Amplify Black Voices - Believe in Wonder

Welcome to the second post in a new series devoted to amplifying the voices of Black creators in fantasy and magical fields. My second guest speakers are Brian and Josie Parker of the publishing company Believe in Wonder, and here are their stories.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself, what you write, your art, the publishing company, how you got started?

We both grew up loving stories. It didn’t matter if they were books we got from the library, the movies we watched, or stories told to us by our grandparents. Stories had a way of transporting you from your everyday life to places you could scarcely imagine. They open your mind to lives and experiences you may never have known. Even though our tastes in stories were different (Josie was a Langston Hughes, Zora Nell Hurston fan while I loved Tolkien and Le Guin) we both loved all things magical. This helped us become the couple and creators we are today and made us better collaborators. Josie brought her understanding of true characters with true voices, while I brought the expansive imagery and colorful worlds. Together we develop our stories with young people in mind, crafting heartfelt and imaginative books with diverse characters. Believe In Wonder Publishing is built on our hope to share a beautiful vision of possibility with the young and young at heart.

What first drew you to the world of magic, wonder, and enchantment?

The stories we read and the movies we watched as children made magic a big part of our lives. For me, it was David the Gnome, Dark Crystal, and the stories of Oz. For Josie, it was Disney films and playing with her sisters in the backyard, creating stories and worlds where fairies were real. We’ve been together for a long time, and through the years we discovered our love for fairy art, like Arthur Rackham, Tony DiTerlizzi, Brian and Wendy Froud, and Leo and Diane Dillon fueled our imaginations. When we started discussing making our own stories, we already had images to inspire what we wanted to do.

What are some of the stories and who are some of the artists who influenced and inspired you?

I owned a copy of 1001 Arabian Nights and The Land of Oz when I was a kid, both beautifully illustrated, and Josie had a set of Mother Goose Fairytales and the Grimm’s Fairytales. They were old copies, with the original versions before they changed the stories. These didn’t shy away from the scary parts. Somehow, those versions seemed more real. Adventures had consequences, but heroes could defeat evil if they gave their all. Beautiful illustrations fed our imaginations, and even to this day, I am amazed when I see images by Denslow, Hildebrant, or N.C. Wyeth. They transport me. Even though these books had very little positive representations of people of color, Josie and I both would use our imaginations to make ourselves the heroes of the story. When we began making our own books, we wanted to make sure readers had that same kind of magical experience, just with a more diverse cast.

Are there any stories you want to share about the difficulties you may have faced as a Black artist, publisher, and creator in a genre historically largely defined (in the Western world) by white stories and mindsets?

Part of the reason we created Believe In Wonder Publishing is the fact we noticed a lack of representation in the industry in both the books being created and the creators. We started small, with basically our skills and our stories, but found we were having a hard time being taken seriously in the publishing world. It wasn’t until we moved to Portland that we found the literary community that we’ve been looking for; supportive, open to newcomers, and pushing for more diversity. Josie and I have both experienced our share of discrimination in our lives and our work, but we feel that youth fiction (particularly speculative fiction and fantasy) are a place where the perceived barriers of race and culture can disappear, opening storytelling to be a rare and wonderful place for self-discovery and discovering the beauty inherent in our differences.

The first time I showed my artwork to a professional artist was when I lived in Mississippi. He told me I had talent in drawing faces but to “stop drawing that fantasy stuff - nobody wants to see you draw that stuff.” It hurt to hear that, but that artist’s comments only helped me to truly realize how important fantasy art was to me, and the kind of stories I wanted to share.

Josie’s love of fairytales is closely entwined with her love of her cultural history going all the way back to Africa. Even though she has worked hard as a professional caregiver, educator, and foster mom, she has always kept her creativity alive through reading and her writing. She once asked me to draw her a beautiful African fairy, and that image took on a story all it’s own. When she saw that story, Obi the Changeling, completed it was like the culmination of a life long journey to see the fairy’s she always envisioned come to life.

What do you love about being a Black fantasy artist and publisher? In what ways have you found joy from the spell of fantasy art and literature?

For Josie, she loves that her creations are out in the world for people to enjoy. She gets great excitement from sharing them with new fans, young and old, and seeing them get joy from experiencing the ideas that came from her imagination. Also, being able to show people that we have done all of this work on our own, through every obstacle, pushes her forward. People seem to be surprised that an African-American husband and wife team can raise a family, be foster parents, run a company, write books, and create art without much financial support - truly grassroots. Defying expectations gives her great inspiration.

For me, being a professional storyteller and artist is a prize in and of itself. I’ve had an active imagination my whole life, and to be able to create and share the worlds that live in my head has been my lifelong dream. I want to share the wonder I feel with everyone that looks at my art. To create beautiful art is like planting a seed of wonder that can only take root in another person - and I want to spread wonder to everyone that enjoys my work.

How do you make your voice known in the fantasy community, and what do you wish was different about the community?

Making our voices known is an ongoing task. As a black-owned publisher with a focus on diverse fantasy for young readers, we are kind of an oddity. We’ve had a lot of support, but there are still those that are resistant to see fantasy as anything but a Euro-centric genre. We share art in online communities, having a strong presence on social media, and travel to events all over the Pacific Northwest. We craft our books to be a step above what people expect from a small press, with great design and full illustrations. These set Believe In Wonder Publishing apart, but it’s still difficult when you’re building a fanbase. This is why we also include teaching and speaking engagements to educate readers and people in the publishing industry on the growing need to open genre books to be more inclusive. We hope to inspire more diverse voices to share their work with the fantasy community and in particular other POC and LGBTQ  publishers. There is a wealth of folklore and unique stories to share, and fantasy is bound only by our imaginations.

The Black Lives Matter Movement is extremely important. Do you want to share any thoughts about it? What do you want to see white people who want to be real allies do better?

We are living in a time of real change, sparked by terrible acts, but still, a time where real healing and progress can be made. The Black Lives Matter Movement has always been about promoting equality and lifting humanity, and there is always more we can do to promote respect and dignity with our work. This can only happen if we are all are open to talking about the hard things, are vulnerable enough to hear voices that have been suppressed and marginalized, and ready to learn from the injustices of the past. Reading stories from different perspectives has always been a great way of opening our minds to other ways of seeing the world, and developing the empathy that we all need to learn. Allies need to read and educate themselves on the struggles of their fellow human beings - there is so much great material out there. With that knowledge, we can all start talking from a place of knowledge and focus on the challenges of the future.

What will we be seeing from you in the future? What are some of your dream projects?

We have so many ideas for the future! We are putting together an art show featuring our fantasy illustrations, as well as planning larger book tours to spread the word about Believe In Wonder. We are never at a loss for project ideas.

As for upcoming releases, we have a new book coming out this fall that fantasy lovers will really enjoy! It’s entitled The Epic of Nicholas the Maker, and it’s the origin story of the legendary mage more commonly known as Santa Claus. It’s full of great lore, a diverse cast of characters, and tons of adventure. Book 2 of The Wonderous Science is in the works as well, and be on the lookout for more picture books in our series, Tales from Edgewood and Obi the Changeling. We’re looking forward to sharing more stories and great art with our fans, so check out our website for new events and showings in the coming year.