Visionary fiction and poetry from bestselling author adrienne maree brown.
? “The 70 short stories and poems that make up Brown’s phenomenal debut collection (after the novella Grievers)
explore social justice through an Afrofuturist lens…It’s a masterful
mix of genre and form that showcases Brown’s range and skill. This
should be required reading for anyone looking for Black feminist
speculative literature.”
—Publishers Weekly, starred review
Fables and Spells is
a vibrant selection of visionary works, both previously published and
brand new. Included here is brown’s most beloved story, “The River,” as
well as the two sequel tales of her Water Trio. The remaining
sixty-seven pieces explore moments of beauty, conflict, and
transformation that also weave deep, radical lessons. With narrative
“fables” of speculative fiction and “spells” that play with the lines
between poetry, instruction, song, and chant, Fables and Spells demonstrates how good writing can engage the present while providing expansive visions of the possible worlds humans can build.
adrienne maree brown’s previous work includes Octavia’s Brood, Emergent Strategy, the New York Times best-selling Pleasure Activism, We Will Not Cancel Us, Holding Change, and Grievers.
brown grows transformative ideas in public through her writing and art;
she is a poet changing the world. She is the writer-in-residence at
Emergent Strategy Ideation Institute.
"I felt such a deep connection to myself and my community while reading Fables and Spells.
It gave me permission to feel like I knew it all and also nothing ...
like I'm tapped into an energy so rich and abundant but also so depleted
and tired. The stories reminded me that we all have the capacity to
heal and destroy." —Juju Bae, host of A Little Juju Podcast
Featuring new work: Includes nine brand new stories as well as work previously published online.
A highly anticipated collection: shorts stories and poetry form bestselling author adrienne maree brown.
A tool for worldbuilding: Fables and Spells represents a new branch in the tree of the Emergent Strategy Series that sees fiction and poetry as tools for envisioning and building new worlds.
