Darcie Little Badger

Darcie Little Badger (b. 1987) is an author and an Earth scientist. As an author, she specializes in speculative fiction, especially horror, science fiction and fantasy. Further, as a Lipan Apache, she develops her stories with Apache characters and themes. She has also added her voice to Indigenous Futurisms, a movement among Native artists and authors to write science fiction from their historical and cultural perspectives. At the same time, some of her works feature characters who reconfirm the presence and importance of LGBTQ+ community-members.

Family and education

Little Badger's father, Patrick Ryan, was an English professor; her mother, Hermelinda Walking Woman, is the Education Director of the Lipan Apache Tribe (also known as the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas).[1] She also serves as a delegate for the Tribe to the National Congress of American Indians.[2] After graduating with honors from Pleasant Grove High School in Texarkana, Texas, she attended Princeton University in New Jersey, where she earned the bachelor's of Geoscience. Little Badger graduated cum laude and was honored by her department with the Arthur F. Buddington Award for Overall Excellence as an undergraduate student. She subsequently enrolled in the doctoral program in oceanography at Texas A&M University, College Station, where she earned the Ph.D. She wrote her dissertation on the genomics of Karenia brevis, a species of plankton that causes toxic red tide in the Gulf of Mexico. For her valuable research, she received a Ford Dissertation Fellowship[3] and TAMU's Chapman Award for Graduate Student Research.[4]

Short fiction and Apache influence

Little Badger's short fiction has appeared in a range of publications, including Strange Horizons, Fantasy Magazine, Mythic Delirium, and The Dark, among others. Notably, Little Badger enriches her short stories with Apache history and lore. For example, two Apache sisters reunite in “Whalebone Parrot”[5] (The Dark Magazine, 2017), a Victorian horror story set in the late 19th century on an island in the Atlantic. During the conflict between their tribe and the U.S. Army, the women were orphaned and grew up together in a residential “Indian school.” Thus, as Little Badger notes, her story is rooted in Lipan Apache history, a history that “few remember.” Similarly, in “Owl vs. the Neighborhood Watch”[6] (Strange Horizons, 2017), she revives Native legend when she places Owl, a shape-shifting supernatural harbinger of evil, in a story set in contemporary Appalachia.

Comics and graphic novel

Little Badger published her debut comic “Worst Bargain in Town”[7] in Moonshot Volume 2 (2017). She is co-author with Magdalene Visaggio of a comic series, Strangelands, published by H1 Universe Humanoids Publishing in 8 issues.[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] In this comic series, she introduces an Apache superhero. She will also write the story of Dani Moonstar, a fictional Northern Cheyenne superheroine, in the comic anthology Marvel's Voices: Indigenous Voices Issue #1 to be published by Marvel Comics in November 2020.[16] Additionally, Darcie has recently signed a contract to write her first graphic novel featuring four Lipan Apache friends on a mission to save a kidnapped baby.

Debut novel, Elatsoe

Little Badger's debut novel Elatsoe[17] was released in August 2020 by publisher Levine Querido and made the Indibound Young Adult bestseller list in its first week.[18] The story is set in modern-day Texas; the main character Ellie is a seventeen-year-old Lipan Apache. Ellie is accompanied by the ghost of her pet dog Kirby. She has used her grandmothers’ traditional techniques to bring him back to life. Kirby and Ellie are joined by Ellie's friend and classmate Jay as they work to solve the murder of her cousin. At the same time, they confront an enclave of vampires plaguing people near Willowbee, a mysterious town in South Texas.[19][20]

Indigenous Futurisms

Indigenous Futurisms is a growing movement in the arts and literature in which Native writers create science fiction and fantasy with characters and themes drawn from indigenous cultures. In 2012, Prof. Grace Dillon formalized the study of Indigenous Futurisms with publication of Walking the Clouds: An Anthology of Indigenous Science Fiction[21] (University of Arizona Press). With much of her science fiction, Little Badger has contributed to Indigenous Futurisms. In Strangelands, for example, Little Badger introduces an Apache comic book superhero. In her short story “Né łe!”[22] the main characters are a Navajo interplanetary ship's captain and a Lipan Apache veterinarian accompanying 40 chihuahuas on their way to forever homes on Mars.

