
Photo: © Regine Romain
When the World Wounds
In this eagerly-awaited collection, K. Ibura 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… »
On the Struggle to Self-Promote
Notes From the Trenches
After over 20 years as a writer K. Ibura is fascinated by all the backstage psychological wrangling writers go through to sustain their careers. With a regular column on writing, K. has written almost 100 mini-essays exploring the nitty, gritty of what it takes to sustain a writing career. Salaam’s “Notes from the Trenches” series… »
Ancient, Ancient
short fiction (paperback)
Winner of the 2012 James Tiptree, Jr. Award Ancient, Ancient collects the short fiction by K. Ibura, of which acclaimed author and critic Nalo Hopkinson writes, “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… »
About
K. Ibura
K. Ibura
Blog
Kwanzaa in Senegal
Posted on 23 January 2022
I took a break from the pandemic struggle and the book pushes to spend two weeks in Senegal with friends. It was a beautiful journey full of road trips, connections and laughter. It was deeply healing and restorative. While there, I thought a lot about lineage. I thought about how you don’t even need to… »
Let’s Write!
Posted on 24 March 2021
Writing is such a solitary act. Building out a plan, sharing your goals, and connecting with others who are pushing themselves to create can make a huge difference. The 28-Day Writing Sprint is an accountability and support group providing a structured environment for setting and sharing goals, reporting on progress, reflecting on strategies, and growing… »
Vol. 112, The Discipline of Surrender
Posted on 14 April 2020
In this season, we are—worldwide—being called to surrender. We have been forced to surrender the freedom to gather, the freedom to move around, and for some of us, the freedom to work. As the death toll continues to rise, and the stories of those who have lost their lives to this virus have been circulating,… »
K. Ibura
Writings
Hemmie’s Calenture
“Come here.” Those two rustling words reverberated through Hemmie’s her dream, halting the cane leaves whipping in the wind over her and Nenah’s heads. She opened her eyes, shot up to sitting, and looked around the room. It was dark and empty. She fell back onto the mattress, threw a pillow over her face, and… »
Because of the Boneman
The rocks loved the touch of air on their sharp points. With the season of wet winds past and the mugginess swept away, the air was full of a delicious coolness that the rocks loved to bathe in. But a man—long and gangly—had draped himself over them, pressing his limbs into their gaps. They hated… »
Volcano Woman
He creeps up on me, quiet-like. A funky whisky scent invades me. “Hey, cutie.” He stands close. His scabs and scars make my skin crawl. When I take a step back, he scowls. “Why you actin scared, I jus wan talk to you. Maybe take you to a hotel.” One jittery look around shows me… »
Race: A discussion in 10 parts plus a few moments of unsubstantiated theory and one inarguable fact…
1. Race is bullshit. A meaningless line drawn in sand by men bent on world domination and oppression. It was introduced as a fixed notion, an unchangeable, undeniable fact of world order. Yet from the moment of race’s conception, the amazing diversity of body types, cultures, and traditions on the African continent alone complicated race’s… »
When Conception Equals Confusion: The Battle Between Mothers and Would-Be Fathers
It happens in silence. A man—young, tall, hooded—sits in a waiting room. All the chairs are taken except the one diagonally across from him. A woman comes in carrying a child. She sits in the only seat available and busies herself removing the child’s coat and hat. The man’s eyes cut to the corner checking… »
“There’s No Racism Here?” A Black Woman in the Dominican Republic
When I first returned home from studying abroad, everyone wanted to know, “How was the Dominican Republic?” I was reluctant to respond. Masking the truth behind “fine’s” and “good’s,” I skirted my real feelings. “Did you like it?” is such a loaded question that it can’t be answered with a simple “yes” or “no.” For… »
K. Ibura
Artwork
K. Ibura
Media
Speculative Fiction and the Current Moment
Posted on 13 June 2020
Ian Fraser and Hailey Kaas interviews K. Ibura at the Relampeio Festival. Introduction in Portuguese, interview in English
Word of the Week, Episode 8: Float
Posted on 16 April 2017
New podcast!!!
The word of the week is FLOAT. Listen to the podcast to find out what floating has to do with writing.
I mentioned “Achieving With Ease” in the podcast. Here’s the blog post I wrote when I was wrestling with writing and working to find a way for continue to work under difficult circumstances. You can read it here.
Be well. Be love[d].