Today, we’re honored to showcase our anthology contributor Ai Jiang (江艾). Ai has sent us a hopeful, wondrous tale, “A Species Called Hope,” for our cross-genre anthology Of Shadows, Stars, and Sabers. And she has sent another tale for our magic-themed anthology Of Enchantment, Enigma, and the Infinite! We are thrilled to have Ai’s sparkling prose in our anthologies!

Ai Jiang (江艾) is a Chinese-Canadian author and winner of the Bram Stoker®, Nebula, and Ignyte Awards. She has also been nominated for the Hugo and Astounding Awards and is a Locus and BSFA Award finalist.

An immigrant from Shanghu, Changle, Fujian, Ai currently lives in Toronto, Ontario. Her work can be found in many speculative fiction publications, including F&SF, The Dark, Uncanny, The Masters Review, and many more. Ai is a prolific writer of both short and long fiction. Her books Linghun and I AM AI continue to garner recognition. Her novella A Palace Near the Wind publishes in 2025 via Titan Books.

Learn more about Ai Jiang via her website and follow her on social media via Instagram, Threads, Twitter/X, and Bluesky.

Our anthology features tremendous authors across the spectrum of speculative fiction. Find purchasing links on the book page.