Published works

Novel
  • Elatsoe (August 25, 2020). ISBN 978-1-64614-005-3

Short Fiction
  • The Orphan of Greenridge (Water) in The Dystopia Triptych #1: Ignorance is Strength, ed. by John Joseph Adams, Hugh Howey, and Christine Yant (2020) ISBN 978-1-7965-4959-1
  • How to Use Your Visor Evacuation Helper to Escape an Active Warzone (Fire) in [http://www.johnjosephadams.com/series/the-dystopia-triptych/ The Dystopia Triptych #2: Burn the Ashes), ed. by John Joseph Adams, Hugh Howey, and Christine Yant (2020) ISBN 978-1-7965-4952-2
  • Making Faces (Earth) in [http://www.johnjosephadams.com/series/the-dystopia-triptych/ The Dystopia Triptych #3: Or Else the Light), ed. by John Joseph Adams, Hugh Howey, and Christine Yant (2020) ISBN 978-1-7965-4965-2
  • Venom and Bite in TBA (Upcoming 2020)
  • Story for a Bottle in TBA (Upcoming 2020)
  • Unlike Most Tides in Drabblecast 425 (2020)
  • “Grace” in Take the Mic: Fictional Stories of Everyday Resistance, ed. Bethany C. Morrow (2019), Scholastic Publishing ISBN 978-1-338-34370-0
  • “Homecoming” in Take the Mic: Fictional Stories of Everyday Resistance, ed. Bethany C. Morrow (2019), Scholastic Publishing ISBN 978-1-338-34370-0
  • Robo-Liopleurodon! ROBOT DINOSAURS (2018)
  • Kelsey and the Burdened Breath in "New Suns: Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color" (2018). ISBN 1781085781
  • The Whalebone Parrot in The Dark Magazine (October 2017)
  • Owl vs. The Neighborhood Watch in [http://strangehorizons.com/fiction/owl-vs-the-neighborhood-watch/ Strange Horizons (July 10, 2017) and in Mythic Journeys: Retold Myths and Legends (May 14, 2019) ISBN 978-1-59780-958-0
  • Skinwalker, Fast-Talker in No Sh!t, There I Was: An Anthology of Short Speculative Fiction. (February 15, 2017) ISBN 978-1-939840-39-4
  • Their Laughing Gal in Spirit's Tincture: Speculative Fiction & Poetry Issue 1 (August 31, 2016)
  • Né łe! in Love Beyond Body, Space, and Time (October 1, 2016) ISBN 978-0-9939970-7-5
  • When Whales Fall in The Colored Lens: Speculative Fiction Magazine (January 19, 2016)
  • The Girl Turns West in Mirror Dance Magazine (2015)
  • The Sea Under Texas in Quantum Fairy Tales Issue #11 (2015)
  • Nkásht íí in [http://strangehorizons.com/fiction/nksht/ Strange Horizons Issue 15 (December 15, 2014) and in Heiresses of Russ 2015: The Year's Best Lesbian Speculative Fiction (October 15, 2015) ISBN 1590215702
  • Siren Song in "Dark Eclipse e-magazine #34" (2014)
  • “First Ride of the Day” in "Vignettes from the End of the World" Volume 2 (April 25, 2014) ISBN 978-1-4974-3118-8
  • To Sleep in Fiction 365 (2012)

Comic Books
  • Dani Moonstar story in MARVEL’S VOICES: INDIGENOUS VOICES Issue 1 (November 2020) comic anthology, with Whitefish Lake First Nation artist Kyle Charles. ISBN|TBA
  • Worse Bargain in Town in Moonshot: The Indigenous Comics Collection, Volume Two, (2017). ISBN 978-0-9877152-6-5
  • Strangelands Comic series, Co-writers Darcie Little Badger and Magdalene Vissiago
    • Faith Alone Issue 1 (July 10, 2019) UPC +5 code 6-55160-79162-8-00111
    • Dance Macabre Issue 2 (August 21, 2019) UPC +5 code 655160791628-00211
    • Feel Your Pain Issue 3 (September 25, 2019) UPC +5 code 6-55160-79162-8-00311
    • Dance Apocalyptic Issue 4 (October 16, 2019) UPC +5 code 6-55160-79162-8-00411
    • Adrift Issue 5 (January 15, 2020) UPC +5 code 6-55160-79162-8-00511
    • Man of Substance Issue 6 (February 26, 2020) UPC +5 code 6-55160-79162-8-00611
    • Collision Course Issue 7 (March 25, 2020) UPC +5 code 6-55160-79162-8-00711
    • TBA Issue 8 (August 5, 2020) UPC +5 code 6-55160-79162-8-00811
  • Litmus Flowers in Moonshot: The Indigenous Comics Collection, Volume Three, (2020). ISBN 978-0-2287-0622-9

