Isis Asare is no longer Executive Director of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association, just over a year after the organization installed her in the role. SFWA did not send members a dedicated announcement about her exit. Instead, the news arrived buried inside a broader year-end update, a single warm paragraph among other business, with no mention of why she left or what happens next at the top of the organization.
Here is the SFWA statement in full:
“Our community was joined this year by Executive Director Isis Asare. During her tenure, SFWA reached new audiences, launched ambitious initiatives, strengthened current programming, and became decidedly and emphatically more human. As Isis concludes her time at SFWA, we are deeply grateful for her collaborative leadership and supportive vision of what our community can and should be. We will miss her steady hand, but we also know that her next chapter will continue to shape the future of our genre. We will be cheering her on for years to come. You can follow along with Isis’ journey here.”
Note they have no reason given, nor a successor named. Just a farewell wedged between other Nebula season news, on an organization that has made a habit of internal turmoil playing out just off camera.
For readers who have never had a reason to pay attention to SFWA, the acronym stands for the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association, founded in 1965 by working science fiction writers. Fantasy was not originally part of the mandate. The organization existed to negotiate publishing contracts and keep smaller authors from getting steamrolled by industry legalese, a genuine trade function that mattered when publishing contracts were inconsistent and authors had little leverage.
