FIYAH’s team is comprised entirely of Black speculative fiction writers rooted in a collective known as The Niggerati Space Station. NSS was founded by P. Djeli Clark and Troy L. Wiggins and the start of the FIYAH project was funded by Justina Ireland. The staff represents myriad Black identities, LGBTQ distinctions, and intersections with illness and disability. We write, seek, and support stories that reflect all of these experiences.
STAFF
DaVaun Sanders | Publisher, Executive Editor
DaVaun Sanders (he/him) resides in Phoenix, Arizona. His short fiction has appeared in FIYAH, PodCastle, Broken Eye Books, Dancing Star Press, the New York Times bestselling anthology, Black Boy Joy, and elsewhere. He continues to expand his work in children’s SFF, for his own twins and kids everywhere who deserve to enjoy inclusive stories. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @davaunsanders for Rottie shenanigans, #twinlife updates, and occasional writerly things.
B. Sharise Moore | Poetry Editor
B. Sharise Moore is a New Jersey native, writer/educator, curriculum designer, and host of the YouTube channel: Moore Books with B. Sharise. Her poetry and short stories have appeared in FIYAH Literary Magazine, The Journal of Black Poetry, and The City: Cyberfunk Anthology, among others. Her debut YA historical fantasy novel, Dr. Djinn’s Odd Scholars was published in 2020. B. Sharise currently resides in Baltimore, MD with her husband and precocious toddler, Peanut. Catch her on Twitter @sharise_b and on Facebook b.sharise.moore.
Christian Ivey | Art Director and Social Media Manager (2022-)
Christian Michael Ivey (he/they) is an SFFH writer & editor from Pontiac, MI. He currently lives in the Bay Area working as the Digital Communications Specialist for Othering and Belonging Institute at UC Berkeley. Their hobbies include photography, Dj-ing, playing DND, and buying too many books when he isn’t playing the Switch. He is currently suffering through several drafts, which he hopes will be his debut novel/novelette.
Rebecca McGee | Acquiring Editor
Rebecca is a Kansas City native. She attended community college and then the University of Missouri-Columbia where she studied journalism. She lives with her head in the clouds and is rarely seen down here on earth, but when she is, her nose is probably stuck in a book. Find her at her blog or on Twitter @BeccaKhessa
Kerine Wint | Acquiring Editor
Kerine Wint is a software engineering graduate with more love for books than for computers. If she’s not busy reading and reviewing, she’s writing stories, recommending foreign/global media, running a podcast and making content all over the place. Find her work here or follow her on Instagram and Twitter.
Joshua Morley | Acquiring Editor
Joshua Morley is a Nigerian poet, editor, artist and undergraduate student of Veterinary Medicine in the University of Ibadan, Ibadan. A Best of the Net Nominee and finalist for Nigerian NewsDirect Poetry Prize 2020, Morley has had poems published in Corporeal, Stone of Madness, Disquiet Arts, Odd Magazine, and elsewhere. They are an alumnus of Within The Trees: Poetry×Music Workshop. He works as a poetry editor at Second Skin Mag and Lupercalia Press. Morley is Okpameri; from Makeke, Edo.
Emmalia Harrington | Acquiring Editor – Prose
Emmalia (she/her) is a disabled QWOC with a deep love of speculative fiction. When she’s not reading or writing, she’s often sewing, cooking or managing cats. Her work can be found at FIYAH, Glittership and other venues. She can be found on Twitter at @Emmalia_Writes
Genine Tyson | Acquiring Editor – Prose
Genine is an African-American writer who traveled East to West to settle in California for the last several years. Since obtaining her creative writing degree, she has done nothing with it except get a job and write on weekends, but things changed. Embracing her love of monsters, magic, and machines, she is working on two novels at once -because writing one isn’t hard enough—apparently. To connect, find Genine on Twitter @geninet or on her blog.
Tonya R. Moore | Acquiring Editor – Poetry
Nelson Rolon | Sponsor Coordinator and Webmaster
Nelson Rolon is a Black-Hispanic writer born and raised in NYC. His debut novelette, “Saudade,” was published in FIYAH Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction (2018), reprinted in Lightspeed Magazine (2021), and mentioned in The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy (2019). He writes about cyborgs, interstellar migration, and faith. Nowadays, Nelson teaches writing in Columbus, Ohio, and lives in a cozy apartment with his wife and two cats. Follow him on Twitter @oldmannelson
For technical issues regarding the website and customer service, email help[at]fiyahlitmag.com.
EXTENDED FAMILY
Over time our staff may need to move on for various reasons. We are no less thankful for the time and energy they were able to give us, and will always consider them part of the FIYAH team.
