2021 is over. Allegedly. We haven’t gone back to check. But, as Gregorian calendars everywhere say it’s now 2022, it means FIYAH has officially been around for five entire years of Black excellence and perseverance in the many faces of our shared and comically grim reality.
In the last year, we’ve added 18 new works of prose and 9 poems by Black writers, as well as 4 new nonfiction essays thanks to our new Nonfic Editors Margeaux Weston and Chavonne Brown.
In an absolutely momentous year, our highlights include:
1: First full year paying contributors professional rates (as standardized by SFWA)
You may recall the events of 2020, described in brief in our last eligibility post, and the manner in which the financial windfall we received allowed us to pay our contributors and fund FIYAHCON. Our October 2020 Joy issue was specially funded to become the first issue for which our authors could count works published with us as credits toward SFWA membership eligibility. 2021 was the first full year we could afford to do this. We’ve retained enough of our BLM subscriber base from the fraught events of summer 2020 to do it again in 2022 without a subscription drive.
2: Two Hugo Award nominations, resulting in our first-ever win for Best Semiprozine
Masked and delirious at a December Worldcon in Washington, DC, Brent Lambert and L.D. Lewis accepted FIYAH’s first ever Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine. FIYAHCON 2020 was also nominated in the Best Related Work category.
3: Our first ever special issue, composed of and dedicated to Palestinian SFF creators
The amplified apartheid violence suffered by Palestinians in their homeland earlier in 2021 prompted a few publications to issue statements of support. FIYAH and FIYAHCON were proud to count ourselves among them, providing dedicated content blocks for Palestinian SFF creators at the convention, and publishing a special issue in December. The issue is available as free reads on our website, but proceeds (~$400.00 USD so far) from purchases of the ebook are donated to Medical Aid for Palestinians, a non-profit organization “working for the health and dignity of Palestinians living under occupation and as refugees.” The special issue includes an additional 6 works of prose and 9 poems. We have included them in our award-eligible works below.
4: Another incredible FIYAHCON, along with its hiatus
L.D. Lewis and Brent Lambert led the return of FIYAHCON in September, as well as the Ignyte Awards with Suzan Palumbo. The event itself again centered BIPOC and their contributions to speculative fiction, and its execution was celebrated by the 1072 people who attended. Unfortunately, the convention is on hiatus and will not continue in 2022. The team cites heavy harassment, entitlement, and discourtesy, as well as a need to return to personal projects as reasons for the indefinite pause. As this is a teaching event, L has posted the full retrospective on her blog here.
As of the end of 2021, FIYAH staff changes include the departure of the incomparable Danny Lore as Acquiring Editor, founding Art Director L.D. Lewis stepping down to be replaced by Christian M. Ivey, and Managing Editor Eboni Dunbar leaving the team, replaced by Zora Satchell. L remains the Project Manager and Layout Designer for our issues. We also welcome new Acquiring Editors Rebecca McGhee, Joshua Morley, and oft-reviewer Kerine Wint.
As always, we are immensely grateful for the support we’ve received, and we look forward to bringing you new, exciting content in 2022.
This post is here to help you out should you want to nominate FIYAH or any of its incredible contributors for the upcoming award season.
FIYAH Literary Magazine is eligible for 2021 semiprozine award categories.
