A heavy set Black man wearing semitransparent glasses. He has a beard and a slightly grown-out mohawk. He’s wearing a pair of navy blue headphones around his neck and a floral-print seersucker shirt. He looks like he thinks a lot about life. He’s a keen observer and, if I’m being honest, a solid home cook. He probably likes you.
He also loves when his wife photographs him. (DAMN she fine, though. Nigerian glamazon….) He wonders if there’s coffee left in the pot at home. Probably not. Oh well.
You know, I thought this was supposed to be Alt Text, but no, it’s the actual image caption. Mondays!
Alex Jennings is a bisexual author/editor/teacher/poet living in Evanston, IL. He was born in Wiesbaden (Germany) and raised in Gaborone (Botswana), Tunis (Tunisia), Paramaribo (Suriname) and the United States. He constantly devours pop culture and spends too much time online.
He pens a regular speculative poetry review column in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction called “Chapter and Verse.” In 2022, he was the first Imagination Unbound Fellow at Under the Volcano, a guided writing retreat held annually in Tepoztlan, Mexico, and he is a Litowitz Fellow at Northwestern University.
Jennings has spent years working as a standup comic in New Orleans and across the South. His writing has appeared in Fantastic Stories of the Imagination, Electric Velocipede, Uncanny Magazine, Fantasy Magazine, New Suns, and Current Affairs, among other venues. He has been a finalist for the Mythopoeic Award, the Crawford Award, the Ray Bradbury Prize for Speculative Fiction, the Locus Award for First Novel, and the World Fantasy Award. He is the winner of the 2023 Compton Crook Award.
His debut novel, The Ballad of Perilous Graves is available wherever books are sold, and his forthcoming novel, Dead End Boys, will hit stands in the summer of 2027.
Support him on Patreon!
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 19 - 28 - Stonecoast MFA Residency!
June 29 - July 5 - DMV, BABEYYY!
July 30 - August 2 - GENCon Writers Symposium!
REST OF THA SUMMAH - CHICAGOLAAAAAAND!
First (calendar) Year at Northwestern is IN THA CAN!
1/17/2023 - THE BALLAD OF PERILOUS GRAVES is now available in paperback WHEREVER BOOKS ARE SOLD! Get you a copy here!
Yesterday was tough. I haven’t been away from New Orleans for Mardi Gras day one time since 2004. That’s 22 years. The past couple months have been a blur. I’ve mainly concerned myself with staying sane, healing my body, and working on DEAD END BOYS. Like BALLAD, it’s a New Orleans novel, and I hope that being away from the city for a while will give me greater insight into the place, its people, its culture. Still, it’s not easy to be so far away during Carnival.
My injury is more serious than I’d hoped. There are no broken bones, but last week, I had an ultrasound--using this device that suspiciously resembled a George Foreman Grill-- and the docs told me that my quad tendon was definitely torn and that it would require surgery to repair. The surgery needs to be sooner than later, so Kechi and I have been rushing to figure out the logistics of that, as well as getting a hold of mobility aids to get me back in class. What a way to start the quarter!
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!
