Blurbs
Here’s what people are saying about Ay-leen the Peacemaker & Beyond Victoriana.
Click to see full results.
Winner for a second year in a row!
Voted the 2013 Winner for “Best Politically-Minded Steampunk” and
“Best Multicultural Steampunk“
Click to view the full award results.
Winner of SteamCon’s 2013 Airship Award for Community Contributor.
Click to see the full results.
Voted the Winner for “Best Blog”
Special Award for “Best Politically-Minded Steampunk,” “Best Multicultural Steampunk” and “Best Feminist Steampunk”
(Special Awards based on readers’ write-in responses for the “SteamLife” category)
Winner of the 2010 Last Drink Bird Head Award for “Gentle Advocacy”
In recognition of individuals willing to enter into blunt discourse about controversial issues.
The purpose of the awards is to celebrate those in the genre community who enrich us with their time, energy, and words, for causes greater than themselves.
Nominee for the 2011 Airship Awards for “Community Contributor”
An individual who is outspoken and supportive in the steampunk community, including but not limited to: Blogger, event organizer, convention runner, scholar, speaker etc.
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3rd place winner for the 2011 The Shorty Awards in #steampunk (source)
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I always point to her to rebut the genre’s haters. – Scott Westerfeld (source)
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Ay-leen gives me hope for the future of steampunk. – Jake Von Slatt, proprietor of The Steampunk Workshop. (source)
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The most important article in Steaming is the only one that seems to acknowledge just how loosely the community defines itself while, at the same time, just how adamant the members are in drawing boundaries and finding the ever-elusive “authentic” steampunk style. Diana M. Pho, in “Objectified and Politicized: The Dynamics of Ideology and Consumerism in Steampunk Subculture” takes the internal contradictions of the steampunk community as her subject. – OneLastSketch blog on Steaming into the Victorian Future (source)
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But the stuff Ay-Leen writes about is really interesting because she’s actually working towards a reclamation of sorts. Steampunk in this sense seems to be a chance to reject the narrative of impoverished savages and subjected women and reshape it to be more cohesive and empowering. – Erin Polgreen on COLORLINES (source)
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We’ll be completely honest with you: we don’t really read blogs….However, once in a while we find something that’s so special that we couldn’t ignore it even if we wanted to, and this is most definitely the case with Ay-leen the Peacemaker’s new project: Beyond Victoriana. – Steampunk Magazine (source)
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This site is an excellent look at different cultural perspectives for steampunk, especially in terms of country and color. Highly recommended. –Dieselpunk.net (source)
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This series is so incredibly amazing and I am so, so happy that Ay-Leen is writing and sponsoring them. It’s a fantastic resource, and shows the vast, beautiful, fantastic possibilities that the steampunk genre can encompass — but only if we stretch the fandom to allow room for more than just the basic Brit-centric faux-Victoriana, and be welcoming while we do it…. It’ll crack your imagination wide open. – Jane Irwin, author of the webcomic Clockwork Game (source)
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I enthusiastically support these writers for addressing these questions; I love steampunk, but it has some uncomfortable historical associations, especially for someone of white European descent, such as myself (my immediate ancestry is Italian, French, and German). Addressing such associations and expanding the discourse surrounding steampunk’s political and ideological underpinnings only serves to enrich the movement. I hope others take up the challenge, as well. – Dr. Dru Pagliasotti, professor and author of Clockwork Heart (source)
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Schaut man sich die Steampunk Literatur an, ist ihr Fokus sehr eurozentrisch und selbst dort fast ausschließlich auf den angelsächsischen Raum festgelegt. Mit diesem engen Fokus nimmt man sich aber zum einen viele kreative Möglichkeit und Ideen, zum anderen gibt es auch in fernen Ländern interessante Steampunk-Themen.
Das Blog Beyond Victoriana beschäftigt sich genau mit diesen unbekannten multikulturellen Aspekten des Steampunks. Extrem lesenswert!
–Clockworker.de (in German) (source)
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I am thrilled to discover this, since this is a topic which fascinates me and I think deserves all sorts of attention. – Steampunk Librarian (source)
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If historical fiction, fabulous costuming, art, culture and the past and present crossroads of the world interests you, be sure to follow Beyond Victoriana and Silver Goggles. Amazing resources, fabulous women, who, like Steampunk, are happening now. – Leanna Renee Hieber, author of The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker (source)
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OMFG! Beyond Victoriana panel was the best thing at SPWF! – Jake von Slatt, proprietor of The Steampunk Workshop (source)
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Ay-leen’s blog is a great example of what the conversation looks like. In her “First Nation Sci-Fi & Technology Resources” article, she demonstrates (without calling it this), a RaceWin list. Rather than targeting books that “fail,” Ay-leen holds up the ones that win, and focuses on them. She encourages us to read them, and learn. She invites us into the conversation, and gives enough space for it to occur. – Mike Perschon, The Steampunk Scholar (source)
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Interviews
Relating to Beyond Victoriana and the intersection of race, culture, fandom, and steampunk.
