Chesya Burke is an editor, educator and author of comic books and

speculative fiction Speculative fiction is a term that has been used with a variety of (sometimes contradictory) meanings. The broadest interpretation is as a category of fiction encompassing genres with elements that do not exist in reality, recorded history, na ...

, most notably horror and dark fantasy. She has published over a hundred short stories, essays, and articles in magazines and anthologies such as ''

Clarkesworld ''Clarkesworld Magazine'' (ISSN 1937-7843) is an American online fantasy and science fiction magazine. It released its first issue October 1, 2006 and has maintained a regular monthly schedule since, publishing fiction by authors such as Elizabet ...

'', ''

Apex Magazine ''Apex Magazine'', also previously known as ''Apex Digest'', is an American horror and science fiction magazine. This subscription webzine, ''Apex Magazine'', contains short fiction, reviews, and interviews. It has been nominated for several awa ...

'', ''Nightmare Magazine'', and ''Stories for Chip: A Tribute to

Samuel R. Delany Samuel R. "Chip" Delany (, ) (born April 1, 1942), is an American author and literary critic. His work includes fiction (especially science fiction), memoir, criticism, and essays (on science fiction, literature, sexuality, and society). His ...

''. Her short story collection ''Let's Play White'' was published in 2011 while her debut novel, ''The Strange Crimes of Little Africa'', was released in late 2015.

Nikki Giovanni Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni Jr. (born June 7, 1943) is an American poet, writer, commentator, activist, and educator. One of the world's most well-known African-American poets,Jane M. Barstow, Yolanda Williams Page (eds)"Nikki Giovanni" ''E ...

has compared Burke's fiction to that of

Octavia Butler Octavia Estelle Butler (June 22, 1947 – February 24, 2006) was an American science fiction author and a multiple recipient of the Hugo and Nebula awards. In 1995, Butler became the first science-fiction writer to receive a MacArthur Fellowship. ...

and

Toni Morrison Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison (born Chloe Ardelia Wofford; February 18, 1931 – August 5, 2019), known as Toni Morrison, was an American novelist. Her first novel, ''The Bluest Eye'', was published in 1970. The critically acclaimed '' So ...

Life

Burke grew up in

Hopkinsville, Kentucky Hopkinsville is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Christian County, Kentucky, United States. The population at the 2010 census was 31,577. History Early years The area of present-day Hopkinsville was initially claimed in 1796 b ...

. She earned a double major in Africana Studies and English from

Agnes Scott College Agnes Scott College is a private women's liberal arts college in Decatur, Georgia. The college enrolls approximately 1,000 undergraduate and graduate students. The college is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church and is considered one of the ...

and a Masters in African-American studies from

Georgia State University Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a Public university, public research university in Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is also the ...

. Her master's thesis was on

Storm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet retains an atmos ...

from The

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in ...

. Burke earned her Ph.D. in English at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

. She is active in literary and feminist communities, for example serving as co-chair of the Board of Directors of Charis Circle, the nonprofit programming arm of Charis Books & More, the Atlanta area's independent feminist bookstore.

Fiction

Burke's first full-length short story collection ''Let's Play White'' was published in 2011 by

Apex Publications ''Apex Magazine'', also previously known as ''Apex Digest'', is an American horror and science fiction magazine. This subscription webzine, ''Apex Magazine'', contains short fiction, reviews, and interviews. It has been nominated for several awa ...

. The collection was favorably reviewed in the ''Midwest Book Revie''w, ''Austin Post'' and

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

, which said "If the urban realism doesn't always seem quite realistic, the depth of Burke's characters, the weight of their decisions, and their choices make this the very opposite of escapist fantasy." Burke's debut novel ''The Strange Crimes of Little Africa'' was published in late 2015 by RothCo Press. The novel is a mystery set during the 1920s

Harlem Renaissance The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and cultural revival of African American music, dance, art, fashion, literature, theater, politics and scholarship centered in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, spanning the 1920s and 1930s. At the t ...

and features a Black detective who realizes "she may have to sacrifice her cousin's freedom when she discovers evidence that her father, the first black traffic cop on the force, may be guilty of murder." The novel features an appearance by a fictional version of

Zora Neale Hurston Zora Neale Hurston (January 7, 1891 – January 28, 1960) was an American author, anthropologist, and filmmaker. She portrayed racial struggles in the early-1900s American South and published research on Hoodoo (spirituality), hoodoo. The most ...

