Beatrice Winifred Iker (eye-kerr) grew up in the picturesque (and undoubtedly haunted) valley of the Great Smoky Mountains. As a child, they spent an incalculable time in their grandmother’s living room staring at the unending ridges and peaks; eventually, they decided to write about this bewitching place.

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A great passion of theirs is genealogy and ancestry. As a result, much of their writing lives in the southern gothic genre, where they grapple with the American South’s history, which is both terrifying and entrancing. Their stories feature characters and themes in the Black, neurodiverse, and queer communities. ​

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They are a co-host on the Afronauts Podcast with fellow Black speculative fiction authors (aka their besties). Mentorship is deeply important to Beatrice. They have been a Mentor-in-Residence in the Write Team and

Querry Fest mentorship programs.​ They are proud to be a 2022 Voodoonauts Fellow and an Active Member of the Horror Writers Association (HWA).

 

Their work appears/is forthcoming in issues of FIYAH Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction, Fantasy Magazine, Nightmare Magazine, Anathema Magazine, Air and Nothingness Press, & others. They also contributed to the DEATH IN THE MOUTH horror anthology (2022). ​

 

Beatrice lives in New England, enjoying the snow with their husband, cats, and robust tarot deck collection.​​