Free online conference on 19th century SFF! The Incredible Nineteenth Century: Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Fairy Tale will be hosting its fourth annual conference via Zoom on May 1-2. This conference is free. To submit a proposal or to register to attend: docs.google.com/.../1FAIpQLS....

The U.S . has had multiple spoken languages since its founding: Indigenous languages, Spanish, and African in addition to English. This country has many towns with Indigenous and Spanish names and yet acts like English is the only language that matters .

Dispelling Fantasies made @locusmag.bsky.social’s recommended reading list!!! So thrilled to have my work recognized alongside so many other amazing fiction and nonfiction recs! locusmag.com/2026/02/2025...

The Spring 2026 catalog from @fordhampress.bsky.social just dropped! #Audiofuturism issuu.com/fordhamup/do...

Oh no! Vida is a brilliant SFF author and essayist whose work really helped my research for Dispelling Fantasies. Please please please donate if you can!

I've been a bit tied up with everything going on here in the U.S. coupled with severe weather. But I am committing to helping undo the injustices happening, so I am donating to this great NYC nonprofit and asking you to consider making a donation as well: secure.givelively.org/donate/mami-...

Dispelling Fantasies made the BSFA longlist!!! I'm honored. Academics don't publish books to make lots of money, so being recognized by my fellow SFF lovers and having people tell me the book has been useful to them is the thing that keeps me going in my research!

Some really great authors to vote for!

Today's post honors a book I've been gushing about all year, Ibi Zuboi's (S)Kin. The minute I read this book, I knew I was teaching it. My students loved the verse structure and deeply connected to the characters and themes. And love the Haitian representation. Everyone, read this book!

It’s MLK day. Let’s honor the legacy of the day by acknowledging that the post-race future people envisioned never existed. Take action against systemic racism and work toward a post-AI world instead.

Today's highlight for new fantasy reads is @maddiesmartinez.bsky.social's The Maiden and Her Monster. This was a gripping fairy tale-esqe read with some brutal scenes. Loved the worldbuilding and cultures represented. And a NYC based author for any friends looking to invite. Loved it!

A lot happened this week that is way more important, and this feels like a million years ago, but icymi: (1) Uncertain Sons was nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award! (2) If you missed getting a copy, Undertow's running a big sale on some 2025 ebooks, incl. this collection for $3! Just 3 man

Today's pick for recently read awesome fantasy books is @tashanmehta.bsky.social's Mad Sisters of Esi. This book is a SFF hybrid featuring two sisters inside a cosmic whale. That description doesn't do the book justice; I felt like I was in a dream at times and really enjoyed the read.

Today's flowers go to @mhayinde.bsky.social's A Song of Legends Lost. I love sff hybrids, and this is a good one! Very interesting story and characters that kept me reading. Highly recommend and will be reading A Dance of Burning Blades for sure!

Today's pick for my recent reads is @sharangbiswas.bsky.social's The Iron Below Remembers. This story is fun! As an academic, how could I not love a novel where the main character is a scholar with a superhero boyfriend? Biswas also adds poinent ideas about the constructedness of history. Loved it.

Today's pick for books recently read and loved is Antonia Hodgson's The Raven Scholar. This book is getting a lot of love on fan sites, but I have to shoutout anyway. Hodgson is a skilled writer, and she manages to make a mash up of typical fantasy tropes combined with a whodunnit fresh and engaging

Yeah! As someone who was privledged enough to see an early draft, I highly recommend @effjayem.bsky.social's new work! Congratulations!!!

So I am finally done with my reading for the Crawford Award! I will share the results when they come out, but until then, I want to highlight some of the books I read that I really enjoyed. My comments are entirely separate from awards comments or results. First up: Yasushi Kitagawa's The Lucky Ride

Dispelling Fantasies and many other books over at @ohiostatepress.bsky.social are on sale! 30% off with free US shipping with code OSUMLA through 2/29/26: ohiostatepress.org/books/exhibi...

BSFW EVENTS [Online unless noted otherwise. Eastern Time Zone] On-the-Spot Workshop - Wed 1/7 7:30PM Last Keybard's Novel Critique - Mon 1/12 7:30PM Rad Files Novel Group - Mon 1/12 7:30PM Sam's Short Story Workshop - Tue 1/13 7PM www.meetup.com/brooklyn-spe...

Thoroughly enjoying @mcflycahill90.bsky.social’s Audition for the Fox and came across a quote for today: “Subjugation would always try to be explained away by those in power as something done for reasons that made sense in their twisted minds. And such excuses come quick to the tyrant’s tongue.”

So enjoying the Analog/Asimov’s Artists and Authors Panel at City Tech SF Symposium! Next up, Carlos Hernandez!

Heads up: City Tech (CUNY) is having their free annual science fiction symposium tomorrow. I’m going to try to attend from 2 PM on. Hope to see some of you there! openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/scienceficti...

