Black Craft: Black Girls Crafting Self and Spirit in The Gilded Ones, Brown Girl in the Ring, and Sing Unburied Sing

Abstract

I am a writer of Black girl stories. The use of fantastical elements and speculative futures in fiction puts Black girls in conversation with power; not in the way power is typically used against those less privileged, but redefines it as an equalizing act, a chance. Distortions and retellings are key to sustaining these stories, particularly as it relates to time and memory. I will explore the ways I want my work to become an unfolding and understanding of memory and time. This essay examines my experiences as a Black writer, mother, and daughter through the lens of Nalo Hopkinson’s Brown Girl in the Ring, Jesmyn Ward’s Sing, Unburied, Sing, and Namina Forna’s The Gilded Ones. These novels reimagine Black girlhood using fantasy and horror, countering violence with magic and self, as I analyze the ways they redefine power, while distortions of time and memory reshape narrative possibility. This essay aims to expand the literary map for those who’ve felt rootless, offering new ways of belonging. Through both creative and critical writing, I hope to remap my family history—transforming pain, loss, and memory into revelation.