The collection is an excellent introduction to Nisi Shawl as a writer of speculative fiction as well as a person who thinks deeply about social issues. Classic genre themes like artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and time-travel are all re-examined through an intersectional lens to produce stories that will satisfy both seasoned SF readers as well as newcomers to the genre. Le Guin, and Paul Krassner.Īlthough Nisi Shawl may not be as well-known as many of the other authors in the PM series, their work is very relevant and on point for the current moment. These affordable, pocket-sized paperbacks have featured authors such as Kim Stanley Robinson, Nalo Hopkinson, Ursula K. The book was to become a milestone in the history of science fiction/speculative (SF) literature, and Celeste Oatmeal would evolve into Nisi Shawl, one of the genre’s most adventurous talents.įast forward 30 years and Nisi Shawl’s new book, Talk Like A Man, is the latest installment in the PM Press Outspoken Authors series.

The story was the first to be published by the “poetry editrix” of the fanzine PopReal, who also wrote under the nom de guerre, Celeste Oatmeal. The book was Autonomedia’s Semiotext(e) SF, and the author was Denise Angela Shaw. Thus began the 1989 science fiction story, “I Was a Teenage Genetic Engineer,” by an unknown author in an anthology by a little known indie publisher. I am a political prisoner on a North American game preserve.” Nisi Shawl shows that Science Fiction can still challenge conventions

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