L. D. Lewis | Art Director, Magazine Designer, Special Projects Manager, Web Master, & Doer of Various Other Things [2016-2023]
LeKesha is a an award-winning SF/F writer and editor, and publisher at Fireside Fiction. She serves as a founding creator and Project Manager for the World Fantasy- and Hugo Award-winning FIYAH Literary Magazine. She also serves as the founding Director of FIYAHCON, Nebula Conference Chair, and pays the bills as the Awards Manager for the Lambda Literary Foundation. She 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 Neon Hemlock, among others. She lives in Georgia, on perpetual deadline, with her coffee habit, two very photogenic kittens, and an impressive Funko Pop! collection. Visit her website, follow her on Twitter @ellethevillain and/or support her Patreon.
Chavonne Brown | Web Editor (2022-2023)
Chavonne Brown (he/him) is a Black British screenwriter, playwright, game writer, and poet, currently undergoing a Creative Writing PhD at Lancaster University in the UK. He researches the use of SFF to reclaim and reimagine minority histories, with a particular concern for the presentation of blackness and queerness in visual storytelling. His short stories have been printed in the Birmingham Literary Journal and selected poems of his can be found in Porridge Magazine. View his body of work on chavbrown.wordpress.com, find him on Twitter @theliberalcynic, and see the game he’s been working on @daemonologierpg on basically every social platform.
Margeaux Weston | Non-Fiction Editor (2022-2023)
Margeaux Weston is an editor and writer. A Louisiana native, she provides editorial services at Little Blk Books. She has written non-fiction books for young readers, and has authored entertainment articles for several media outlets. She can be found on twitter @MargeauxWeston
Brent Lambert | Reviews Editor (2016-2023)
Comic books, SFF and good cooking are the essential elements of Brent Lambert. A full-fledged military brat, he is consistently struck by wanderlust and has a keen sense of things never really being permanent. He can be found on Twitter @brentclambert
Troy L. Wiggins | Publisher (2016-2022)
Troy is a writer and editor of speculative fiction from Memphis, Tennessee. His short fiction and essays have appeared in Griots: Sisters of the Spear, Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction From the Margins of History, Memphis Noir, Literary Orphans, and Book Riot. He blogs about speculative fiction, race, and nerd culture at Afrofantasy. Troy lives in Memphis with his wife and their two dogs. Find him on Twitter @troylwiggins
Kaleb Russell | Acquiring Editor (2016-2021)
Kaleb Russell is an aspiring mech pilot with an insatiable sweet tooth and a disquieting fondness for swords. When he’s not reading manga, binging podcasts, or writing about giant robots, he occasionally tweets @ImpreciseWords.
Eboni Dunbar | Managing Editor (2019-2021)
Eboni Dunbar (she/her) is a queer, Black woman who writes queer and black speculative fiction. She resides in the San Francisco Bay Area with her partner. She received her BA from Macalester College in English and her MFA in Creative Writing from Mills College. She is a VONA Alum, a former associate editor for PodCastle and a freelance reviewer. Her work can be found in FIYAH, Drabblecast, Anathema: Spec from the margins and Nightlight Podcast. Follow her on Twitter @sugoionna87 or follow her upcoming work on www.ebonidunbar.com
Danny Lore | Acquiring Editor & Comics Coordinator (2018-2021)
Danny Lore (they/them) is a queer black writer/editor raised in Harlem and currently based in the Bronx. They edited The Good Fight comics anthology as well as The Wilds. When not selling comics in their local comic shop they write them (Queen of Bad Dreams, James Bond and Quarter Killer- the last two cowritten with Vita Ayala). Their short fiction can be found in FIYAH, Nightlight, Fireside, And Efniks/Colorbloq.
Brandon O’Brien | Poetry Editor (2017-2020)
Brandon O’Brien is a poet and writer from Trinidad and Tobago. His work has been published in Uncanny Magazine, Strange Horizons, and New Worlds, Old Ways: Speculative Tales from the Caribbean, among others. He has also been shortlisted for the 2014 Alice Yard Prize for Art Writing, and the 2014 and 2015 Small Axe Literary Competitions. You can find him talking about poetry, his novel draft, intersectional politics, and his love of Kamen Rider on Twitter @therisingtithes or on Tumblr at therisingtithes.tumblr.com.
Justina Ireland | Executive Editor (2016-2018)
Justina Ireland enjoys dark chocolate, dark humor, and is not too proud to admit that she’s still afraid of the dark. She lives with her husband, kid, and dog in Pennsylvania. She is the author of Vengeance Bound and Promise of Shadows, both currently available from Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers. Her essay “Me, Some Random Guy, and the Army of Darkness” appears in The V-Word, an anthology of personal essays by women about having sex for the first time, published by Beyond Words (S&S). Her writing has appeared in Story Magazine, Book Riot, and Fireside Fiction. And her celebrated novel Dread Nation was released in 2018 from the HarperCollins imprint Balzer and Bray. You can find Justina on Twitter as @justinaireland or visit her website justinaireland.com.
P. Djéli Clark | Co-Founder
Phenderson Djéli Clark is a historian and occasional speculative fiction writer. His short SFF stories have appeared in Daily Science Fiction, Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, Tor.com and elsewhere. He posts on SFF, diversity and more at his blog The Disgruntled Haradrim (www.pdjeliclark.com). He also tweets stuff: @pdjeliclark
