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Support Diversity in SFF with the Speculative Literature Foundation

Help fund grants to support diverse science fiction/fantasy writers, through the Speculative Literature Foundation!

Angel Cruz

Staff Writer

Angel Cruz is a professional enthusiast, living and writing in Toronto. She has been blogging about books since May 2011–her favourite genres are magic realism, contemporary fiction, and historical fiction. You can also find her at Women Write About Comics, reviewing front/backlist books and manga, as well as critically examining Asian representation in both Western and Asian media. Her copy of The Portable Dorothy Parker is paged through more often than is probably healthy. Ice cream, Broadway musicals, and Arashi are her lifeblood. Blog: Angel Cruz Writes Twitter: @angelcwrites

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Like many other science fiction and fantasy readers, I love finding new worlds and spaces beyond anything my imagination could conjure up, and I love reading about all the ways diverse characters discover those worlds for themselves. But it can be challenging for writers of diverse backgrounds and marginalizations to carve out a platform for themselves in a genre that’s been traditionally geared towards white/cis/allo/able-bodied readers. That’s where the Speculative Literature Foundation comes in.

The Speculative Literature Foundation has supported writers and stories of diverse backgrounds through the Diverse Worlds and Diverse Writers grants since 2013. While the initial grants came from a fundraiser, the SLF hopes to fund the grants for another five years to continue supporting diverse stories and writers across the genres. They’re currently at 15% of the $5,000 goal, with the money going towards new and emerging SFF writers, and stories that help expand the genre even further.

Former awardees of the grants include Gabriel Thibodeau, Eden Royce, Carmen Maria Machado, and Madhvi Ramani. Some of their stories have been personal favourites of mine over the last few years, and I can’t wait to see the new writers that these two grants can help bring into SFF. As the work towards true diversity and inclusion continues in publishing, this is a great way to get involved and help support writers who are making spaces for themselves and aspiring writers in the future.