Critical reception

Burke is known for blending different genres together with her writings. Reviewers have praised Burke's fiction, with the Barnes and Nobles Book Club calling her writing "mesmerizing -- there is an undeniable lyricism there but also a tangible darkness and pain."

called her a "formidable new master of the macabre" while poet

has compared Burke's writing to that of

and

A class of undergraduate English students at

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

created a website analyzing the themes of her short story collection through the lens of

Black feminism Black feminism is a philosophy that centers on the idea that "Black women are inherently valuable, that lack women'sliberation is a necessity not as an adjunct to somebody else's but because our need as human persons for autonomy." Race, gen ...

, as embodied in the work of

Patricia Hill Collins Patricia Hill Collins (born May 1, 1948) is an American academic specializing in race, class, and gender. She is a distinguished university professor of sociology emerita at the University of Maryland, College Park. She is also the former head of ...

and

Barbara Christian Barbara T. Christian (December 12, 1943 – June 25, 2000) was an American author and professor of African-American Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. Among several books, and over 100 published articles, Christian was most wel ...

Nonfiction and editing

Burke has written essays and articles for a number of magazines and anthologies, including

, Nightmare Magazine, and the

African American National Biography Project The African American National Biography Project is a joint project of the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research at Harvard University and Oxford University Press. The object of the project is to publish and maintain a database o ...

Bibliography

Novels

* ''The Strange Crimes of Little Africa'', RothCo Press (December 2015)

Collections and anthologies

* ''Let's Play White'', Apex Publications (2011)

Critical work

* "The H Word: The H is for Harassment (a/k/a Horror's Misogyny Problem)," Nightmare Magazine (2014) * "Super Duper Sexual Spiritual Black Woman," Clarkesworld (2012) * "Race and the Walking Dead" (2011)

Short stories

* "Haint Me Too" in ''Hex Life: Wicked New Tales of Witchery'', edited by Christopher Golden and Rachel Autumn Deering (Titan Books, 2019) *
Say, She Toy
, 2017 Locus Recommended Short Story, ''

'' (2017) * "Shiv", ''Outside'', a graphic anthology of new horror fiction with art by Jennifer Y Cruté, Ash Pure and Topics Press (2017) * "In the Quad of Project 327," Cassilda's Song edited by Joseph S. Pulver, Sr. (forthcoming in 2016) * "Cut. Pour.", ''The Daughters of Inanna'', Thunderstorm Books (2015) * "For Sale: Fantasy Coffin (Ababuo Need Not Apply)," ''Stories for Chip: A Tribute to

'' (2015) * "Please, Momma," Nightmare Magazine (2015) * "I Make People Do Bad Things," Nightmare Magazine (2014) * "The Horror at Castle Cumberland," ''Letters to Lovecraft: Eighteen Whispers to the Darkness'', Stone Skin Press (2014) * "Mountaintown," ''Shadows Over Main Street'' edited by Doug Murano & D. Alexander Ward, Hazardous Press (2014) * "The Teachings and Redemptions of Ms. Fannie Lou Mason," Apex Publications, (2011) * "CUE: Change," Apex Publications, (2011) * "Purse," Apex Publications, (2011) * "What She Saw When They Flew Away," Apex Publications, (2011) * "I Make People Do Bad Things," Apex Publications, (2011) * "Walter and the Three-Legged King," Apex Publications, (2011) * "The Unremembered," Dark Faith (2010) * "My Sister's Keeper," ''Whispers in the Night'' edited by Brandon Massey, Dafina Press (2007) * "The Light of Cree," Voices From the Other Side (2006) * "He Who Takes Away the Pain," Dark Dreams (2004) * "The Room Where Ben Disappeared," Would That It Were (2004) * "Chocolate Park," Undaunted Press (2004)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Burke, Chesya Year of birth missing (living people) Living people African-American women writers African-American novelists American horror novelists American fantasy writers American women novelists American women short story writers 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American women writers Women horror writers Women science fiction and fantasy writers Agnes Scott College alumni Georgia State University alumni University of Florida alumni People from Hopkinsville, Kentucky Novelists from Kentucky 21st-century American short story writers Kentucky women writers 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American writers