by Nisi Shawl (Author)
A long forgotten Beat poet brought back to life in utterly fantastical fashion.
In beautifully vivid journal entries, Black poet Mardou Fox chronicles her 1950s and '60s experiences with the Beat Generation--and her adventures in the mysterious, otherworldly realm "over the fence." Characters based on star Beat authors like Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac fight alongside Mardou or battle against her as she challenges racism and sexism to win happiness, freedom, and respect for her work. Are the answers she's seeking shrouded in the mists of magic? Inspired by the true story of Alene Lee, whose crucial role is often left out of Beat Generation lore.Author Biography
Nisi Shawl's first novel, Everfair, was
a finalist for the 2016 Nebula Award. In 2009 their Aqueduct story
collection Filter House received the Otherwise Award. They have
published three other short fiction collections--Something More and
More (Aqueduct, 2010), A Primer to Nisi Shawl (Dark Moon Books,
2017), and Talk Like a Man (PM Press, 2019). Shawl is, with Cynthia
Ward, the author of Writing the Other: A Practical Approach
(Aqueduct, 2005), and has edited numerous anthologies, including the
World Fantasy Award-winning New Suns: Speculative Fiction by People
of Color (Solaris, 2019), Strange Matings: Science Fiction, Feminism,
African American Voices, and Octavia E. Butler with Rebecca Holden
(Aqueduct, 2013), and Stories for Chip: A Tribute to Samuel R. Delany
with Bill Campbell (Rosarium, 2015).