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How to Dispatch a Human - Stephanie Andrea Allen in conversation with Jewelle Gomez

Event date: 
Friday, March 5, 2021 - 7:30pm to 9:00pm

Charis welcomes Stephanie Andrea Allen in conversation with Jewelle Gomez for a celebration of Allen's daring collection of speculative fiction, How to Dispatch a Human: Stories and SuggestionsStephanie Andrea Allen attends to the lives of Black women, mostly lesbian or queer, all keenly aware of the forces seeking to consume them. This event is co-sponsored by BLF Press. BLF Press is an independent Black feminist publishing house dedicated to amplifying the work of Black women and women of color. Click here to learn more.  

A Black lesbian working the gig economy runs into a trio of motorized scooters and helps them escape from Earth. An enchanted sleep mask gives a woman the gift of slumber, but what will it cost her? A suburban housewife is framed for murder by her homophobic neighbor. And in the follow up to “Luna 6000,” a young woman investigates her mother’s untimely death and learns the truth about her family.  

Stephanie Andrea Allen’s How to Dispatch a Human: Stories and Suggestions is an unapologetic,  often humorous, foray into the quotidian magic that envelops Black women’s lives. The eleven stories in this collection are filled with characters who will entice and delight readers as they traverse the worlds around them. With a mix of fabulism, near future, and speculative fictions, Allen reminds us in exquisitely nuanced prose that the fantastical can be found amongst the ordinary.  

This event is free and open to all people, especially to those who have no income or low income right now, but we encourage and appreciate a solidarity donation in support of the work of Charis Circle, our programming non-profit. Charis Circle's mission is to foster sustainable feminist communities, work for social justice, and encourage the expression of diverse and marginalized voices. https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/CharisCircle?code=chariscirclepage

This event takes place on crowdcast, Charis' virtual event platform. Register here.

We will be archiving this event and adding closed captioning as soon as possible after airing so that it will be accessible to deaf and HOH people. If you have other accessibility needs or if you are someone who has skills in making digital events more accessible please don't hesitate to reach out to info@chariscircle.org. We are actively learning the best practices for this technology and we welcome your feedback as we begin this new way of connecting across distances.

By attending our virtual event you agree to our Code of Conduct: Our event seeks to provide a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, religion (or lack thereof), class, or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Sexual language and imagery are not appropriate. Anyone violating these rules will be expelled from this event and all future events at the discretion of the organizers. Please report all harassment to info@chariscircle.org immediately.

Stephanie Andrea Allen is a southerner, scholar, and writer. Her work can be found in Big Echo: Critical Science Fiction Magazine, Black From the Future: A Collection of Black Speculative Writing, Sinister Wisdom, and in her debut collection of short stories and essays, A Failure to Communicate.

Jewelle Gomez (Cape Verdean/Ioway/Wampanoag) is a writer and activist and author of the double Lambda Award-winning novel, THE GILDA STORIES from Firebrand Books. Her adaptation of the book for the stage "BONES & ASH: A GILDA STORY," was performed by the Urban Bush Women company in 13 U.S. cities. The script was published as a Triangle Classic by the Paperback Book Club.

“Stephanie Andrea Allen’s story collection embraces the acerbic complexity of Joanna Russ, the practical science of James Tiptree Jr., the moral center of Rod Serling along with the finger-popping, sister sense of your local black beauty shop. Not a combo you want to pass up.” Jewelle Gomez, author of The Gilda Stories

Event address: 
CROWDCAST
How to Dispatch a Human: Stories and Suggestions By Stephanie Andrea Allen Cover Image
$16.95
ISBN: 9781735906508
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Blf Press LLC - March 2nd, 2021

Black From the Future: A Collection of Black Speculative Writing By Stephanie Andrea Allen (Editor), Lauren Cherelle (Editor) Cover Image
By Stephanie Andrea Allen (Editor), Lauren Cherelle (Editor)
$19.95
ISBN: 9780578502137
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Blf Press LLC - August 20th, 2019

Black From the Future: A Collection of Black Speculative Writing encompasses the broad spectrum of Black speculative writing, including science fiction, fantasy, magical realism, and Afrofuturism, all by Black women writers.


A Failure to Communicate By S. Andrea Allen Cover Image
$14.95
ISBN: 9780997243949
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Blf Press LLC - January 10th, 2017

A Failure to Communicate, S. Andrea Allen's debut collection of short fiction and essays, focuses on how communication, or the lack thereof, impacts Black women's lives.


The Gilda Stories By Jewelle Gomez, Alexis Pauline Gumbs (Afterword by) Cover Image
By Jewelle Gomez, Alexis Pauline Gumbs (Afterword by)
$16.95
ISBN: 9780872866744
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: City Lights Books - March 29th, 2016

*Recommended by Reese Witherspoon's Book Club

*Voted One of Book Riot's Most Influential Queer Books & Horror Novels of All Time

Before Buffy, before Twilight, before Octavia Butler's Fledgling, there was The Gilda Stories, Jewelle Gomez's sexy vampire novel.


Event Summary: 
Charis welcomes Stephanie Andrea Allen in conversation with Jewelle Gomez for a celebration of Allen's daring collection of speculative fiction, How to Dispatch a Human: Stories and Suggestions. This event is co-sponsored by BLF Press.