Nothing But Red: The Anthology Inspired by the Death of Du'a Khalil

by Skyla Dawn Cameron (Editor), Joss Whedon (Contributor), Leigh Dragoon (Illustrator)

In April 2007, a group of men pulled seventeen-year old Du'a Khalil Aswad into a mob. They proceeded to stone and beat her to death, a supposed "honor" killing for allegedly falling in love with a man of a different faith. Several camera phones recorded the entire incident from the front row, and videos later surfaced online.

One month later, popular filmmaker Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) expressed his despair and outrage at the misogyny in all cultures on a fan-run blog. "Because it's no longer enough to be a decent person," he wrote. "It's no longer enough to shake our heads and make concerned grimaces at the news. True enlightened activism is the only thing that can save humanity from itself. I've always had a bent towards apocalypitic fiction, and I'm beginning to understand why. I look and I see the earth in flames.

"Her face was nothing but red."

The arts anthology Nothing But Red was conceived as a way to raise both awareness of the issues he spoke of, as well as money for the charity Equality Now. Poetry, prose, and visual art comprise this unique collection.

Edited by:

Skyla Dawn Cameron

Full list of contributors:

Ann Aguirre
Mechele Armstrong
Judy Bagshaw
David Baker
Anne Barringer
Kimberly Bea
Hanne Blank
CL Bledsoe
Melinda Blount
Jill Boland
Kerry Budd
Elaine Corvidae
Kevin Craig
Maggie Dougherty
Leigh Dragoon
Catherine Egan
Sasha Elliott
Dana Evans
Elizabeth Frank
Stephanie Gayle
Valentina Gnup
Gila Green
Liza Hamilton
Reina Hardy
Janna Hastings
Stacey Hill
Jody Houser
Tom Hulley
Barbara Hunt
Abha Iyengar
Dale Jacobson
Lee Kendall
Julie Klumb
Laure Lackey
Guy Lancaster
Nora Landry
Rae Lindley
Virginia Lore
Bobbi Lurie
Jennifer Macaire
Mehrin Masud-Elias
Ellen McCord
Virginia McRae
MG
m. jules
Nick Monteleone
Scott Neigh
Gill O'Halloran
MK Proietta
WJ Ray
Alex Remy
J.E. Remy
Clare Roach
Sonia Rupcic
Lilith Saintcrow
Jasmine Santos
Wayne Scheer
Lisa Schleipfer
Leah Schnelbach
Ellen Sheeley
Lynn Tait
Angela Todd
Jessica Tudor
Ruth Walker
Joss Whedon
Lise Whidden
Peter Wong
Andrena Zawinski

Genres: Anthologies, Nonfiction

312 pages, Paperback

First published July 10, 2008

About the author

Skyla Dawn Cameron has been writing approximately forever.

Her early storytelling days were spent acting out strange horror/fairy tales with the help of her many dolls, and little has changed except that she now keeps those stories on paper. She signed her first book contract at age twenty-one for River, a unique werewolf tale, which was released to critical and reader praise alike and won her the 2007 EPPIE Award for Best Fantasy. She now has multiple series on the go to keep her busy.

In the name of research, she has planned—but not taken—extensive trips all over the world, learned to pick locks, watched dozens of hours of surgeries, and has undergone private investigator training. Her internet search terms have likely put her on numerous government watchlists, but she swears she is not actively trying to murder anyone other than her characters. Really.

Skyla is a fifth-generation crazy cat lady who lives in southern Ontario, where she writes a lot of books, works as a freelance designer, embroiders swear words onto fabric, and plays video games.

You can visit her on the web at www.skyladawncameron.com and support her work by becoming a Patron of Snark where she serializes exclusive books, offers excerpts of WIPs, and runs weekly write-ins.

