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'In this debut collection of personal essays, Eugen Bacon offers critical perspectives on blackness, Afrofuturism, colonialism, historicity, and (mis)recognition as she explores the untapped possibilities of speculative fiction. Using a variety of analytic, narrative, and anecdotal techniques, Bacon shares her experiences as an African Australian woman, mother, and writer who occupies a liminal space that is "betwixt" worlds and genres. She also considers work by "other" writers-ranging from Roland Barthes and Jorge Luis Borges to Suyi Davies Okungbowa, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Toni Morrison, Octavia Butler, and Sheree Renée Thomas-in an effort to chart a path towards greater social and cultural truth. Literary, adventurous, and insightful, An Earnest Blackness excavates the world(s) that not only construct contemporary authorship but the fluid nature of identity itself.' (Publication summary)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
2022 Recommended Reading
2023
single work
review
— Appears in: Locus , February vol. 90 no. 2 2023; (p. 26-49)
— Review of Mage of Fools 2022 single work novel ; Hard Places 2022 selected work short story ; An Earnest Blackness 2022 selected work essay ; Aurealis : Australian Fantasy and Science Fiction 1990 periodical (162 issues); Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine 2002 periodical (90 issues) -
[Review] An Earnest Blackness
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: Aurealis , no. 156 2022;
— Review of An Earnest Blackness 2022 selected work essay -
Afro-irreal Dark Fantasy Unleashed
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: TEXT : The Journal of the Australian Association of Writing Programs , vol. 26 no. 2 2022;
— Review of Chasing Whispers 2022 selected work short story ; An Earnest Blackness 2022 selected work essay 'Under review here are two smashing books by Eugen Bacon: Chasing Whispers and An Earnest Blackness, both snapped up by a US publisher, the twin houses of Anti-Oedipus Press and Raw Dog Screaming. One is a collection of Afro-Australian stories, the other a selection of essays that interrogates black writing and black speculative fiction, including some of its author’s in the aftermath of Black Lives Matter.' (Introduction) -
Locus Looks at Books : Divers Hands
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: Locus , October vol. 89 no. 4 2022; (p. 24-25)
— Review of An Earnest Blackness 2022 selected work essay
-
Locus Looks at Books : Divers Hands
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: Locus , October vol. 89 no. 4 2022; (p. 24-25)
— Review of An Earnest Blackness 2022 selected work essay -
Afro-irreal Dark Fantasy Unleashed
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: TEXT : The Journal of the Australian Association of Writing Programs , vol. 26 no. 2 2022;
— Review of Chasing Whispers 2022 selected work short story ; An Earnest Blackness 2022 selected work essay 'Under review here are two smashing books by Eugen Bacon: Chasing Whispers and An Earnest Blackness, both snapped up by a US publisher, the twin houses of Anti-Oedipus Press and Raw Dog Screaming. One is a collection of Afro-Australian stories, the other a selection of essays that interrogates black writing and black speculative fiction, including some of its author’s in the aftermath of Black Lives Matter.' (Introduction) -
2022 Recommended Reading
2023
single work
review
— Appears in: Locus , February vol. 90 no. 2 2023; (p. 26-49)
— Review of Mage of Fools 2022 single work novel ; Hard Places 2022 selected work short story ; An Earnest Blackness 2022 selected work essay ; Aurealis : Australian Fantasy and Science Fiction 1990 periodical (162 issues); Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine 2002 periodical (90 issues) -
[Review] An Earnest Blackness
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: Aurealis , no. 156 2022;
— Review of An Earnest Blackness 2022 selected work essay
Awards
- 2023 nominated Ditmar Awards — William Atheling Jr Award
- 2023 nominated British Fantasy Awards — Non-Fiction
- 2023 finalist Locus Awards — Non-fiction
- 2022 longlisted British Science Fiction Association Awards — Non-fiction