Alex Jennings is a writer/editor/teacher/poet living in New Orleans. He was born in Wiesbaden (Germany) and raised in Gaborone (Botswana), Tunis (Tunisia), Paramaribo (Surinam) and the United States. He constantly devours pop culture and writes mostly jokes on Twitter (@magicknegro). He loves music, film, comix, and even some TV.
He is the Program Director of DreamFoundry’s Con or Bust and pens a regular speculative poetry review column in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction called “Chapter and Verse.” In 2022, he was the inaugural recipient of the Imagination Unbound Fellowship at Under the Volcano, a guided writing retreat held annually in Tepoztlan, Mexico.
His writing has appeared in Fantastic Stories of the Imagination, Electric Velocipede, Uncanny Magazine, Fantasy Magazine, New Suns, and Current Affairs, among other venues. His debut novel, The Ballad of Perilous Graves is available wherever books are sold. You can find him goofing around on Instagram: @magicknegro, Twitter: @magicknegro, and Bluesky:
He is also an instructor of fiction and popular fiction at The University of Southern Maine’s Stonecoast MFA program.
Photo by Nkechi Chibueze.
I got hooked on comics before I could read. My older brother H. T. would recap stories he had read himself—like the one where Colossus picked up a skyscraper, or the one where the Sub-mariner threw a city bus at the Thing.https://www.antenna.works/the-illusion-of-change-what-afrofuturism-is-doing-for-mainstream-comics/
Trenice felt the car more than she saw it. Or she saw it without seeing it. She couldn’t be sure. Had the car’s driver meant her harm? Probably not. Here in New Orleans, sloppy driving was usually accidental.http://podcastle.org/2019/05/14/podcastle-574-mister-dog/
“There’s nothing new under the sun, but there are new suns,” proclaimed Octavia E. Butler.
New Suns: Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color showcases emerging and seasoned writers of many races telling stories filled with shocking delights, powerful visions of the familiar made strange.
It’s not often that we get a chance to see a podcast adapted for television—especially one like Homecoming. Homecoming recently finished its first season on Amazon Prime, and as a fan of the Gimlet Media production from which it was adapted, I couldn’t stay away.
My first exposure to Jon Padgett’s work was through the horror fiction podcast, Pseudopod. Padgett narrated his own short story, “20 Simple Steps to Ventriloquism.” The sound design, as well as Jon’s terrifically creepy voice-over performance, elevated an already excellent story into something I knew I needed to share with as many people as possible.
In 2003, Marvel Comics released Kyle Baker’s Truth: Red White and Black, an original, in-continuity graphic novel exploring the idea that before giving the super-soldier serum to a white test subject, the US Army tested the serum on a group of black GIs, most of whom perished in the process.
By the close of its third season, FX’s Snowfall has matured from an uneven, dubiously-paced pot-boiler about the early 80’s crack trade in Los Angeles to an essential narrative exploring the dark side of the American Dream. Snowfall Review
I’ve been a Hellboy fan for decades. From the beginning of his first miniseries, released in 1994, I knew I was reading something special. I had seen Mike Mignola’s art here and there in high profile comics projects from the Big Two—Some issues of X-Force, Batman: Gotham by Gaslight. Hellboy attracted me because it was nothing like a traditional superhero comic.
Last month, Star Trek: Discovery concluded its second season on the streaming platform CBS All Access. While I am a fan of the franchise, I never felt like I fit in with other Trekkers. Many die-hard Star Trek fans were turned-off by the most recent cinematic outings after J. J. Abrams rebooted the franchise to appeal to a broader and younger audience. Personally, I enjoyed those movies—the first more than the other two.
When I was seven years old, my family and I joined hands at the intersection of Rte. 1 and Maryland 175 in Jessup. Hands Across America was the first chance I got to be a part of a huge national charity event meant to help those less fortunate than myself. To be so small, so powerless, but able to do something to better the world was immensely thrilling to me.
I used to say that if Back to the Future starred a black man, it would have been a horror movie. See You Yesterday isn’t the first black time travel story, but the way it addresses growing up black in an urban neighborhood, the horrors of police brutality, and how difficult it can be to create a happy ending represent an important step in Afrofuturist filmmaking.
A link to the Peauxdunque Review’s site where you can purchase issue #1. This beautiful hardbound volume contains a wealth of poetry, fiction and nonfiction, including my story, “The Gordian Knot.” Get after it!
This is a killer anthology edited by Nisi Shawl and Bill Campbell. The link goes straight to Rosarium’s online bookshop where you can buy a copy of whatever format. My story, “Heart of Brass” appears within!
Holy shit. This one is so old, I was still going by “A. H. Jennings,” but man did I love being part of this killer anthology edited by Nick Mamatas and the late, great Jay Lake! On kindle and in paperback.
So proud to be part of this final issue, guest edited by Nisi Shawl. Contains my short story, “Maggie Doll.” Snap it up!
This is a Parnassus Award-winning issue of the literary magazine guest edited by Sherree Renee Thomas. The issue was reprinted and re-released, and I thiiiiiink it might still be available in hardcopy. It contains a corrected edition of my short story, “Ten Thousand Hours,” set in the New Orleans standup scene.
Publishing a letter in this volume was an amazing experience—and not just because the book won the Locus Award and was a finalist for the Hugo.