Reviews

[Tish · Rating 5 out of 5]

In April of 2007, 17-year-old Du'a Khalil Aswad was stoned to death. Her brutal murder, a so-called "honor killing" at the hands of family members and neighbors, was captured on video and posted on the Internet for the world to see. Upon learning of the murder, Joss Whedon, creator of TV's Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Firefly, posted an impassioned essay about Aswad's fate and about the global reality of misogyny on his website. He appealed to his fans to do something active to break the cycle of violence against women. In answer to his plea, NOTHING BUT RED, an anthology of "responses" to both Khalil's death and the issues Whedon raised in his essay, was born. The book takes its name from the fact Aswad was beaten so badly that her facial features were obscured, her face was "nothing but red." With words and pictures, the authors and artists of NOTHING BUT RED strive to bring attention to the issue of violence against women worldwide, as well as the continuing need for equality. Sales of the 313-page collection, which can be purchased as a trade paperback for $17.95 or as a PDF-format e-book for $5.95 at lulu.com or nothingbutred.wordpress.com, will benefit the international human rights organization Equality Now. A full list of contributors can be found at nothingbutred.wordpress.com/contributors

Beautifully crafted, NOTHING BUT RED brings home, with stunning clarity, the fact that anybody who believes that violence against women is something that only happens in certain countries, amongst people of certain religions, or is a thing of the past, is sadly mistaken. This could be YOUR mother, YOUR sister, YOUR daughter, friend or niece. This could be YOU. The words and images captured in these pages will not fail to stir you to your very soul. The writing is raw, poignant and heartfelt. The images are haunting. Reading this book left me feeling frightened, horrified, saddened, disgusted, bewildered and enraged. It also left me with a burning desire to be a part of the solution, to help assure that "honor killings" and other atrocities become a thing of the past. Most importantly, it left me with a feeling of hope. Hope that because of the passion and conviction of the talented women and men who contributed to NOTHING BUT RED, things can change.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Because it’s no longer enough to be a decent person,"
"It’s no longer enough to shake our heads and make concerned grimaces at the news. True enlightened activism is the only thing that can save humanity from itself. I’ve always had a bent towards apocalyptic fiction, and I’m beginning to understand why. I look and I see the earth in flames. Her face was nothing but red."

Joss Whedon, 2007.

The above words were the flames which stoked the burning embers inside many muses, and the end result is this book - Nothing But Red. As one of the contributors, it could be said that I am biased in favor of this book. I am certainly one of those who was inspired by Joss's words to learn, to write and create for it. Nonetheless, that does not make this work any less poignant, beautiful or meaningful.

There are many wonderful essays, poems, pleas and artwork in honor of Du'a Khalil Aswad, a young woman whose life was brutally taken away from her under the guise of "Honor" She is not the first, and she will not be the last, but perhaps her voice which cried out, has not cried out in vain. Within these 313 pages, you will find those who in moving and creative ways took up the torch to tell tales and sing songs of Du'a and all those who suffer these pointless "honor crimes."

The imagery is sublime and concrete. The words - different shades of red - different nuances of meaning, weave together to create a tapestry of love, light, loss and hope. There is something here for everyone, anyone who is a human being. These different stories, poems and artwork will leave a lasting imprint in your minds and hearts, awakening a need to do something more from the ashes of apathy.

I highly recommend this book for two reasons. A - there are so many great pieces within it and B. Because every book bought will have all the proceeds over and above the costs to print the actual book go to "Equality Now."

Do it, "because it's no longer enough to be a decent person."

[Bitten_by_Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a regular to the Bitten by Books site, you may notice that the usual rating system was not used for this review. There are two reasons for that. First, while the tombstone rating system is done tongue in cheek because of the types of books we normally review here, I did not feel that it was at all appropriate in this case. Also, we simply do not have a high enough rating to give...

For the entire review please go to the Best Paranormal & Urban Fantasy Review site on the web, Bitten By Books for the review of Nothing But Red in it's entirety. You won't be sorry.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book opened my eyes to a lot of issues that I had been ignoring. Things that we all know go on in the world but, that unless they happen to us or someone close we choose not to see.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a tribute, an eye opener, a strong representation of what a group of people can create together. I love this book, and it's not just because I'm in it. :)