Margaret Killjoy is an American author, musician, and podcast host. She is best known for her

speculative fiction Speculative fiction is an umbrella term, umbrella genre of fiction that encompasses all the subgenres that depart from Realism (arts), realism, or strictly imitating everyday reality, instead presenting fantastical, supernatural, futuristic, or ...

in the

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

and

folk horror Folk horror is a subgenre of horror film and horror fiction that uses elements of folklore to invoke fear and foreboding. Typical elements include a rural setting, isolation, and themes of superstition, folk religion, paganism, Human sacrifice, sa ...

genres, in particular for her two-book Danielle Cain series. Killjoy is involved in several musical projects across genres, including

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with tr ...

neofolk Neofolk, also known as apocalyptic folk, is a form of experimental music blending elements of folk and industrial music, which emerged in punk rock circles in the 1980s. Neofolk may either be solely acoustic or combine acoustic folk instrume ...

, and

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that came to prominence in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mos ...

. She founded the

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

black metal band

Feminazgûl Feminazgûl is an American feminist black metal band from North Carolina. Founded by Margaret Killjoy in 2018, Feminazgûl released their debut EP, ''The Age of Men Is Over,'' the same year. The band released their first full-length album, ''No ...

in 2018.

Life

Killjoy is an

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

, and

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...

. She is a

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

woman. Killjoy spent much of her early adult life as a "

squatter Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building (usually residential) that the squatter does not Land ownership and tenure, own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estima ...

and wanderer", then in the late 2010s began building a small cabin in the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. The term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain ...

on an anarchist land project.

Career

Writing

Killjoy's fiction writing includes

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...

and

. Killjoy published ''What Lies Beneath the Clock Tower'', a steampunk

interactive novel Interactive fiction (IF) is software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives, either in the form of Interacti ...

, in 2011. In 2017, Killjoy published the first of two books in the ''Danielle Cain'' series, which features a group of

genderqueer Non-binary or genderqueer gender identities are those that are outside the male/female gender binary. Non-binary identities often fall under the transgender umbrella since non-binary people typically identify with a gender that is differ ...

, anarchist demon hunters in the

American heartland The heartland, when referring to a cultural region of the United States, is the central land area of the country, usually the Midwestern United States or the states that do not border the Atlantic or Pacific oceans, associated with mainstream ...

. In the first

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most novelettes and short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) ...

, ''The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion'', the group is hunted by a demon that appears in the form of a

stag A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) a ...

. The second book in the series, ''The Barrow Will Send What It May'', follows members of the same group as they run from the events of the first book. ''The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion'' was nominated for a

Shirley Jackson Award The Shirley Jackson Awards are literary awards named after Shirley Jackson in recognition of her legacy in writing. These awards for outstanding achievement in the literature of psychological suspense, horror and dark fantasy are presented at Rea ...

in 2017. ''The Barrow Will Send What It May'' was nominated in the

31st Lambda Literary Awards The 31st Lambda Literary Awards were held on June 3, 2019, to honour works of LGBT literature published in 2018. The list of nominees was released on March 7.Ryan Porter"Vivek Shraya, Joshua Whitehead among Canadian finalists for Lambda Literary A ...

for the

Lambda Literary Award for Speculative Fiction Lambda Literary Awards (also known as the "Lammys") are awarded yearly by the United States–based Lambda Literary Foundation to published works that celebrate or explore LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) themes. The awards are ...

. A fundraiser has been announced for the third book to come in the series, ''The Immortal Choir Holds Every Voice'' Killjoy contributed the short story "We Won't Be Here Tomorrow" to ''A Punk Rock Future'', a 2019 anthology of speculative science fiction and fantasy. Killjoy has also edited and written non-fiction works, including the 2009 book ''Mythmakers & Lawbreakers: Anarchist Writers on Fiction'' (

AK Press AK Press is a workers' self-management, worker-managed, independent publisher and book distributor that specializes in publishing books about anarchism and the Far-left politics, radical left. Operated out of Chico, California, United States, ...

), a collection of interviews with anarchist authors of fiction including

Ursula K. Le Guin Ursula Kroeber Le Guin ( ; Kroeber; October 21, 1929 – January 22, 2018) was an American author. She is best known for her works of speculative fiction, including science fiction works set in her Hainish universe, and the ''Earthsea'' fantas ...

and

Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including ''Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'', Swamp Thing (comic book), ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman: The Killing Joke' ...