Watchmen is widely regarded to be one of the greatest graphic novels of all time—especially when it comes to superhero stories. In my view, Watchmen was a true achievement for its time—handling the concept and tropes of superhero stories with an adult sensibility and looking closely at the implications that real-world vigilantism and the influence even one superhuman would have. Article
A poem born out of a strange encounter years ago in my French Quarter apartment and the waking nightmare that is the Covid Crisis. Art by Mitchell Klein.By Easter on Rm. 220
This is a poem about Ahmaud, about every black person gunned down by police or vigilantes and whose blood cries out from the American earth.
June 23 - 27 - Stonecoast summer residency in Freeport, ME!
May 19 - 22, 2023 - I’ll be at WisCon in Madison, Wisconsin!
April 21 - 22, 2023 - Reading and signing at The LA Times Festival of Books at USC in Los Angeles.
April 1, 2023 - Blerdfest! I’ll be paneling, reading, tabling, and selling books. Passes are available HERE! Come on down and catch me in New Orleans, LA.
March 30 - April 1, 2023 - I’ll be reading, signing, and lecturing at McNeese State University in Lake Charles, LA. (Details soon!)
March 22 - 26, 2023 - Tennessee Williams Literary Festival. I’ll be paneling, reading, doing my thing at the Hotel Monteleone right here in New Orleans. More info available HERE!
March 15 - 18, 2023 - I’ll be at the International Conference for the Fantastic in the Arts in Orlando, FL.
March 4, 2023 - Foreign Exchange book launch with Dior J. Stephens at Baldwin & Co book shop in New Orleans, LA.
Stay tuned for a MAJOR announcement on 2/22/2023!
1/17/2023 - THE BALLAD OF PERILOUS GRAVES is now available in paperback WHEREVER BOOKS ARE SOLD! Get you a copy here!
I don’t get a chance to talk about this a lot, but fantasy maps are extremely important to me. I can still conjure the memory of the map in the front of that old edition of The Hobbit that my father read to me and my lil bro when we were small. That style, that imagery, the deep shadows of the more dangerous haunted reaches of the world transported me entirely Elsewhere. About nine months ago, I summoned my courage and wrote to my editor Nivia Evans that I wanted to include a map in the front of The Ballad of Perilous Graves. She immediately responded that this was a great idea and asked me to send her something to give to the map maker.
Ever since Sheree invited me to do this work during a breakfast phone call on our final day at Under the Volcano, the development has felt surreal and unexpected. Now that my first column is in, at a whopping 1,500 words, I still feel that way. I still don’t consider myself particularly qualified to give writing or career advice but looking around at the changed circumstances of my life, I can’t help thinking how many of the good things happening for me are the result of a baseline refusal to stop writing and submitting.
Right away, my dreams felt different. I’ve always been a vivid dreamer, conjuring bizarre landscapes and mysterious figures, but in Tepoztlan, the dreams were stranger and even more vivid than usual. I dreamed of kicking around New York City with the disgraced comedian Louis CK as he filmed some sort of hybrid reality/scripted television show. Every time he approached a woman, my stomach clenched, and I worried he’d say or do something terrible. Eventually, we went to an awards show—it wasn’t clear which one, but it was Very Important. Possibly the Grammies? I was seated beside the New Orleans rapper Lil Wayne, and I was fascinated to finally see him in real life. The other younger rappers made fun of his looks and bearings, and in response, he pulled out his cell phone and rapped several bars into a voice memo. He emailed the file to a producer friend who put it to a beat and released it. It went platinum before the ceremony finished, and I thanked him for his greatness—and for being saner than Kanye, at least.
Some brief thoughts on the cover launch for my novel, The Ballad of Perilous Graves (Red Hook, June, 2022)
Most anyone who knows me knows that my life and career are undergoing a massive shift. Meeting Meg where/when/how I did reflects the nature and intensity of that change, how it’s ramped up over the past few years. We waited almost exactly for years to spend time this way. She’s dear to me.
To request Alex Jennings as a speaker, MC, performer, or panelist, email alex@alexjennings.net
Photo by Nkechi Chibueze.
If you haven’t already, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of my debut novel, The Ballad of Perilous Graves. It’s a whimsical, musical romp through a magically-powered version of New Orleans where music is a kind of sorcery.
It’s been shortlisted for the Ernest J. Gaines Award, The William L. Crawford Fantasy Award, the Ray Bradbury Prize for Speculative Fiction, the Locus Award for Best First Novel, the Mark Twain American Voices Award, the 2023 Mythopoeic Award for Adult Literature, and the World Fantasy Award.
It won the 2023 Compton Crook Prize from the Baltimore Science Fiction Society.
This novel is a tribute to my family and to the city that made me. Buy it here, or wherever books are sold!
Did I mention that the novel is a musical? I think I did, but I also compiled a playlist of music that inspired the book. I listened to a LOT of New Orleans Jazz, funk, R&B, hip-hop, and blues while working on it, and I compiled a playlist on Spotify!
Check it out here!
Alex Jennings is a seasoned writing coach, reviewer, instructor, public speaker, copy editor, and developmental editor. He has decades of experience with speculative fiction, crime fiction, poetry (both speculative and non-), and literary fiction.
He is eternally curious and an adventurer at heart, so email him at alex@alexjennings.net to discuss your needs.
He looks forward to hearing from you!
I know this because he is me!
At the beginning of 2024, Kechi, Karate, and I moved to Baton Rouge. Kechi is teaching in LSU’s performance studies department, and I’m teaching a guest fiction seminar for graduate students at the English department. Leaving New Orleans has not been easy, for various reasons, but it was the best thing for us right now….