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The Thread® - Books and Literary News
B.A. Parker, NPR, Karen Grigsby Bates, NPR, Kumari Devarajan, NPR and Veralyn Williams, NPR

Black reality in a world of fantasy

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Authors Tochi Onyebuchi (left) and Leslye Penelope (right) share their experiences building fantasy worlds in their latest sci-fi novels Goliath and The Monsters We Defy.
Authors Tochi Onyebuchi (left) and Leslye Penelope (right) share their experiences building fantasy worlds in their latest sci-fi novels Goliath and The Monsters We Defy.
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Code Switch's B.A. Parker moderates a panel at the National Book Festival with two Black science fiction and fantasy writers.

Tochi Onyebuchi's sci-fi novel Goliath imagines a futuristic New Haven where all of the white and wealthy people have left our climate destroyed planet. Those who are left behind are the poor and people of color. Leslye Penelope's latest novel, The Monsters We Defy, takes place in a fantastical version of 1920s Washington, DC, where a young black woman who talks to spirits goes on a jewelry heist.

In her discussion with Onyebuchi and Penelope, Parker explores why the authors built fantasy worlds that still had racism, classism and other ills of reality.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.