Nina Munteanu (born 1954 in Granby, Quebec) is a Canadian ecologist and novelist of science fiction and fantasy. [1] [2] In addition to eight published novels, Munteanu has written short stories, articles and non-fiction books, which have been translated into several languages throughout the world. [3] Munteanu is a member of SF Canada. [4] She writes articles on the environment and sustainability. [5]
Many of her novels and short stories examine the role and evolution of humanity in the context of nature and technology. [6] [7] [8] She is currently an editor of European SF zine Europa SF. [9] Munteanu taught Environmental Education at the Summer Institute of Simon Fraser University for several years. Munteanu was a scientist with several consulting firms in Vancouver, British Columbia, where she did research and wrote reports and research papers. Munteanu lives in Toronto, Ontario, and Vancouver, British Columbia, where she teaches writing and consults as technical writer and editor. [10] [11] [12]
Recognition for her work includes the Midwest Book Review Reader’s Choice Award, finalist for Foreword Magazine’s Book of the Year Award, the SLF Fountain Award, and The Delta Optimist Reviewers Choice. [13]
Speculative fiction is an umbrella category of fiction that encompasses all the genres that deliberately depart from realism, or from strictly imitating ordinary reality, instead presenting supernatural, futuristic, and other highly imaginative realms. This catch-all genre thus includes, but is not limited to, science fiction, fantasy, horror, superhero fiction, alternate history, utopian and dystopian fiction, and supernatural fiction, as well as combinations thereof. The term has been used with a variety of meanings for works of literature.
Gordon Rupert Dickson was a Canadian-American science fiction writer. He was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 2000.
Judith Josephine Grossman, who took the pen-name Judith Merril around 1945, was an American and then Canadian science fiction writer, editor and political activist, and one of the first women to be widely influential in those roles.
Nalo Hopkinson is a Jamaican-born Canadian speculative fiction writer and editor. Her novels – Brown Girl in the Ring (1998), Midnight Robber (2000), The Salt Roads (2003), The New Moon's Arms (2007) – and short stories such as those in her collection Skin Folk (2001) often draw on Caribbean history and language, and its traditions of oral and written storytelling.
A strong element in contemporary Canadian culture is rich, diverse, thoughtful and witty science fiction.
George Edward Barr is an American science fiction and fantasy artist.
Edo van Belkom is a Canadian author of horror fiction.
David Geddes Hartwell was an American critic, publisher, and editor of thousands of science fiction and fantasy novels. He was best known for work with Signet, Pocket, and Tor Books publishers. He was also noted as an award-winning editor of anthologies. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction describes him as "perhaps the single most influential book editor of the past forty years in the American [science fiction] publishing world".
Lavie Tidhar is an Israeli-born writer, working across multiple genres. He has lived in the United Kingdom and South Africa for long periods of time, as well as Laos and Vanuatu. As of 2013, Tidhar has lived in London. His novel Osama won the 2012 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel, beating Stephen King's 11/22/63 and George R. R. Martin's A Dance with Dragons. His novel A Man Lies Dreaming won the £5000 Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize, for Best British Fiction, in 2015. He won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel in 2017, for Central Station.
Mundane science fiction (MSF) is a niche literary movement within science fiction that developed in the early 2000s, with principles codified by the "Mundane Manifesto" in 2004, signed by author Geoff Ryman and "The Clarion West 2004 Class". The movement proposes "mundane science fiction" as its own subgenre of science fiction, typically characterized by its setting on Earth or within the Solar System; a lack of interstellar travel, intergalactic travel or human contact with extraterrestrials; and a believable use of technology and science as it exists at the time the story is written or a plausible extension of existing technology. There is debate over the boundaries of MSF and over which works can be considered canonical. Rudy Rucker has noted MSF's similarities to hard science fiction and Ritch Calvin has pointed out MSF's similarities to cyberpunk. Some commentators have identified science fiction films and television series which embody the MSF ethos of near-future realism.
VCON is a fan run fantasy, gaming, and science fiction convention held annually in the metro Vancouver area of British Columbia, Canada. It has been hosted by the West Coast Science Fiction Association (WCSFA) since 1993, and by the Western Canadian Science Fiction Convention Committee Association (WCSFCCA) before that.
With the growth of science fiction studies as an academic discipline as well as a popular media genre, a number of libraries, museums, archives, and special collections have been established to collect and organize works of scholarly and historical value in the field.
Mark Askwith is a Canadian producer, writer, interviewer, and a familiar name in the fields of science fiction and comics.
David Mark Weber is an American science fiction and fantasy author. He has written several science-fiction and fantasy books series, the best known of which is the Honor Harrington science-fiction series. His first novel, which he worked on with Steve White, sold in 1989 to Baen Books. Baen remains Weber's major publisher.
Neal Barrett Jr. was an American writer of fantasy, science fiction, mystery/suspense, and historical fiction. He also worked under the pseudonyms Victor Appleton, Chad Calhoun, Franklin W. Dixon, Rebecca Drury, and J. D. Hardin.
CAN•CON, or more completely "CAN•CON: The Conference on Canadian Content in Speculative Arts and Literature", is a periodic science fiction and fantasy convention in Ottawa put on by The Society for Canadian Content in Speculative Arts and Literature. Founded in 1991 by James Botte and Farrell McGovern in response to a perception that there were no dedicated public venues that featured primarily Canadian speculative fiction writers, editors, and artists. In addition to the focus on Canadian content, it was also an attempt to bring a focus on the book back to Ottawa science fiction and fantasy events. It ran from 1992 through 1997, and again in 2001 before taking a hiatus of several years due to the two founders moving out of Canada for employment reasons; it was then relaunched in 2010 after they had both returned to Canada.
The Science Fiction & Fantasy Translation Awards was a literary award for science fiction and fantasy works translated into English. The first award was presented in 2011 for works published in 2010. Two awards were given, one for long form and one for short form. Both the author and translator receive a trophy and a cash prize of $350. The award was supported a number of ways including direct donations from the public, the Speculative Literature Foundation, prominent academics in particular staff at the University of California, Riverside (UCR), home of the Eaton Collection, one of the world’s largest collections of science fiction and fantasy literature. The last award was for 2013, and the award officially closed in October 2014.
Jessica Marie FreyFRY is a Canadian science fiction and fantasy author. While she is best known for her debut novel Triptych, Frey's work encompasses poetry, academic and magazine articles, screenplays, and short stories. Frey calls herself a "professional geek".
Gabrielle Harbowy is an American author, editor, and anthologist. She has been Managing Editor at Dragon Moon Press, a copyeditor for Pyr, an imprint of Prometheus Books, and a Submissions Editor at Apex Magazine.
Alison Sinclair is a British writer of science fiction, resident in Canada. She is the author of the Darkborn trilogy of novels and other works and is a medical doctor.