“Sexuality-cum-sensuality is the experiential link between mind and matter, the vivid and eternal refutation of the alleged dichotomy between them. This understanding … is the throbbing glistening heart of Kiini’s body of work. This book is alive. Be not afraid,” is how author Nisi Shawl (Filter House) introduces Kiini Ibura Salaam‘s latest collection of short stories, Ancient, Ancient. Released by Aqueduct Press, the collections features stories “Of Wings, Nectar, & Ancestors,” “Rosamojo” and “Desire,” the latter two receiving praise from Publisher’s Weekly.
A New Orleans native, Salaam is a writer and painter who has used speculative fiction as a way to discuss topics of gender and sexuality. Her fiction has been included in Dark Matter, Mojo: Conjure Stories, Dark Eros, FEMSPEC, Ideomancer, Infinitematrix and PodCastle. Besides speculative fiction, she also writer poetry, creative nonfiction, erotica and essays; her essays have appeared in publications like Essence Magazine (“Navigating to No”), Utne Reader and Ms. Magazine. Praised by fellow writers, Nalo Hopkinson (“She wields [words] to weave fierce, gorgeous stories that stroke your sensibilities, challenge your preconceptions, and leave you breathless with their beauty”) and Jack Womack (“deserves to be considered as one of today’s most promising contemporary genre writers”), I am already excited to read it.
For more information on Salaam, you can follow her blog, KIS.list, twitter and facebook.
Also, stayed tuned for the my review of the book in the future…
Sherese Francis: Futuristically Ancient 
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