2018 looks to be a really good year for anthologies. Anthologies are limitless: they can be tied around a single theme or they can be free and diverse in their content and the possibilities and story combinations are endless. I’ve always loved the idea of anthologies as a sampling of work from all of favorite authors alongside new writers whose work I’m ready to devour.
Each of the upcoming anthologies features marginalized voices in both its content and contributors.
edited by Hadeel al-Massari
Publisher: Bedside Press
Release Date: June 21 2017
Admittedly, this book was published last year, but we were on hiatus and I’m still pining for it. Originally funded on Kickstarter, is an anthology all about love. As a hopeless romantic, I’m a sucker for anything that makes my heart flutter. This anthology has a unique spin to it, written like a zine and peppered with prose and comics written by female-identifying and femme Muslim authors. Contributors include Autumn Crossman, Nusaiba Chowdhury, Candice Montgomery and many more. Supporters of the Kickstarter will receive their publications and added merchandise in March 2018.
Three Sides of a Heart: Stories about Love Triangles edited by Natalie C. Parker
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: December 19 2017
Okay, okay, we’re still not in 2018 yet. However, this anthology also caught my eye. Three Sides of a Heart takes the oft-debated trope of the love triangle and flips it onto its head. Sixteen authors come together to tell fresh and diverse love stories involving anything from the boy next door to the apocalypse. Contributors include Justina Ireland, Veronica Roth, and EK Johnston.
Meet Cute: Some People Were Destined to Meet edited by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Release Date: January 2 2018
Whether you believe in luck, fate, or love-at-first-sight, you should grab your copy of Meet Cute now! Each story in this anthology centers around the quintessential question: “So, how did you two meet?”. Every romance starts somewhere, and the authors bring us stories that are witty, fantastical, sometimes heartbreaking, and incredibly romantic. Contributors include Julie Murphy, Sara Shepard, and Nina LaCour.
All Out: The No-Longer-Secret Stories of Queer Teens Throughout the Ages edited by Sandra Mitchell
Publisher: Harlequin
Release Date: February 27 2018
I absolutely adore retellings of any kind. Shakespearean, Jane Austen, or fantasy adaptations can instantly sell me on a book. I’m also a huge advocate for historical fiction, and queer representation in books. All Out knocks it out of the park for me. Contributors including Tess Sharpe, Robin Talley, and Kody Keplinger come together to spin tales of diverse cultures, identities, and time periods.
The Radical Element: Twelve Stories of Daredevils, Debutantes, and Other Dauntless Girls edited by Jessica Spotswood
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Release Date: March 13 2018
Jessica Spotswood is back at it again with the companion anthology to A Tyranny of Petticoats. In an anthology of resistance and revolution, these stories remind us all that self-love, confidence, and self-respect are some of the most radical and active decisions one can make. Stacey Lee, Mackenzi Lee, Dhonielle Clayton, and Dahlia Adler are some of the incredible authors behind this anthology.
A Thousand Beginnings and Endings edited by Ellen Oh
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Release Date: June 26 2018
Ellen Oh and Elsie Chapman of the We Need Diverse Books campaign have come together to bring the folklore and mythology of East and South Asia to life. Contributors including Cindy Pon, Melissa de la Cruz and Julie Kagawa come together to spin tales of star crossed lovers, false identities, and battles of wit that are passionate, romantic, and heartwarming.
Toil and Trouble: 16 Tales of Women and Witchcraft edited by Tess Sharpe
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release Date: August 28 2018
Leave everything you know at the door. Our mythos is chock-full of witches, placing them in a strict binary: are you a good witch or a bad witch? Evil and ugly, or beautiful and beneficial? With stories by Zoraida Córdova, Karuna Riazi, Nova Ren Suma, and Tristina Wright, the anthology contains historical, contemporary, and futuristic stories of witchy women who are diverse in era, race, class, sexuality, and religion. Toil and Trouble takes us through diverse witchy mythology and feminist ideology to spin some incredible tales.
(Don’t) Call Me Crazy edited by Kelly Jensen
Publisher: Algonquin Youth Readers
Release Date: Fall 2018
Fans of Here We Are: Feminism for the Real World – such as myself – should be more than ready for Kelly Jensen’s newest anthology (Don’t) Call Me Crazy. This work will incorporate essays, artwork, poems, and other works which speak to a theme about how mental illness affects the individual, their family and friends. Contributors include Meredith Russo, Victoria Schwab, and Adam Silvera. This nonfiction work should shed some light on how important mental health and discussions surrounding neurodiversity are, particularly for teens.
It’s A Whole Spiel edited by Katherine Locke and Laura Silverman
Publisher: Knopf
Release Date: Fall 2019
We can also look forward to some incredible stories next year. An #ownvoices Jewish anthology, It’s A Whole Spiel will contain various stories about Jewish protagonists who are diverse in their sexuality, religious observance, ability, and race. Contributors include Katherine Locke, Nova Ren Suma, Dahlia Adler and David Levithan. I’m so excited for this book because stories with Jewish protagonists are hard to find, and these stories are sure to be intersectional.
1 Comment
Pingback: List of the Week: Most Anticipated 2018 YA Books - YA Interrobang