Slaves in chains, toiling on master’s plantation. Beatings, bloodied whips. This is what many of us envision when we think of 19th century African Americans; source materials penned by those who suffered in bondage validate this picture. Yet slavery was not the only identity of 19th century African Americans. Whether they were freeborn, self-liberated, or born in the years after the Emancipation, African Americans had a rich cultural heritage all their own, a heritage largely subsumed in popular history and collective memory by the atrocity of slavery. The early 19th century birthed the nation’s first black-owned periodicals, the first media spaces to provide primary outlets for the empowerment of African American voices. For many, poetry became this empowerment. Almost every black-owned periodical featured an open call for poetry, and African Americans, both free and enslaved, responded by submitting droves of poems for publication. Yet until now, these poems -- and an entire literary movement -- have been lost to modern readers. The poems in Voices Beyond Bondage address the horrific and the mundane, the humorous and the ordinary and the extraordinary. Authors wrote about slavery, but also about love, morality, politics, perseverance, nature, and God. These poems evidence authors who were passionate, dedicated, vocal, and above all resolute in a bravery which was both weapon and shield against a world of prejudice and inequity. These authors wrote to be heard; more than 150 years later it is at last time for us to listen.

There's so much more to each hero beyond the mask... Fighting crime is not always a walk in the park. The power to protect citizens comes at a price... your identity. How do you live an ordinary life when you can do such extraordinary things? All proceeds from the print and digital sales of this book will be donated to Alex's Lemonade Stand, an organization that is a superhero to the many children diagnosed with childhood cancers. ALS's mission is to change the lives of children with cancer through funding impactful research, raising awareness, supporting families, and empowering everyone to help cure childhood cancer.

Well-worn pathways wind through thickets as easily as they do our minds. Often, the unexpected happens when we diverge from the familiar. The world may turn upside down, strangeness creeps alongside us in the darkness, and a shiver at the back of our neck whispers a warning we often don't heed. Join us as we explore 40 contributors from the Quabbin and New England region bringing all new works to explore just what makes us move beyond the intimate, time-worn pathways of life to discover what lies beyond the veil of the common. Quabbin Quills is a Massachusetts 501(c)(3) nonprofit group consisting of authors banded together by the common love of writing. Our goal is to share information and tools of the trade with other writers as well as providing a platform to display their talents. All profits will be used for future publications, workshops, and scholarships for local high school and college student contributors and participants.

Love Beyond Body, Space, and Time is a collection of indigenous science fiction and urban fantasy focusing on LGBT and two-spirit characters. These stories range from a transgender woman undergoing an experimental transition process to young lovers separated through decades and meeting in their own far future. These are stories of machines and magic, love and self-love.

The witch is a symbol of power for women across the world. She represents defiance, transcendence, healing, feminine monstrosity, and connection with the natural and supernatural worlds. From her wands and flora, to her bonds of kinship, POWER & MAGIC VOLUME 2 explores what gives each witch her power and how she'll choose to use it.

"Hooked from the very first story! Loving it." "A rip snort'n good read." "I absolutely loved this collection of stories. Visionary, exciting, and full of adventure. I highly recommend it!" "Creative, compelling and satisfying. Hard to put down, so I stayed up late and kept reading." "A blisteringly good collection.""Will read everything in this series I can get my hands on." "These stories are full of great, complex characters (not all of them human), twists and turns, and fantastic world-building." BEYOND THE STARS: Infinite Expanse includes these short stories: * Precious Cargo (C.H. Hung) * Antecedent (R. A. Steffan) * Chrysalis (G. S. Jennsen) * Imperatrix, Redux (Nemma Wollenfang) * Mirage and Shadow (R.K. Thorne) * Coffin Rider (James Rossiter) * Oresa (R.J. Howell) * Malfunction (Jack Lyster) * Enemy Within (J.M. Thomas) * For Your Eyes Only (Ethan Freckleton) * Terminal Candidate (David Bruns) Eleven stunning new tales from well-known authors and fresh voices. This is the seventh in the prestigious BEYOND THE STARS space opera anthology series, and inside are intrigue and passion, aliens, battles, and a bit of intergalactic romance. Join these authors who are exploring the... Infinite Expanse! Don't miss the earlier volumes: DARK BEYOND THE STARS BEYOND THE STARS: A Planet Too Far BEYOND THE STARS: At Galaxy's Edge BEYOND THE STARS: New Worlds, New Suns Best of BEYOND THE STARS BEYOND THE STARS: Unimagined Realms BEYOND THE STARS: Rocking Space And now... BEYOND THE STARS: Infinite Expanse

An anthology of fantasy, urban fantasy, and paranormal short stories from award winning and New York Times bestselling authors Saladin Ahmed, Peter S. Beagle, Heather Brewer, Jim Butcher, Rachel Caine, Kami Garcia, Nancy Holder, Gillian Philip, and Jane Yolen.

The Other Side is a 200 page, black and white queer paranormal romance comics anthology, with 19 stories by 25 different creators.

Examine the cultural and political implications of male-to-female gender performance! The Drag Queen Anthology: The Absolutely Fabulous but Flawlessly Customary World of Female Impersonators examines the phenomena of male-to-female gender performance and the people who live it. This provocative collection of original essays explores the possibilities, limitations, ironies, and controversies surrounding men who perform as women to an audience that knows the truth but celebrates the illusion. The book’s contributors call on extensive backgrounds in sociology, anthropology, theater, literature—even military studies—and use a variety of approaches to address common themes and genres of presentation, performance, and style in a wide range of historical settings and cultures. The Drag Queen Anthology explores female impersonation in the past and present, addressing the often-contradictory cultural impulses found in the performance of femininity. The book examines the important issues of this unique form of gendering, including the cultural and sociopolitical implications of drag, the symbolic cultural ideals associated with women, the impact of the performer’s social identities on his performance, and the reactions of the GLBT, straight, and feminist communities to drag. The book looks at traditional drag performance, challenges accepted perceptions about female impersonation, and exposes the notion of the effeminate drag queen as an outdated myth. The Drag Queen Anthology examines the important issues of male-to-female gender performance, including: how drag queen performance is used to attain situational status and power how drag queens challenge contemporary notions of gender what embodiment occurs when men undertake performances of femininity how drag queen performance is viewed as a theatrical presentation of self what representations of drag queens in film suggest about current gender relations why communities organize around drag queen performers how drag queen performance differs on-stage and off how male-to-female gendered performance intersects with performances of sexual identity, social class, race, age, and ethnicity The Drag Queen Anthology: The Absolutely Fabulous but Flawlessly Customary World of Female Impersonators is an indispensable resource on drag’s core elements of performance and parody and how each affects contemporary notions of gender.