Recognizing and Supporting Our LGBTQIA+ Speculative Fiction Community

ByStefani Cox

At the close of Pride Month, we want to take a moment to call forth just a few names from our community of openly LGBTQIA+ science fiction, fantasy, and horror authors, as a way of recognizing their contributions and encouraging readers to seek out their work.

There’s a strong lineage of LGBTQIA+ authors within speculative fiction, breaking down boundaries and expanding inclusivity, despite numerous historical and present-day barriers and prejudices. We hope to see a continued flourishing of diverse voices within and beyond these communities moving forward from today.

Recommended Reading

Clarion West Alumni:

  • Joel (Cup) Donato Ching Jacob (CW ’21)
  • Lue Palmer (CW ’21)
  • Phoebe Barton (CW ’19)
  • Minal Hajratwala (CW ’19)
  • Natalia Theodoridou (CW ’18)
    • Vampire: The Masquerade — Sins of the Sires
  • Elly Bangs (CW ’17)
    • Unity
  • Izzy Wasserstein (CW ’17)
    • All the Hometowns You Can’t Stay Away From
  • Mitchell Shanklin (CW ’16)
  • Margaret Killjoy (CW ’15)
    • We Won’t Be Here Tomorrow
  • Laurie Penny (CW ’15)
  • Evan J. Peterson (CW ’15)
    • Arkham Horror: The Road to Innsmouth
  • Nibedita Sen (CW ’15)
  • Chinelo Onwualu (CW ’14)
    • (ed.) Ex Marginalia: Essays from the Edges of Speculative Fiction
  • Neon Yang (CW ’13)
    • The Genesis of Mystery
  • Henry Lien (CW ’12)
  • Jei D. Marcade (CW ’11)
  • Christopher Caldwell (CW ’07)
  • Cat Rambo (CW ’05)
    • You Sexy Thing
  • Nisi Shawl (CW ’92)
    • (ed.) New Suns 2: Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color

Clarion West Six Week Workshop Instructors (and others we admire!):

  • Charlie Jane Anders
    • Even Greater Mistakes
  • Nicola Griffith
    • Spear
  • Yoon Ha Lee
    • The Fox’s Tower and Other Tales
  • Sam J. Miller
    • Boys, Beasts, and Men
  • Amal El Mohtar and Max Gladstone
    • This Is How You Lose the Time War
  • Tamsyn Muir
    • The Locked Tomb series
  • Annalee Newitz
    • The Terraformers
  • C. L. Polk
    • Even Though I Knew the End
  • Zin E. Rocklyn
    • Flowers for the Sea
  • V. E. Schwab
    • Gallant
  • Rivers Solomon
    • Sorrowland
  • Alyssa Wong
    • Star Wars: Doctor Aphra

Publishers and Additional Resources:

Last updated: 6/26/23

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