American novelist
Chesya Burke is an American editor, educator and author of comic books and speculative fiction, most notably horror and dark fantasy. She has published over a hundred short stories, essays, and articles in magazines and anthologies such as "Clarkesworld", "Apex Magazine", "Nightmare Magazine", and "Stories for Chip: A Tribute to Samuel R. Delany". Her short story collection "Let's Play White" was published in 2011 while her debut novel, "The Strange Crimes of Little Africa", was released in late 2015. Nikki Giovanni has compared Burke's fiction to that of Octavia Butler and Toni Morrison.
Life.
Burke grew up in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. She earned a double major in Africana Studies and English from Agnes Scott College and a Masters in African-American studies from Georgia State University. Her master's thesis was on Storm from The X-Men. Burke earned her Ph.D. in English at the University of Florida. She is active in literary and feminist communities, for example serving as co-chair of the Board of Directors of Charis Circle, the nonprofit programming arm of Charis Books &amp; More, the Atlanta area's independent feminist bookstore.
Fiction.
Burke's first full-length short story collection "Let's Play White" was published in 2011 by Apex Publications. The collection was favorably reviewed in the "Midwest Book Revie"w, "Austin Post" and "Publishers Weekly", which said "If the urban realism doesn't always seem quite realistic, the depth of Burke's characters, the weight of their decisions, and their choices make this the very opposite of escapist fantasy."
Burke's debut novel "The Strange Crimes of Little Africa" was published in late 2015 by RothCo Press. The novel is a mystery set during the 1920s Harlem Renaissance and features a Black detective who realizes "she may have to sacrifice her cousin's freedom when she discovers evidence that her father, the first black traffic cop on the force, may be guilty of murder." The novel features an appearance by a fictional version of Zora Neale Hurston.
Critical reception.
Burke is known for blending different genres together with her writings. Reviewers have praised Burke's fiction, with the Barnes and Nobles Book Club calling her writing "mesmerizing -- there is an undeniable lyricism there but also a tangible darkness and pain." Samuel R. Delany called her a "formidable new master of the macabre" while poet Nikki Giovanni has compared Burke's writing to that of Octavia Butler and Toni Morrison
A class of undergraduate English students at Michigan State University created a website analyzing the themes of her short story collection through the lens of Black feminism, as embodied in the work of Patricia Hill Collins and Barbara Christian.
Nonfiction and editing.
Burke has written essays and articles for a number of magazines and anthologies, including Clarkesworld, Nightmare Magazine, and the African American National Biography Project.
References.
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