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Reasons to Publicize Your Award-Eligible Works

by Rosemary Claire Smith ‘Tis the season when many writers blog and tweet lists of what they’ve published this year in hopes of generating reader interest and consideration for awards. Full stop. Does the prospect of preparing a social media post touting your published work cause you to twitch and shudder? You aren’t alone. Nobody […]

Diversity Plus: Diverse Story Forms and Themes, Not Just Diverse Faces

by Henry Lien (This article originally appeared in The SFWA Bulletin #215.)   Something I’ve noticed repeatedly in my author appearances, conference panels, and lectures is that discussions about representation and diversity in the arts today focus on the importance of diverse characters and creators. As crucial as that is, diversity can and should also include […]

In Memoriam – James Gunn

SFWA Grand Master James E. Gunn (b.1923) died on December 23, 2020.  Gunn served as SFWA President from 1971-1972. Gunn began publishing science fiction in 1949 with the short story “Communications”, using the byline Edwin James. Over the years, he built up parallel careers as both a science fiction author and an academic. His first novel, […]

Navigating the Parallel but Uneven Ecosystems of Traditional Publishing and Self-Publishing 

by Evan Winter (This article originally appeared in The SFWA Bulletin #215.)   Not long ago, I was asked where traditional publishing spaces are failing self-published writers, and I think I may have an answer: everywhere. This is because traditional publishing spaces aren’t structured in form or objectives to value the needs of self-published writers and […]

SFWA Awards the 2021 Givers Fund Grants

Each year, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) gives out multiple awards from our Givers Fund to organizations, activities, and public interest programs that further SFWA’s mission. As a 501(c)3 charitable organization, we aim to promote, advance, and support science fiction and fantasy writing in the United States and elsewhere, by educating […]

Supernatural or Super Unnatural – An Examination of Postcolonial Horror

by Shiv Ramdas Supernatural Or Super Unnatural—an Examination Of Postcolonial Horror (This article originally appeared in The SFWA Bulletin #215.) When analyzing postcolonial horror in the context of the supernatural, it’s striking how disparate the terms “postcolonial” and “supernatural” are within the genre. On the one hand we have postcolonialism which finds itself standing beside the […]

Explicit Sex Scenes and the Work of Stories

By Sunny Moraine The origins of this piece lie in an annoyed Twitter thread I posted, in response to a tweet (possibly joking, I don’t know) to the effect of “movies shouldn’t have sex scenes in them, we’re past that now”.  The origins of my annoyance go back a lot further.  I’ve been writing explicit […]

In Memoriam – Phyllis Eisenstein

Phyllis Eisenstein (b.1946) died on December 7. Eisenstein’s novels included Sorcerer’s Son, In the Red Lord’s Reach, and Shadow of Earth. Eisenstein published two volumes in the Tales of Alaric the Minstrel series and two volumes of the Book of Elementals trilogy. She also published two stand-alone novels.  Many of her early short stories were published in collaboration with […]

In Memoriam – Dean Ing

Dean Ing (b.1931) died on June 21. Ing published his first two stories in the 1950s. In the 1970s, he published several short stories and his first novel, Soft Targets.  In 1979, his novelette “Devil You Don’t Know” was nominated for the Nebula and Hugo Award. Additional novels, such as Anasazi and Single Combat followed and after the death of […]