Isis Asare has been named executive director of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association. She is the fifth executive director and the first African-American executive director of the association, and will work with SFWA board president Kate Ristau and operations director Russell Davis (the previous interim executive director) to implement the strategic direction set by the SFWA board of directors.
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| Isis Asare (photo: Bryon Malik) |
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SFWA described Asare as "a queer Afrofuturist, technology entrepreneur, Stanford, Harvard, and Columbia alum, and the CEO/founder of Sistah Scifi, the first Black-owned bookstore focused on science fiction and fantasy in the U.S.," which is located in Oakland, Calif. She was honored as Norwescon 47's special guest of honor and served as executive director of Aunt Lute Books, the nonprofit press that has a history of championing underrepresented authors.
Asare aims, SFWA wrote, to "cultivate a space at SFWA where more conversation can happen, and where consensus on next steps can be achieved through a thoughtful inclusion of different points of view. SFWA is home to both traditional and transformative forms of SFF, and that wide array of approaches to the genre is not a source of schism. Rather, it is the rich foundation of creative practice on which the next phase of our advocacy journey--and our community uplift--will unfold."
Asare said, "Continuing the legacy of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association is a true honor. It was a privilege to present the Nebula Award for Best Novel to John Wiswell for Someone You Can Build a Nest In, and I cheered as A.W. Prihandita became the first Indonesian to win--or even be nominated for--the prestigious Nebula Award for Best Novelette, for 'Negative Scholarship on the Fifth State of Being.' It is a joy to celebrate the work of speculative fiction writers that inspire all readers to imagine futures beyond our wildest dreams."