"Salaam treats words like the seductive weapons they are. She wields
them to weave fierce, gorgeous stories that stroke your sensibilities,
challenge your preconceptions and leave you breathless with their
beauty."--Nalo Hopkinson, Author of the Nebula nominated novel The New
Moon's Arms
Kiini Ibura Salaam's short stories (and the characters who inhabit them)
are vital, fantastic in all senses of the word, audacious and
tender."--Kelly Link, author of the Pulitzer Prize nominated collection
Get In Trouble
In this eagerly-awaited collection, Kiini Ibura Salaam continues her
exploration of the dark, the sensual, and the mysterious with fiction
that disturbs, delights, and dazzles. The five stories and one novella
collected in When the World Wounds examine the tumultuous nature of
the human condition through such wild imaginings as sensual encounters
with deer, escapism in a dystopic prison, and volcano women. In "The
Taming," a lupine creature is trapped by beasts whose nefarious nature
is beyond their prey's understanding. In "Hemmie's Calenture," a woman
escaping enslavement is thrust into a war between gods. "The Pull of the
Wing" is the prequel to Salaam's wildly popular Of Wings, Nectar, and
Ancestors trilogy. "Because of the Bone Man" transports readers to the
desolate landscape of post-Katrina New Orleans and the struggle of the
city's culture bearers to carry on.
A welcome follow-up to Salaam's award-winning Ancient, Ancient, When
the World Wounds is perceptive and engaging as it examines our world's
callous and perilous landscapes while tickling the imagination and
startling the senses.
"Kiini Ibura Salaam is a natural-born storyteller and a gorgeous writer
who chooses her characters and words with the care and skill of a poet.
Her stories are transformative, wise and vivid with the quality of
fantasy and fable. I loved reading this!"--Sherre Renée Thomas, Editor
of the World Fantasy Award winning anthology Dark Matter: Reading the
Bones
"Salaam's collection... introduces readers to alternate worlds built
around magic, sensuality, sexuality, and the search for emotional
comfort, however tenuous. ... Salaam's unusual settings and lonely
characters will call to readers who hunger for sex, identity, or just a
place to belong."--Publishers Weekly
Kiini Ibura Salaam's first collection Ancient, Ancient (Aqueduct
Press, 2012) won the James Tiptree Award. She lives in Brooklyn, New
York.
