Glimpse is the first speculative fiction anthology of Black British writers. These groundbreaking short stories include themes which are Afrofuturistic, magic realism and transformational.

This anthology of short new stories, provides a glimpse into hidden worlds and human nature, tantalizing in its mystique and refreshing in its. Secrets are uncovered; creatures are found; bodies buckle, whisper, float; transformation is everything. It’s a glance into different worlds and new lives.

Writers include Award winning and internationally renowned poets and fiction writers including Ioney Smallhorne, Irenoson Okojie, Judith Bryan, Nii Parkes, Patience Agbabi, Pete Kalu, Patricia Cumper, Aisha Phoenix, Akila Richards, Alinah Azadeh, Chantal Oakes, Claudia Monteith, Joshua Idehen, Koye Oyedeji, Melissa Wagner, Muli Amaye, Ronnie McGrath, Katy Massey, and Gemma Weekes.

The event will be hosted by Leone Ross, editor of Glimpse.

Glimpse is published by Peepal Tree Press from the Inscribe imprint of Black British writers.

“Glimpse is an exciting book from a community I have admired for years. These brilliant Black British creatives are writing themselves into speculative pasts and futures” – Sheree Renée Thomas, Editor of Fantasy, and Science Fiction magazine

Leone Ross is a fiction writer and editor. Her latest novel is the New York Times’ Editor’s Choice This One Sky Day/Popisho [Faber/FSG, 2021]. Described by the Times Literary Supplement as ‘a master of detail’, her fiction has been nominated for the Women’s Prize, the Goldsmiths award, the RSL Ondjaate award, and the Edge Hill Prize, among others.

Readers for the evening have been confirmed and will include some fantastic voices:

Patience Agbabi FRSL is a Fellow in Creative Writing at Oxford Brookes University and an Associate Member of the Faculty of English at Oxford University. Her latest poetry collec- tion is Telling Tales, a multicultural retelling of The Canterbury Tales. Her debut middle-grade novel, The Infinite, was shortlisted for The Arthur C. Clarke Award for Science Fiction Book of the Year 2021. It won the Wales Book of the Year: Children and Young People Award 2021.

Judith Bryan’s 1998 Saga Prize winning novel, Bernard, and the Cloth Monkey was republished in 2021 for Penguin’s Black Brit- ain: Writing Back series, curated and with a new introduction by Booker-prize winner, Bernardine Evaristo. Judith’s fiction and nonfiction are published by Penguin, Bloomsbury and Peepal Treeamongothers.Herfirstplay, AColdSnap,was shortlisted for the Alfred Fagon award. She is a Hawthornden Fellow and Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy with over twenty years’ experience teaching creative writing. She has two historical novels in progress and is working towards a first collection of short stories.

Patricia Cumper was born in Jamaica and moved to the UK some twenty-five years ago. She writes for the stage and radio. She was Artistic Director of Talawa Theatre Company and won an Outstanding Contribution award at the 9th BBC Audio Drama Awards 2020 for Outstanding Contribution. She is currently producing The Amplify Project, a series of podcasts in conversation with Black British Writers. She is a trustee of Utopia Theatre Company and a council member of the Arts and Humanities Research Council: at heart she is first and foremost a storyteller.

Melissa Jackson-Wagner is a Guyanese-British retired aca- demic who holds a PhD in Caribbean Literature. She has always worked to centre nuanced histories of Caribbean diasporas within academia and beyond. More recently, she has also worked as a consultant on issues surrounding multiracial identities. Her poetry has been published in Wasafiri and her artwork has been exhibited both in the UK and Guyana. She is currently working on her first speculative fiction novel.

Claudia Monteith is a writer, artist and group facilitator, leading creative writing courses in Bristol. At present, she is writing a mother/daughter memoir, entitled The Retelling, and a blog on her website that explores the highs and lows of what it means to be kind and creative in a crazy world.

Aisha Phoenix is an African Caribbean British speculative fiction writer. Her short story collection was shortlisted for the 2020 SI Leeds Literary Prize. Her work has appeared in publications including Peepal Tree’s Filigree and Inkandescent’s MAIN- STREAM. She has also been published in Spread the Word, National Flash Fiction Day, Leicester Writes, Brick Lane Bookshop and Bath Flash Fiction anthologies. She has an MA in Creative Writing (Birkbeck) and a PhD in Sociology (Goldsmiths).

Register and secure your ticket here

You can also attend other regional events:

Brighton – Wednesday 18 January

https://afroribooks.co.uk/products/book-launch-glimpse

Leeds – Saturday 4 March 

Leeds Library @ 4pm, as part of Leeds litFest

https://www.leedslitfest.co.uk/programme/

Photo illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Photo: Gérard Sioen/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images