Fables and Spells: Collected and New Short Fiction and Poetry

★ “The 70 short stories and poems that make up Brown’s phenomenal debut collection (after the novella Grievers) explore social justice through an Afrofuturist lens … It’s a masterful mix of genre and form that showcases Brown’s range and skill. This should be required reading for anyone looking for Black feminist speculative literature.”
—Publishers Weekly, starred review

Fables and Spells is a vibrant selection of visionary works, both previously published and brand new. Included here is brown’s most beloved story, “The River,” as well as the two sequel tales of her Water Trio. The remaining sixty-seven pieces explore moments of beauty, conflict, and transformation that also weave deep, radical lessons. With narrative “fables” of speculative fiction and “spells” that play with the lines between poetry, instruction, song, and chant, Fables and Spells demonstrates how good writing can engage the present while providing expansive visions of the possible worlds humans can build.

adrienne maree brown’s previous work includes Octavia’s Brood, Emergent Strategy, the New York Times best-selling Pleasure Activism, We Will Not Cancel Us, Holding Change, and Grievers. brown grows transformative ideas in public through her writing and art; she is a poet changing the world. She is the writer-in-residence at Emergent Strategy Ideation Institute.