Non-Fiction Articles
  • When Danger is Announced in Nightmare Magazine Issue 83 (August 2019)
  • Decolonizing Science Fiction And Imagining Futures: An Indigenous Futurisms Roundtable in Strange Horizons Issue 30 (January 2017) with Rebecca Roanhorse, Elizabeth LaPensee, and Johnnie Jae
  • Writer's Manifesto: Interview with Darcie Little Badger in Cicada Magazine Volume 19 (July/August 2017)
  • HopefulBright to the Rescue!: A Review of Arigon Starr's Super Indian In Fantastic Stories of the Imagination in People of Color Take over Fantastic Stories of the Imagination (June 28, 2017), edited by Nisi Shawl ISBN 978-1-5154-1845-0

References
  1. Walking Woman, Hermelinda. "Director of Education". Lipan Apache Tribe: Tribal Council Contact. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
  2. "YA Book, Elatsoe By Darcie Little Badger". Lipan Apache Tribe Literature Page. Lipan Apache Tribe Tribal Council. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  3. "Dissertation Completion in 2015 Ford Foundation Fellowships Scholar Award List". Ford Foundation Fellowship Programs. The National Academies of Science, Engineering, & Medicine. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
  4. "Oceanography Student Award Recipients". Texas A&M College of Geosciences News. Texas A&M University. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
  5. Little Badger, Darcie (October 2017). "Whalebone Parrot". The Dark Magazine (29). Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  6. Little Badger, Darcie (10 July 2017). "Owl vs. the Neighborhood Watch". Strange Horizons (10 July 2017). Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  7. Little Badger, Darcie (1 June 2017). "Worse Bargain in Town". Moonshot: The Indigenous Comics Collection. 2.
  8. Little Badger, Darcie; Visaggio, Magdalene (Dec 3, 2019). Strangelands: Faith Alone (Issue 1 ed.). Los Angeles: H1 Ignition Humanoids Inc.
  9. Little Badger, Darcie; Visaggio, Magdalene (Jul 9, 2019). Strangelands: Dance Macabre (Issue 2 ed.). Los Angeles: H1 Ignition Humanoids Inc.
  10. Little Badger, Darcie; Visaggio, Magdalene (Sep 24, 2019). Strangelands: I Feel Your Pain (Issue 3 ed.). Los Angeles: H1 Ignition Humanoids Inc.
  11. Little Badger, Darcie; Visaggio, Magdalene (Oct 15, 2019). Strangelands: Dance Apocalyptic (Issue 4 ed.). Los Angeles: H1 Ignition Humanoids Inc.
  12. Little Badger, Darcie; Visaggio, Magdalene (Jan 14, 2020). Strangelands: Adrift (Issue 5 ed.). Los Angeles: H1 Ignition Humanoids Inc.
  13. Little Badger, Darcie; Visaggio, Magdalene (Feb 25, 2020). Strangelands: Man of Substance (Issue 6 ed.). Los Angeles: H1 Ignition Humanoids Inc.
  14. Little Badger, Darcie; Visaggio, Magdalene (Mar 25, 2020). Strangelands: Collision Course (Issue 7 ed.). Los Angeles: H1 Ignition Humanoids Inc.
  15. Little Badger, Darcie; Visaggio, Magdalene (Aug 5, 2020). Strangelands: TBA (Issue 8 ed.). Los Angeles: H1 Ignition Humanoids Inc.
  16. "Marvel's Voices Expands with 'Marvel's Voices: Indigenous Voices' #1". Marvel.com. MARVEL. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  17. Little Badger, Darcie (Aug 25, 2020). Elatsoe. New York: Levine Querido. ISBN 9781646140053.
  18. "IndieBound Bestseller list for 9-2-2020". American Booksellers Association. American Booksellers Association. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
  19. "Elatsoe". Kirkus Reviews. Kirkus Media LLC. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
  20. "YA Book, Elatsoe By Darcie Little Badger: About the Author". Lipan Apache Tribe Literature Page. Lipan Apache Tribe Tribal Council. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  21. Dillon, Grace L (2012). Walking Clouds: An Anthology of Indigenous Science Fiction. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press. ISBN 9780816529827.
  22. Little Badger, Darcie. Né łe! in Love Beyond Body, Space, and Time. Beds de Press. pp. 60–76. ISBN 0993997074.
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