Huge thanks to the @uofglasgow.bsky.social Centre for Fantasy and the Fantastic for hosting me for a talk about Dispelling Fantasies! Such great questions from the attendees. Anyone interested in fantasy literature should check out their programming.

OMG! My first review for Dispelling Fantasies! Huge thank you to @danhartland.bsky.social for bringing my thoughts about genre into such a brilliant, nuanced conversation ancillaryreviewofbooks.org/2025/11/12/s...

I know what I’m reading next!

I'm speaking about Latinx fantasy literature at a free online conference Friday, 11/7, at 11am EST. Come join in the fun and get some great book recommendations: latinxarchive.com/latinx-visio...

If you’re not here, you’re missing out! www.eventbrite.com/e/latinx-vis...

I had a blast at @worldfantasy2025.bsky.social! Thank you to all the organizers. Brighton was beautiful, and the panels were fun and informative. Leaving with a full heart and way too many books! 🤣

I have a message I can’t currently access because my account is giving me trouble. So if you sent me a message or if you want to meet with me at the World Fantasy Convention, please just tag me in a message.

This free conference on Latinx speculative fiction is going to be amazing! I'll be speaking Friday on Latinx fantasy and magical realism. Join if you can: latinxarchive.com/latinx-visio...

I will be speaking on the "Reading Something New" World Fantasy Convention panel at 12pm Friday. I would love to connect with some of the authors I reference in Dispelling Fantasies: @elizachanwrites.bsky.social @zenaldehyde.bsky.social and @tashasuri.bsky.social DM me if I can buy you a coffee!

Another great addition to OSU’s New Suns series! ohiostatepress.org/books/titles...

Emergency ask. It is always so humbling and not in good way to constantly be in financial crisis, especially when I look at all the work that I do. We are at risk of losing our housing and need to come up with 3 months rent by the 1st, which is an impossible ask. ko-fi.com/johnniejae/g...

When it rains it pours! An excerpt of Ch 2 of Dispelling Fantasies, "Blood Magic is not Always Black Magic," is available in the journal Foundation's newest issue: www.sf-foundation.org/sf-foundatio...

Huge thank you to @sillysyntax.bsky.social, @awprihandita.bsky.social and Zig Zag Claybourne for a wonderful talk. Read their work!

Please support this amazing anthology if you can! www.kickstarter.com/projects/for...

I had so much fun talking about one of my favorite authors of all time. Thank you @mealofthorns.bsky.social!

Call for IAFA GaH Division Head Applications The IAFA is accepting applications for the position of Gothic and Horror Literature Division Head. The deadline for applications is 30 Sept., 2025, 11:59 p.m. US Eastern/3:59 a.m. UTC. For full details, please see our blog post on the IAFA website.

As some of you know, I am the BIPOC Caucus Representative for the Internation Association of the Fantastic in the Arts. We are having our annual online conference (VICFA) from Sept. 17-21. This is a low-cost online speculative conference (with free options!): iaftfita.wildapricot.org/page-1820583

I decided to add this beautiful quote from Ibi Zoboi's (S)Kin to the top of my decolonial Latinx fantasy syllabus: “When you’re raised on folklore and fairy tales, Possibilities are infinite. The lines between Reality and fantasy are blurred—” Ibi Zoboi

Just saw the Hugo results, and I’m thrilled to see three Indigenous authors being honored! Huge congrats to Moniquill Blackgoose, @littlebadger.bsky.social and Rebecca Roanhorse! I have a detailed reading of Blackgoose’s To Shape a Dragon’s Breath in Dispelling Fantasies!

I just donated; help if you can: Help Haifa and Her Children Rebuild Their Lives chuffed.org/project/1370...

Please welcome Tasavvur Magazine to Bsky; they're one of South Asia's few dedicated sff magazines, and they do great work. There are barely any eyes on them here at the moment, so if you're interested in global sff (or a desi reader looking for more desi sff), please do read/follow them:

So looking forward to this release! Let’s get SM-G on all the bestseller lists!

So sad. One of the reasons I write academic books despite not needing to for tenure is to draw attention to authors who can then, hopefully, make enough from their writing to support themselves.

So I spent two years reseaching and writing Dispelling Fantasies to get a bad Amazon review because I spelled a character's name wrong. I feel awful about it; I double checked every author's name and title to avoid errors. But the reality of the situation is I am human.

Quick update on my cancer treatment. The arm still hurts. The doctor was trying to find a vein for almost a half hour. But I'm fine, no worries. Please boost so everyone who's donated can hear the latest. (And if you can spare a small donation, I'd appreciate it.) www.gofundme.com/f/help-r-s-a...

Wow!

It's that day!!! After this, I promise to stop pestering my friends with book news until reviews come in. By the way, if you want a review copy and I don't know you do, message me! The book and ebook are both live at all major booksellers: www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dispelling...