Kaleidoscope: Diverse YA SF and Fantasy Anthology

by Alisa Krasnostein

One of the best things small presses can do is to publish work that sits outside of “mainstream publishing” and to champion works that large corporations don’t consider. At Twelfth Planet Press we look to publish fresh, original, well-written work that seeks to interrogate, commentate, inspire or provoke thought. We look to provide opportunities and to advocate for fiction that might otherwise not be written or find a home and audience. Kaleidoscope (http://www.pozible.com/project/34920) is an anthology of diverse contemporary YA science fiction and fantasy stories. Our crowdfunding campaign ends in just a few days.

I became passionate about the idea of making Kaleidoscope after listening to an episode of the Outer Alliance Podcast. It was a panel discussion about the lack of QUILTBAG characters in YA dystopian novels (http://outeralliance.podbean.com/2012/06/), and it made me want to publish more YA stories with underrepresented voices so young adult readers would see themselves reflected in the fiction they read. 

I’ve always been committed to publishing diverse material, and I was very interested to work with Julia Rios, who has been actively promoting diversity in our field for quite some time. She’s half-Mexican and bisexual, and the ideals of feminism and intersectionality are important to both of us. She was enthusiastic about the idea, and we set about collecting some wonderful stories.

At present we have five stories by Sofia Samatar, Vylar Kaftan, Ken Liu, Jim Hines, and Sean Williams. They are beautiful, fun, heartbreaking, and adventurous, and their protagonists are neurodiverse, people of color, mentally ill, and part of the QUILTBAG. These stories are strong anchors, but the anthology is still in its nascent stages. We have much material still to come, and we are hoping to see many great stories in our open submissions call (http://kaleidoscope.twelfthplanetpress.com/?page_id=42).

We're not limiting this book to authors who have already established themselves in the field. We're reaching out to anyone anywhere who might have a story to share. We want to see protagonists who are not the mainstream default (straight, white, cisgendered, able-bodied, neurotypical) character. We want to delight in their adventures, be awed by their magic, and geek out over their tech. 

If you're a writer, or know someone else who is, spread the word about our call. If you're a reader, like us, and if you want to see these stories for yourself, please back Kaleidoscope today! (http://www.pozible.com/project/34920)