In the tradition of The Norton Anthology of Black Literature, Dark Matter: Reading The Bones, like its ground-breaking predecessor, will introduce black SF, fantasy, and speculative fiction writers to those who have not yet realized the depth and breadth of their work-or even, in some cases, that it exists. Including original short fiction and nonfiction as well as previously published works and essays, Dark Matter will contain approximately 30 stories from the early part of the century through the most cutting-edge work of today.

Contents:

• Fiction
  • ibo landing by ihsan bracy
  • The Quality of Sand by Cherene Sherrard
  • Yahimba's Choice by Charles R. Saunders
  • The Glass Bottle Trick by Nalo Hopkinson
  • Desire by Kiini Ibura Salaam
  • Recovery from a Fall by David Findlay
  • Anansi Meets Peter Parker at the Taco Bell on Lexington by Douglas Kearney
  • The Magical Negro by Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu
  • Jesus Christ in Texas by W. E. B. Du Bois
  • Will the Circle Be Unbroken? by Henry Dumas
  • 'Cause Harlem Needs Heroes by Kevin Brockenbrough
  • Whipping Boy by Pam Noles
  • Old Flesh Song by Ibi Aanu Zoboi
  • Whispers in the Dark by Walter Mosley
  • Aftermoon by Tananarive Due
  • Voodoo Vincent and the Astrostoriograms by Tyehimba Jess
  • The Binary by John Cooley
  • BLACKout by Jill Robinson
  • Sweet Dreams by Charles Johnson
  • Buying Primo Time by Wanda Coleman
  • Corona by Samuel R. Delany
  • Maggies by Nisi Shawl
  • Excerpt from Mindscape by Andrea Hairston
  • Trance by Kalamu ya Salaam
• Essays
  • The Second Law of Thermodynamics (Transcription of a Panel at the 1997 Black Speculative Fiction Writers Conference Held at Clark Atlanta University) by Jewelle Gomez
  • Her Pen Could Fly: Remembering Virginia Hamilton by Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu
  • Celebrating the Alien: The Politics of Race and Species in the Juveniles of Andre Norton by Carol Cooper