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Escape Pod is pleased to announce a new special project for 2021: Black Future Month, a month-long celebration of Black voices in science fiction.

We are excited to have Brent Lambert of FIYAH Magazine as our guest editor. For this special event, we are only accepting submission from authors of the African diaspora and the African continent. This is an intersectional definition of Blackness, and we strongly encourage submissions from women, members of the LGBTQIA community, and members from other underrepresented communities within the African diaspora.

Episodes will air in the month of October and feature two original works of short fiction as well as two reprints.

Submissions will be open from March 1 – April 30. Stories must be between 1,500 – 5,000 words, and manuscripts do not need to be anonymized.

Pay rate, content, and format will follow Escape Pod’s regular guidelines.

The term Black Future Month is inspired by N.K. Jemisin’s essay titled, “How Long ’til Black Future Month,” (as well as a recent short story collection with the same title), and timing is aligned with Black Speculative Fiction Month (October).

Submit your stories via our Moksha Portal for this project!