. She also was an editor of ''SteamPunk Magazine'', which was in print from 2007 to 2016. In the magazine, Killjoy spoke about

steampunk Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and Applied arts, aesthetics inspired by, but not limited to, 19th-century Industrial Revolution, industrial steam engine, steam-powered machinery. Steampun ...

as a literary genre that challenges humanity's relationship with technology; she warned against technology separating humanity from its natural environment, which she believed to sacrifice diversity for efficiency.

Music

Killjoy founded the feminist

band

in 2018. She released the band's first EP, ''The Age of Men Is Over'', as a solo project the same year. Joined by Laura Beach as lead vocalist and

Meredith Yayanos Meredith Anne Yayanos is a California-based violinist, vocalist and thereminist. Her work has been featured on tracks with artists including The Dresden Dolls, The Vanity Set, Revue Noir, David Garland (musician), David Garland and The Walkmen. S ...

as violinist and

theremin The theremin (; originally known as the ætherphone, etherphone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox) is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer (who is known as a thereminist). It is named aft ...

player, the band released its first full-length album, ''No Dawn for Men'', in 2020. Killjoy is involved in several other musical projects:

Alsarath,

blackened doom Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...

Vulgarite, and

Nomadic War Machine.

Podcasting

Killjoy hosts the anarchist

survivalist Survivalism is a social movement of individuals or groups (called survivalists, doomsday preppers or preppers) who proactively prepare for emergencies, such as natural disasters, and other disasters causing disruption to social order (that is, ...

podcast ''Live Like the World Is Dying.'' She launched her history podcast ''Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff,'' described as highlighting "complex stories of resistance that offer lessons and inspiration for us today," on May 2, 2022 at

IHeartRadio iHeartRadio (often shortened to just "iHeart") is an American freemium broadcast, podcast, radio streaming and Music Streaming platform owned by iHeartMedia. Founded in August 2008, iHeartRadio serves as the national umbrella brand for iHeart ...

Written works

Fiction

* ''What Lies Beneath the Clock Tower'' (2011) * ''The Super-Happy Anarcho Fun Book'' (2013) * ''A Country of Ghosts'' (2014) *
Everything that Isn’t Winter
' (2016) *
Into the Gray
' (2018) * ''The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion'' ( Danielle Cain series #1, 2017) * ''The Barrow Will Send What It May'' (Danielle Cain series #2, 2018) *
We Won't Be Here Tomorrow
' (2022) *
Escape from Incel Island
' (2023) *
The Sapling Cage
' (Daughters of the Empty Throne trilogy #1, 2024)

Non-fiction

* ''Mythmakers & Lawbreakers: Anarchists Writers on Fiction'', editor (2009) * ''A Steampunk's Guide to the Apocalypse'' (2012) * ''We Are Many: Reflections on Movement Strategy from Occupation to Liberation,'' editor (2012) * ''Take What You Need and Compost the Rest: An Anarchist Introduction to Post-Civilization Theory'' (2013)

Discography

Alsarath

* ''Come to Daggers'' (2020)

Feminazgûl

* ''The Age of Men Is Over'' ( EP, 2018) * ''No Dawn for Men'' (2020)

Nomadic War Machine

* ''I have a gun. Give me all the money in the register.'' (2010) * ''Always /// Forever'' (2018) * ''Every Breath Our Last'' (2019) * ''Creatures of the Wind'' (2020) * ''Are We Not Monsters'' (2020)

Vulgarite

* ''Fear Not the Dark Nor the Sun's Return'' (2020)

References

External links

* *
''Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff'' podcast

''Live Like the World Is Dying'' podcast
{{DEFAULTSORT:Killjoy, Margaret 21st-century American musicians 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women writers American anarchists American anti-fascists American horror writers American history podcasters American anarchist writers Anarcha-feminists Black metal musicians Electronica musicians American feminist musicians Living people Singers from North Carolina Steampunk writers Writers from North Carolina Year of birth missing (living people) American women podcasters Women in metal 20th-century squatters Transgender singers American transgender writers Transgender women singers 21st-century anarchists