So Long Been Dreaming: Postcolonial Science Fiction & Fantasy - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 155152158X ISBN 13: 9781551521589

Publisher: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2004

Synopsis

So Long Been Dreaming: Postcolonial Science Fiction & Fantasy is an anthology of original new stories by leading African, Asian, South Asian and Aboriginal authors, as well as North American and British writers of color.

Stories of imagined futures abound in Western writing. Writer and editor Nalo Hopkinson notes that the science fiction/fantasy genre “speaks so much about the experience of being alienated but contains so little writing by alienated people themselves.” It’s an oversight that Hopkinson and Mehan aim to correct with this anthology.

The book depicts imagined futures from the perspectives of writers associated with what might loosely be termed the “third world.” It includes stories that are bold, imaginative, edgy; stories that are centered in the worlds of the “developing” nations; stories that dare to dream what we might develop into.

The wealth of postcolonial literature has included many who have written insightfully about their pasts and presents. With So Long Been Dreaming they creatively address their futures.

Contributors include: Opal Palmer Adisa, Tobias Buckell, Wayde Compton, Hiromi Goto, Andrea Hairston, Tamai Kobayashi, Karin Lowachee, devorah major, Carole McDonnell, Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu, Eden Robinson, Nisi Shawl, Vandana Singh, Sheree Renée Thomas and Greg Van Eekhout.

Nalo Hopkinson is the internationally-acclaimed author of Brown Girl in the Ring, Skin Folk, and Salt Roads. Her books have been nominated for the Hugo, Nebula, Tiptree, and Philip K. Dick Awards; Skin Folk won a World Fantasy Award and the Sunburst Award. Born in Jamaica, Nalo moved to Canada when she was sixteen. She lives in Toronto.

Uppinder Mehan is a scholar of science fiction and postcolonial literature. A South Asian Canadian, he currently lives in Boston and teaches at Emerson College.

About this title

About the Author:

Nalo Hopkinson is the internationally-acclaimed author of Brown Girl in the Ring, Skin Folk, and Salt Roads. Her books have been nominated for the Hugo, Nebula, Tiptree, and Philip K. Dick Awards; Skin Folk won a World Fantasy Award and the Sunburst Award. Born in Jamaica, Nalo moved to Canada when she was sixteen. She lives in Toronto. Uppinder is a scholar of science fiction and postcolonial literature. A South Asian Canadian he currently lives in Boston, and teaches at Emerson College. Author of The Einstein Intersection, Nova, and Dhalgren.

Review:

. . . the editors have collected an excellent group of stories that often show finesse in approaching difficult subjects regardless of genre.
—Pop Matters (Pop Matters)

...the themes of the stories and the importance of the project are very strong.
—Science Fiction Research Association (Science Fiction Re..)

It manages, somehow, to transcend that heavy millstone and kick some good ol' storytellin' ass.
—The Vancouver Rain Review of Books (Vancouver RainReview)

Arsenal Pulp Press has put together an edition worth owning.
—Challenging Destiny Online (Challenging Destiny)

...a strong anthology that, regardless of thematic concern, showcases authors with some real experience of colonization from all over the world.
—Booklist (Booklist)

Author Nalo Hopkinson and science fiction scholar Uppinder Mehan have cultivated this anthology of new short stories from emerging and established postcolonial writers all over the world. The 19 unique stories here are framed by a valuable introduction by Hopkinson and duly academic final essay by Mehan.
—Quill & Quire (Quill & Quire)

The stories cover such a range of material ... that the anthology resists attempts to categorize it. It is not entirely science fiction, not entirely fantasy, not even entirely postcolonial literature. And this resistance is largely the point of So Long Been Dreaming. Such boundaries belong to the past, the anthology suggests, but we'e living in the future now.
—Amazon.ca (Amazon.ca)

About this edition

• Publisher: Arsenal Pulp Press
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 155152158X
• ISBN 13: 9781551521589
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304
• Editor: Hopkinson Nalo, Mehan Uppinder