STAFF
Publisher: Troy L. Wiggins
Executive Editor: DaVaun Sanders
Guest Editors, Palestinian Special Issue: Nadia Shammas, Summer Farah
Managing Editor: Eboni J. Dunbar
Poetry Editor: B. Sharise Moore
Nonfiction Editor: Margeaux Weston
Web Editor: Chavonne Brown
Acquiring Editors: Kaleb Russell, Genine Tyson, Emmalia Harrington, Tonya R. Moore
Art Director + Layouts Composer + Project Manager: L. D. Lewis
Reviews Coordinator + Social Media Manager: Brent Lambert
FIYAHCON Director: L. D. Lewis
FIYAHCON Master of Programming: Brent Lambert
FIYAHCON Ignyte Awards Co-Admin: Suzan Palumbo
PROSE
Executive Editor: DaVaun Sanders
Acquiring Editors: Kaleb Russell, Emmalia Harrington, Genine Tyson, Tonya R. Moore
| Title | Author (Last, First) | Word count | Story Type |
| Issue 17- January 2021 | |||
| Baby Brother | Bayron, Kalynn | 3211 | Short |
| Delete Your First Memory for Free | Coleman, Kel | 3625 | Short |
| The Techwork Horse | Ayinde, M. H. | 5582 | Short |
| All in a Day’s Work | Stewart, Jade | 3663 | Short |
| Issue 18 – April 2021 | |||
| The White Road or How a Crow Carried Death Over a River | Bailey, Marika | 6343 | Short |
| Fatal Conditions | Campbell, Chris | 3827 | Short |
| Rememory | Reynolds, Kristen | 7352 | Short |
| Blood Ties | Wilburn, Jade | 4952 | Short |
| Issue 19 – July 2021: SOUND + COLOR | |||
| To Rest, and to Create | Knight, LA | 4952 | Short |
| Meditations on Sun-Ra’s Bassism | Scholfield, Yah Yah | 4083 | Short |
| Lungs | Watson, Lily | 2585 | Short |
| Morning | Russell, Diane | 5972 | Short |
| Where the Sky Becomes Milk | McGhee, Jamie | 6255 | Short |
| Issue 20 – October 2021: LOVE, DEATH, & ANDROIDS | |||
| The First of Us: The Geordonn Smith Story | Walker, K.S. | 3098 | Short |
| Smiley Faces With Blackberry Jam on Toast | Scott, Cynthia C. | 5557 | Short |
| Performance Review | Mahamed, Maryan | 2949 | Short |
| The Trumpet Player | Kurtz, Nicole Givens | 3929 | Short |
| The Body of Theseus | Park, Emir G. | 5148 | Short |
| Palestinian Special Issue | |||
| First Leaf | Stephens, Elise | 4000 | Short |
| To New Jerusalem | Kader, Farah | 5200 | Short |
| an exercise in public displays of vulnerability, or, an epic of silenced mass catastrophic proportion | Hilal, Feras | 1974 | Short |
| Rise | Risheq, Sarah | 1469 | Short |
| Muneera and the Moon | Sulaiman, Sonia | 2057 | Short |
| The Night Journey | Fadil, Samah | 1100 | Short |
POETRY
Poetry Editor: B. Sharise Moore
Acquiring Editor for Poetry: Tonya R. Moore
Our poets are eligible for the Rhysling Awards
| Issue 17 – January 2021 | Author (Last, First) |
| Rainbows and Necklaces | Deep, Martins |
| A POEM IN WHICH SANGO HANGS LIGHTNING & LULLABIES HIS CHILDREN | Ògúnyẹmí, Ernest O. |
| Erstwhile Ramelon | Wright, K. Ceres |
| Issue 18 – April 2021 | |
| A Demon at My Window | Wilson, Aigner Loren |
| in which my grandma departs this realm for three hours | Osawaru, Praise |
| Issue 19 – July 2021: SOUND+COLOR | |
| Astral | Curry, Aliyah |
| Homes Threnody | Humble, Olaitan |
| Issue 20 – October 2021: LOVE, DEATH, & ANDROIDS | |
| Explaining Bot Fights to Bhabi | Sadiq, Abu Bakr |
| When I fell apart my mother put me back together | Christopher, Renee S. |
| Palestinian Special Issue | |
| from UNIVERSAL THEORY IN WHICH EVERY FAILED ATTEMPT AT LOVE IS A SOULMATE FROM AN ALTERNATE TIMELINE | Abraham, George |
| Captain’s Log | Tbakhi, Fargo Nissim |
| LIBERATION IS ROTTING IN YOUR FIGS | Aboutaleb, Leena |
| Single Witness | Goushey, Layla Azmi |
| Arab American Gothic | Zahzah, Omar |
| Casting Runes | Abdulhadi, Rasha |
| When I find the first letter | Sakr, Aiya |
| Five Things Found in Shahrazad’s Garden | Sakr, Aiya |
| Blood Suck | Fadil, Samah |
NONFICTION
Nonfiction Editors: Margeaux Weston (in-issue), Chavonne Brown (on site)
| July 2021 | Author (Last, First) |
| What to the Black Man is Patriotism? Patriotism and the MCUs Black Captain America – in issue 19 | Metz, E. Chad |
| August 2021 | |
| The Case for Black Utopia – on site | Olorunnisola, Kanyinsola |
| October 2021 | |
| The Final Strike: A Black Lightning Retrospective – on site | Upkins, Dennis R. |
| The Answer – in issue 20 | Burd, KL |
ART
Art Director: L. D. Lewis
Artists are eligible for semipro/fan artist categories
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| FIYAH #17 | FIYAH #18 |
| Artist: Nilah Magruder | |
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| FIYAH #19 | FIYAH #20 |
| Artist: Paul Kellam | Artist: Morgan Madeline |
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| Palestinian Special Issue | |
| Artist: Leila Abdelrazaq |
Got questions? Email team[at]fiyahlitmag.com. And from all of us, thank you for reading and for loving what we do.
