Without a Map

Without A Map is published in conjunction with the appearance of Mary Anne Mohanraj and Nnedi Okorafor as the Guests of Honor at WisCon 34, May 27-31, 2010 Madison, WI

Nnedi Okorafor contributes an excerpt from "Stormbringer," her sequel to The Shadow Speaker. In this powerful, tender excerpt, Dikéogu, a "meta-human" runaway slave with the power to create storms, meets Tumaki, the daughter of a wealthy Muslim family. The two fall in love and hang out in Tumaki's secret basement library, reading and making love. In the meantime, people are disappearing from Timia: "It was a slow disease in Timia. I might have left that city if it weren't for Tumaki. Hiding away in her library, I didn't realize how bad it was getting. Not until the day she came running down the winding staircase, shaking, eyes wide and wet..."

Mary Anne Mohanraj contributes a mix of emotionally rich and intimate stories, poems, and essays. In "Identity Papers," "Revised Itineraries," and "Saying Hello," Mohanraj, who was born in Sri Lanka but has lived in the United States since the age of two, recounts and reflects on a recent trip to Sri Lanka, where she wonders if she could ever feel at home. "Sequins" explores the complications bisexuality bring to an apparently traditional marriage, while in the space opera tale "Jump Space," Sarita tests her polyamorous marriage when she independently makes a commitment that could affect the future of her entire family. The volume concludes with Mohanraj's discussion of racism and how to write characters of color well.