S. Andrea Allen – författare

A Failure to Communicate, S. Andrea Allen’s debut collection of short fiction and essays, focuses on how communication, or the lack thereof, impacts Black women’s lives.  The stories range from the humorous to the heartbreaking:  one woman wins a bake-off because her co-worker misunderstands the contest; an overweight woman finally learns to love herself, even though it means leaving her girlfriend.

A teenager reflects on his mother's inability to discuss her depression; a woman realizes that her partner has been hiding a gambling addiction, and has to decide whether to help her or save herself.  The women in this collection are often silenced, but Allen imbues them with a voice that demands to be heard.

Deeply troubled by recent acts of violence against Black and Brown lesbian, bisexual, and trans* bodies, Solace: Writing, Refuge and LGBTQ Women of Color explores how LGBTQ women find solace: in each other, in their communities, and from within themselves, as they traverse the challenges of living as LGBTQ women of color in the United States.

Solace is a collection of poetry and prose that explores our pain, as well as our attempts to find solace in a world that seeks to destroy us. What are our strategies for survival? Where do we find solace? Audre Lorde writes that “we were never meant to survive,” yet here we are.