“The Roundtable of DOO- I mean, of Race and Steampunk.” Conducted with Jaymee Goh for Tor.com. October 27, 2009.
Interview on the Airship Ambassador. July 18, 2010.
Spotlight on OverburyInk’s SteamTuesday Blog Tour October 26, 2010.
Steampunk Reloaded Ed. Ann & Jeff Vandermeer. Tachyon Publications, October 2010.
The Steampunk Phenomenon on Nerd Caliber. October 2010.
“Steampunk Fashion: A Closer Look Inside” on Brooklyn Exposed December 8, 2010.
Ladies of Steampunk Interview on Doctor Fantastique’s Show of Wonders December 2010.
Average Intelligence Goes Steampunk Podcast Episode. April 2011
An Interview with Ay-leen the Peacemaker The Underlined Word. May 26, 2011.
The Steampunk Bible Abrams Image, May 2011.
Grasping@Creativity Feature June 20, 2011.
Steampunk Spotlight: Ay-leen the Peacemaker
Caught in the Cogs – O.M. Grey’s blog. June 21, 2011.
Steampunk Jewelry tonight with….Diana M. Pho at Decimononic. February 15, 2012.
Interview at the Steampunk Chronicle Part 1. Part 2. August 28, 2012.
Interview on SteamGEEKs podcast. Episode 26. January 31st, 2013.
Interview on Anthony N. Castle’s website. “Steam, power and politics: talking steampunk with Diana M. Pho” October 2013. Part 1 and Part 2.
The Skiffy and Fanty Show. “224. Multicultural Steampunk, World SF, and War Stories w/ Diana Pho and Andrew Liptak at ICFA” March 2014.
FanGirlBlog.com, Steampunk and the Heroine’s Journey: Part Three. September 26, 2014.
“The Dark Side of Coimc Con.” Inside Edition. October 13, 2014.
FanBros, Episode 75: “Sex, Lies & Steampunk” November 21, 2014.
An Interview with Diana M. Pho. Geek Girl in Love. September 1, 2015.
Why Diversity at Comic Con is So Important MSN.com October 11, 2015.
Publications
(selected works)
Written works by Ay-leen the Peacemaker that are not exclusive to this site, about steampunk as a subgenre and as a subculture community.
Tor.com Blogger contributor listing.
Articles
“From the Wilds of America” – Analyzing the Idea of “British Colonial America” in Steampunk Racialicious. 1 July 2009.
“Shimmies and Sprockets: Analyzing the Use of Belly Dance in Steampunk“ Steampunk Magazine Issue #07. April 2010. (Read an excerpt here)
“Steampunk: Stylish Subversion and Colonial Chic.” Co-written with Jaymee Goh. Fashion Talks: Undressing the Power of Style Ed. Shira Tarrant & Marjorie Jolles. SUNY Press: 2012.
“Objectified and Politicized: The Dynamics of Consumering and Ideology in Steampunk Subculture.” Steaming into a Victorian Future. Ed. Julie Taddeo & Cynthia Miller. Scarecrow Press: 2012.
“Leftist Constructs” and Guest Interview: Writing Steampunk. Overland magazine. Issue 207. Summer 2012.
Journal of Victorian Culture Online. “Steampunk, Technological Time & Beyond Victoriana: Advocacy and the Archive.” October 14, 2013.
Guest Online Contributions
Today’s Best Steamreads for the Novice Steampunk May 2010. All Things Steampunk
“Steampunks Around the World, Unite: Multiculturalism in Steampunk.” August 2010. Guest series hosted at Free the Princess (link to index), Doc Fantastique’s Show of Wonders, and Steampunk Magazine.
Available in Italian courtesy of reginazabo and Ruggine magazine (PDF download or online Part #1 and Part #2)
“The Ao Dai and I: A Personal Essay on Cultural Identity and Steampunk.” October 20, 2010. Tor.com
So Much Steampunk, They Had to Say it Twice: Steampunk II: Steampunk Reloaded Review October 29, 2010. Tor.com
What Do You Do with an MA in Steampunk? October 25, 2012. STEAMED!
Yes, I Did Stick a Gear on It: The Illusion of Steampunk Performance April 27, 2013. Steampunk Canada.
Beyond Victoriana 
