2019 has already been a great year for science-fiction/fantasy writer P. Djèlí Clark. Scratch that. A phenomenal year! His novella The Black God’s Drums is an Alex award winner; a finalist for the coveted Nebula, Hugo, and Locus Awards; and a nominee for the Sturgeon Award. As if that’s not enough, his short story The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington has won the 2019 Nebula award and is a finalist for both the Hugo and Locus Awards, as well as a nominee for the Sturgeon Award.
With all of this buzz, Clark was gracious enough to take the time to answer a few questions for The Nerd Daily. Here we discuss his writing in general, The Black God’s Drums in particular, and the movie from which he can recite Bill Paxton’s lines by heart.
In The Black God’s Drums you juxtapose late 19th century New Orleans (maintaining some historical facts and also ranging into an alternate history) with futuristic, steampunk elements. You draw on African and Caribbean folklore and Gods, particularly how African culture embraced and carried on these traditions throughout slavery. How did you come up with idea to interweave so many themes together and how were you able to execute this so brilliantly?
My goal for this novella was to tell an alternate story of the Black Atlantic—encompassing the many various diverse Diaspora communities, histories, and cultures both created and connected by the vast waterway. I knew I wanted it to be steampunk, and I knew I wanted it to both centralise and subvert the histories of slavery and emancipation. New Orleans turned out to be the perfect place that could bridge these various worlds: a geographic space connected to the North American mainland yet also a port city with ties to the Caribbean. Everything sort of blossomed from there.
Why was it important to you to have the protagonist of The Black God’s Drums (Creeper) be a teenager, as opposed to an adult like the other central female character in the story, Captain Ann-Marie?
Interestingly enough, my first take at this world was focused on Captain Ann-Marie: the adventures of the airship Midnight Robber, whose intrepid captain roamed the skies of the turbulent Atlantic. When I shifted to write about New Orleans in particular, however, I wanted someone who would be intimately familiar with the city. I thought seeing things through Creeper’s eyes would provide a fresh perspective as readers navigated New Orleans rich physical and cultural dimensions.
The world that you create in The Black God’s Drums is so expansive that it seems you easily could have created a full length novel. How did you come to the decision for this work to be a novella?
I actually intended The Black God’s Drums to be a short story. As it was, the storytelling gods decided I’d need a bit more space . When I finished, I had a novelette on my hands. It was my editor at Tor who suggested I take it one step further into a novella. Turned out to be a good suggestion.
How have your experiences being raised for a time in Trinidad and Tobago, where your parents are from, influenced your writing?
I only spent a few years there. But that brief period left an impression. I credit a steady early diet of Afro-Caribbean folklore & BBC sci-fi shows for my current love of speculative fiction. And I try to include bits of that experience and heritage in my writing.
You have also had a career as a historian, which one can see reflected in your writing. Do you see yourself continuing to pursue that career in the future, or is the literary world where you want to be focusing your efforts?
The year I had my first major publication (A Dead Djinn in Cairo in Tor.com) was the same year I earned my doctorate. In fact, it was the very day I crossed the stage to graduate. Go figure. Being a historian remains my full-time career, so I’m trying to balance both an academic and literary life. It takes lots of time management to be sure. I haven’t gotten it down quite yet, but hope springs eternal.
On your blog, you stated that you “felt a need for more diverse tales with more diverse characters drawn from more diverse sources.” You seem to be succeeding immeasurably with this goal. What do you hope that readers take away from your work in this regard?
I’m immeasurably thankful to have the chance to get some of these diverse worlds I’ve created out there. But there are still many neglected stories from underrepresented communities waiting to get their chance. To paraphrase Nisi Shawl, when it comes to diversity it’s important to measure progress in more than “the ones, twos, and, rarely, threes” who manage to get through the door. I hope readers see in my work that the face of speculative fiction can be as broad and welcoming as we imagine it to be.
In addition to The Black God’s Drums, you have written and published a number of flash fiction pieces, short stories, a novelette by the name of A Dead Djinn in Cairo, and another novella titled The Haunting of Tram Car 015. Do you have a favourite piece out of what you have written so far? If so, why?
Probably my short story “The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington” (Fireside Fiction)—in part because it allowed me to tap into my historian side, and also because that title says it all.
Are you currently working on any new fiction projects that you can share with our readers?
A Southern gothic fantasy. There’s a movie. A sword. Spirituals. Stuff gets weird.
How long does it typically take you to write a novella? Do you have a routine/schedule that you follow when you are writing?
About two or three months, if I’m focused and usually during the summer. My routine is basically the same that I use for a short story or a novel: lots of research, plot out a detailed outline, more research, continually revise the outline, jot down notes when the muse strikes me, write, and write, and write until it’s done.
What advice do you have for aspiring writers who are not yet published?
Be Patient. Keep at it. Send your stuff out into the world. Oh, and WRITE.
Let’s Get Nerdy: Behind the Writer with 9 Quick Questions
- First book that made you fall in love with reading: C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
- 3 books you would take on a desert island: Black Reconstruction by W.E.B. DuBois, Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury, Kindred by Octavia Butler.
- Movie that you know by heart: Aliens. All of Bill Paxton’s lines. “Why don’t you put her in charge?!”
- Song that makes you want to get up and dance: Party Done– Angel Hunte & Machel Montano. Also anything Fela.
- Place that everyone should see in their lifetime: The late summer constellation-filled night sky falling into the Atlantic, off of Tulum, Mexico. It’s other-worldly.
- Introvert or extrovert: As the situation demands.
- Coffee, tea, or neither: Tea.
- First job: Sandwich structural engineer.
- Person you admire most and why: My Mom—the most amazing person I ever knew.
Author Bio:
Phenderson Djéli Clark is the Hugo, Nebula, and Sturgeon nominated author of the novellas The Black God’s Drums and The Haunting of Tram Car 015. His stories have appeared in online venues such as Tor.com, Daily Science Fiction, Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, Apex, Lightspeed, Fireside Fiction, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and in print anthologies including Griots, Hidden Youth and Clockwork Cairo. He is founding member of FIYAH: A Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction and an infrequent reviewer at Strange Horizons.
At the current time, he resides in a small Edwardian castle in New England with his wife, infant daughters, and pet dragon, where he works as an academic historian. When so inclined he rambles on issues of speculative fiction, politics, and diversity at his aptly named blog The Disgruntled Haradrim.
