On this new episode of Everything is Canon, Steve is talking to Brent Lambert and L.D. Lewis, two members of the Black speculative fiction literary Magazine FIYAH, and two of the architects behind FIYAHCON.
If you’ve been living under a white rock, FIYAHCON is, for the past two years, a virtual convention centering the perspectives and celebrating the contributions of Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour in speculative fiction. The event is hosted by FIYAH Literary Magazine and carries a variety of entertaining and educational content surrounding the business, craft, and community of speculative literature.
Put simply, it’s a massive breath of fresh air and celebrates so much of what is great about storytelling and the marginalized publishing community in general, and has been my favorite convention the past couple of years. So, who better than to discuss both the magazine and the convention with than two key figures involved on the creation and production side of things.
Authors themselves, we talk to Brent and L.D. about a great many things in publishing including the future of FIYAHCON, the year that was, the upcoming HUGO/DisCon III event in Washington, and much, much more.
For more information about FIYAHCON, click HERE.
For more information about FIYAH Literary Magazine, click HERE.
FIYAHCON 2021 poster artwork by Cyan Daly.
Brent Lambert is a Black, queer man who heavily believes in the transformative power of speculative fiction across media formats. He resides in San Diego but spent a lot of time moving around as a military brat. His family roots are in the Cajun country of Louisiana. Currently, he manages the social media for FIYAH Literary Magazine and just had an anthology produced with Tor.com titled Breathe FIYAH. He has work published with FIYAH, Anathema Magazine, Cotton Xenomorph, Baffling Magazine and upcoming with Beneath Ceaseless Skies. Ask him his favorite members of the X-Men and you’ll get different answers every time.
L.D. Lewis does… well, a lot. She’s an award-winning SF/F writer and editor, and publisher at Fireside Fiction as of July 2021. She serves as a founding creator, Art Director, and Project Manager for the World Fantasy Award-winning and Hugo Award-nominated FIYAH Literary Magazine. She also serves the founding Director of Hugo-nominated FIYAHCON, chair of the 2021 Nebula Conference, and Awards Manager for the Lambda Literary Foundation. She also acquires novellas for Tor.com and researches for the LeVar Burton Reads podcast. She frequently bothers the publishing industry by authoring studies about the treatment and experiences of racially/ethnically marginalized authors in speculative literature. She is the author of A Ruin of Shadows (Dancing Star Press, 2018) and her published short fiction and poetry includes appearances in FIYAH, PodCastle, Strange Horizons, Anathema: Spec from the Margins, Lightspeed, and Fireside Magazine, among others. She lives in Georgia, on perpetual deadline, with her coffee habit and an impressive Funko Pop! collection.
