Chelsey Monroe
Writer & Activist
Chelsey Monroe writes adult fantasy, horror, afrofuturism, and YA novels. As a woman of color, she strives to be the intersectional eye lacking in the grand narrative, telling history, fantasy, and horror, from alternative angles. Her characters defy norms and heroic tropes. Inspired by the possibility she finds in authors like Octavia Butler and Tomi Adeyemi, Chelsey uses fantasy to create dialogues between cultures and to reimagine our history and society.
Latest Projects
The Last Island
In the year 3022, on the last remaining landmass, very little of Earth's history has survived except the names of Black icons, the garbage of dead empires, and the deities of Vodun. Terrafirma is a society divided by those who have enough melanin to handle the extreme heat of the day (children of the sun) and those who can only come out at night (children of the moon).
Halfbreed Basquiat Delta 3 is a non-binary sewage treatment engineer whose main goal in life is to save enough rations to buy a scooter so they don't have to walk to work. That is until trash pirates attack the island during the biggest festival of the year, destroying crops, stealing food, and kidnapping all the birthers—including Basquiat's pregnant sister, Angelou Delta 2. Unbeknownst to Basquiat, not only is their brother, Tubman Delta 1, complicit in the traitorous crimes, but their estranged father is captain of the pirates. When Basquiat and their boss are also blamed, the two escape with a crew of misfits and outcasts to rescue Angelou and redeem the family name. But along this seafaring adventure, Basquiat discovers the trash pirates have a larger goal in mind: the annihilation of Terrafirma. And worse than that, some of the deities are supporting them.
City map from The Last Island
The Man Behind the Frame
Elliot Willow hasn't uttered a sound in 43 years. Haunted by his criminal past, this museum janitor is content to live a life of complete isolation, his only companions being the famous paintings he cleans each night—until the day he is fired and fated to die. While suffering a lethal heart attack, he shows compassion to Death, and in return she extends his life and leaves him with a gift: a key that brings art to life. Homeless, unemployed, with no family, Elliot rejects the real world for the world of art, where he creates new bonds with characters from modern and classical paintings. But when his newfound friends are endangered, Elliot must discover his voice and reconcile the ghosts of his past to save his future.
Some of the paintings featured in The Man Behind the Frame
Recent Readings
Watch Chelsey perform the first chapter of The Man Behind the Frame at Book Passage in SF!
Recent Readings
Watch Chelsey perform the first chapter of The Last Island at the Mechanics Institute in SF!
Editorial Services
Not only has Chelsey written three books, graduated from UCLA with a degree in playwriting, and taught English in three countries, she is an avid reader and scrupulous proofreader. If you’re in need of some editorial expertise, book some time below!
AWARDS
Chelsey has won the 2014 & 2017 San Francisco Writers Conference Kevin Smokler Scholarship, the 2019 Murphy School of Writing Get Away to Write Scholarship, the 2020 Yrsa Daley-Ward Constellation Scholarship, runner-up in the Women On Writing (WOW) Spring 2019 Flash Fiction contest, the 2021 Writers Studio Ralph Dickey Award, and first place in the 2007 Martin Luther King, Jr. House of Blues Poetry Contest.
About
Chelsey Dannielle Monroe is a builder of worlds. She graduated UCLA as Valedictorian with a focus on playwriting, and brought new worlds to life on stage; after college, using her theatrical foundation, she worked for six years in the magical land of Hollywood, but her true passion lay in creation through language. So she packed way too many suitcases and left Los Angeles for Tokyo to explore the real world and teach English.
Currently, Chelsey lives in San Francisco, California, and writes fantasy, horror, and magical realism novels. As a woman of color, she strives to be the intersectional eye lacking in the grand narrative, telling history, fantasy, and horror, from alternative angles. Her characters defy norms and heroic tropes. Her goddesses are single-mothers juggling two jobs while her gods are ex-convicts and reformed addicts; her princesses are gender-nonconforming, and her princes prefer men. Inspired by the possibility she finds in authors like Octavia Butler and Tomi Adeyemi, Chelsey uses fantasy to create dialogues between cultures and to reimagine our history and society. Her goal is to inspire people to move beyond the limiting patriarchal narratives offered and work to build their own universes—to be in control of their own stories.
When she is not writing, Chelsey loves traveling and exploring new cultures, reading late into the night, and baking high-calorie sweets.
Press
A look at her life.
She writes. She teaches. She supports communities.
San Francisco Writers Conference, Kevin Smokler Scholarship Winner - February 2017
Teaching English in New Delhi, India - November 2019
Meeting and supporting the great artist and founder of Black Lives Matters Patrisse Cullors - May 2018
Black Lives Matter March - April 2020
Meeting and supporting the great writer and activist Angela Davis - January 2019
Meeting and supporting the great writer Marlon James - February 2019
Teaching English in Ebina-Shi, Japan - March 2016
2019 Murphy School of Writing "Get Away to Write" Scholarship Winner, Scotland - August 2019
San Francisco Writers Grotto Class - 2019
Meeting and supporting the great actress and activist Jenifer Lewis - January 2018
Meeting and supporting the great poet Cleo Wade - October 2019
San Francisco Writers Conference - February 2020
Meeting and supporting the great writer Jonathan Maberry
Climate Strike - September 2019
Art Installation for "Classroom of Compassion" honoring immigrants - San Diego Border with Mexico
Hey Y’all!
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