Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora

Edited by Sheree R. Thomas, Dark Matter was a landmark anthology that gathered science fiction, fantasy and horror by writers of the African diaspora across roughly a century, from the late 1800s to 2000. It places classic and rediscovered pieces beside new work, bringing together genre figures such as Octavia E. Butler and Samuel R. Delany with writers better known outside the field, including Amiri Baraka. Alongside the fiction, a group of essays considers race, identity and the place of Black writers in speculative fiction, among them Delany's "Racism and Science Fiction." Published by Warner Aspect in 2000, the book helped bring a long and often overlooked tradition to new readers, and it won the 2001 World Fantasy Award for best anthology.