writers experience in the UK really comes out in their stories, in extremely clever ways. It was also lovely hearing some of the authors read their stories and talk about how they wrote them, learnt a lot I wouldn’t have otherwise. Definitely brings the stories to life a little more!

[Demi Echezona · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an amazing anthology with an excellent balance of Black past, present and future. Each story caused a beautiful pain and I cannot stop thinking about them and the characters within the pages.

[Peacefulbookery · Rating 5 out of 5]

The marketing of these stories as speculative fiction is spot on, as they are closer in style and form to literature, magical realism, and psychological thrillers, than genre-driven science fiction and fantasy.

Many stories in this anthology acknowledge and incorporate structural inequalities in ways that white-authored, "conventional" spec fic rarely does (or does well). The protagonists in these stories struggle with complex social identities and trauma (including generational trauma) - their struggles should prompt readers to reflect on the future impacts of technology and conservative political decision-making on our societies.

An excellent, intensely important collection. I'll be keeping an eye out for more works by the contributors.