Although the last three decades have offered a growing body of scholarship on images of fantastic women in popular culture, these studies either tend to focus on one particular variety of fantastic female (the action or sci-fi heroine), or on her role in a specific genre (villain, hero, temptress). This edited collection strives to define the ""Woman Fantastic"" more fully. The Woman Fantastic may appear in speculative or realist settings, but her presence is always recognizable. Through futuristic contexts, fantasy worlds, alternate histories, or the display of superpowers, these insuperable women challenge the laws of physics, chemistry, and/or biology. In chapters devoted to certain television programs, adult and young adult literature, and comics, contributors discuss feminist negotiation of today's economic and social realities. Senior scholars and rising academic stars offer compelling analyses of fantastic women from Wonder Woman and She-Hulk to Talia Al Ghul and Martha Washington; from Carrie Vaughn's Kitty Norville series to Cinda Williams Chima's The Seven Realms series; and from Battlestar Gallactica's female Starbuck to Game of Thrones's Sansa and even Elaine Barrish Hammond of USA's Political Animals. This volume furnishes an important contribution to ongoing discussions of gender and feminism in popular culture.

Urban Creatures skirts the edge of reality, dexterously defying form and genre. Primal urges feed on the city, stalking its inhabitants. From a psychotherapist gorging on tragedy, to a predatory hair thief, and a grief-stricken father's search for his lost daughter, humanity's subterranean secrets and shames are unearthed. Urban survival makes creatures of us all. Sarah Gray's short stories shift from the unsettling to the surreal to the frightening, all cut through with her characteristic black humor.

Trevor is the most amazing tortoise you could ever hope to meet. In the darkest part of night, he fires up his rocket boots and blasts off on a secret, dangerous mission in to the jungle! Will he be able to complete his task while avoiding the sharp claws of a ferocious lion? Join him on his hairy adventure to find out!

Contributions by: Marleen S. Barr, Shiloh Carroll, Sarah Gray, Elyce Rae Helford, Michael R. Howard II, Ewan Kirkland, Nicola Mann, Megan McDonough, Alex Naylor, Rhonda Nicol, Joan Ormrod, J. Richard Stevens, Tosha Taylor, Katherine A. Wagner, and Rhonda V. Wilcox. Although the last three decades have offered a growing body of scholarship on images of fantastic women in popular culture, these studies either tend to focus on one particular variety of fantastic female (the action or sci-fi heroine), or on her role in a specific genre (villain, hero, temptress). This edited collection strives to define the ""Woman Fantastic"" more fully. The Woman Fantastic may appear in speculative or realist settings, but her presence is always recognizable. Through futuristic contexts, fantasy worlds, alternate histories, or the display of superpowers, these insuperable women challenge the laws of physics, chemistry, and/or biology. In chapters devoted to certain television programs, adult and young adult literature, and comics, contributors discuss feminist negotiation of today's economic and social realities. Senior scholars and rising academic stars offer compelling analyses of fantastic women from Wonder Woman and She-Hulk to Talia Al Ghul and Martha Washington; from Carrie Vaughn's Kitty Norville series to Cinda Williams Chima's The Seven Realms series; and from Battlestar Gallactica's female Starbuck to Game of Thrones's Sansa and even Elaine Barrish Hammond of USA's Political Animals. This volume furnishes an important contribution to ongoing discussions of gender and feminism in popular culture.

Inspired by author Sarah Gray's ability to creatively harness her experience of Motor Neurone Disease, Claret Press sponsored a short story competition. It called for entries that dealt with mental or physical disability in innovative ways. With Sarah, Katie Isbester PhD (editor-in-chief of Claret Press), and Dr James Scott (an orthopedic surgeon) as judges, the competition offered prizes of 250, 150 and 50. Over 70 stories flowed in. The quality was exceptionally high, and the stories were, without exception, moving. The best of a great selection have been collected here. Some stories are hilarious, some heartbreaking. They include sci-fi, romance, satire and memoir. All challenge us to see mental and physical disability through a different lens - one infused with humanity. This beautiful full-colour book includes fifteen original photographs by internationally renowned artist, Tansy Spinks, whose photography can been seen in the Museum of Fine Art in Houston, the National Media Museum in Bradford, and now at the V&A. Net proceeds from the sale of the book go to support the MNDA. We are proud to announce that our fundraiser has raised almost 2000 and counting. FInd Sarah's work here: Surface Tension, Half Life, and Urban Creatures - coming soon.

On the Flathead Reservation in northwestern Montana, the sixty remaining fluent speakers of Montana Salish, most of them elderly, speak their language only to each other, changing to English when outsiders or younger tribal members are present. The Aleuts who used to live on Bering Island off the east coast of Russia speak Russian in addition to their native Aleut. The Republic of Singapore, an island nation of just 238 square miles, boasts four official languages. Language contact is everywhere: no nation has a completely monolingual citizenry and many have more than one official language.

Sarah G. Thomason documents the linguistic consequences of language contacts worldwide. Surveying situations in which language contact arises, she focuses on what happens to the languages themselves: sometimes nothing, sometimes the incorporation of new words, sometimes the spread of new sounds and sentence structures across many languages and wide swathes of territory. She outlines the origins and results of contact-induced language change, extreme language mixture -- which can produce pidgins, creoles, and bilingual mixed languages -- and language death. The book concludes with a brief survey of language endangerment.

Complete with lists of additional readings and references as well as a glossary for students new to the subject, this textbook is a richly documented introduction to a lively, fast-developing field.