SF Minnesota (not to be confused with SF-Finn) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to speculative fiction (science fiction and fantasy, or SF) education. Founded in February 1992 in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota, it describes itself as "a multicultural, multimedia organization". [1]
SF Minnesota sponsors several projects:
2009 officers: Sybil Smith, President; Scott Lohman; and Bryan Thao Worra. [6]
Speculative fiction is an umbrella category of fiction that, in its broadest sense, encompasses all the genres that depart from realism, or imitating ordinary reality, such as in the context of supernatural, futuristic, and other 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.
Gene Rodman Wolfe was an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He was noted for his dense, allusive prose as well as the strong influence of his Catholic faith. He was a prolific short story writer and novelist, and won many literary awards. Wolfe has been called "the Melville of science fiction", and was honored as a Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.
Gordon Rupert Dickson was a Canadian-American science fiction writer. He was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 2000.
Kij Johnson is an American writer of fantasy. She is a faculty member at the University of Kansas.
Locus: The Magazine of The Science Fiction & Fantasy Field, founded in 1968, is an American magazine published monthly in Oakland, California. It is the news organ and trade journal for the English-language science fiction and fantasy fields. It also publishes comprehensive listings of all new books published in the genres. The magazine also presents the annual Locus Awards. Locus Online was launched in April 1997, as a semi-autonomous web version of Locus Magazine.
Peg Kerr is an American fantasy author.
Lee Battersby is an Australian author of science fiction, fantasy, and horror fiction. His story "Carrying The God" made him the first Western Australian winner in the Writers of the Future Competition in 2002, and was awarded the 2003 Ditmar Award for Best New Talent. His short story "Tales of Nireym" was a finalist in the Fantasy section of the 2005 Aurealis Awards, and "Pater Familias" won Best Horror Short Story in the 2006 awards. Another story, "Father Muerte & The Flesh", the third in his popular Father Muerte series, was awarded the inaugural Australian Shadows Award for outstanding literary achievement by the Australian Horror Writers Association in 2006. He won the award again in 2008 for "The Claws of Native Ghosts", a story which appeared in Graveside Tales' anthology "The Beast Within".
Minicon is a science fiction and fantasy convention in Minneapolis usually held on Easter weekend. Started in 1968 and running approximately annually since then, it is one of the oldest science fiction conventions in the midwest United States. It is run by the Minnesota Science Fiction Society, a non-profit organization that is "dedicated to furthering the appreciation of science fiction and fantasy literature".
Lucy Sussex is an author working in fantasy and science fiction, children's and teenage writing, non-fiction and true crime. She is also an editor, reviewer, academic and teacher, and currently resides in Melbourne, Australia.
The Gaylactic Network is a North American LGBT science fiction fandom organization. It has several affiliate chapters across the United States and Canada, with a membership of LGBT people and friends, sharing an interest in science fiction, fantasy, horror, comics and role-playing games.
Alex Isle is an Australian author. He writes both novels and short stories in the science fiction/fantasy genre, as well as books and articles of nonfiction, for both adult and young adult (YA) audiences.
Tales of the Unanticipated, known as TOTU, is a semiprozine that was founded under the auspices of the Minnesota Science Fiction Society, and has since become independent. Like contemporaries such as Crank! and Century, Tales of the Unanticipated strove from its inception to showcase fiction, poetry and articles that are ostensibly speculative fiction.
Martin Livings is an Australian author of horror, fantasy and science fiction. He has been writing short stories since 1990 and has been nominated for both the Ditmar Award and Aurealis Award. Livings resides in Perth, Western Australia.
Nisi Shawl is an African-American writer, editor, and journalist. They are best known as an author of science fiction and fantasy short stories who writes and teaches about how fantastic fiction might reflect real-world diversity of gender, sexual orientation, race, colonialism, physical ability, age, and other sociocultural factors.
Sarah Elizabeth Monette is an American novelist and short story writer, mostly in the genres of fantasy and horror. Under the name Katherine Addison, she published the fantasy novel The Goblin Emperor, which received the Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel and was nominated for the Nebula, Hugo and World Fantasy Awards.
Diversicon is an annual speculative fiction convention held in July or August in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minnesota area. Diversicon provides programming and social opportunities to encourage the multicultural, multimedia exploration and celebration of SF by those within and outside of the traditional SF community. Diversicon includes both live and posthumous guests. It is sponsored by SF Minnesota.
Arcana is a long-running horror convention that bills itself as "a convention of the dark fantastic." Arcana is held annually in late September or early October in St. Paul, Minnesota and typically features a famous author or artist from the dark fantasy genre as its guest of honor. Arcana programming includes a variety of panels, talks, and films, plus an interview and reading with the Guest of Honor. Other programming includes a book and art auction and an "open" reading. The presentation of the Minnesota Fantasy Award is a key feature of each year's convention.
Jill Bauman is an American artist. She has been nominated for the World Fantasy Award five times and nominated for the Chesley Award several times. Her art has been exhibited at the Delaware Art Museum, the Moore College of Art, Art Students League of New York, the NY Illustrators Society & and the Science Fiction Museum of Seattle. Bauman has created hundreds of book covers for horror, mystery, fantasy, science fiction, and best selling books including 23 of the Cat Who... books by Lilian Jackson Braun during the 1980s and 1990s.
The role of women in speculative fiction has changed a great deal since the early to mid-20th century. There are several aspects to women's roles, including their participation as authors of speculative fiction and their role in science fiction fandom. Regarding authorship, in 1948, 10–15% of science fiction writers were female. Women's role in speculative fiction has grown since then, and in 1999, women comprised 36% of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America's professional members. Frankenstein (1818) by Mary Shelley has been called the first science fiction novel, although women wrote utopian novels even before that, with Margaret Cavendish publishing the first in the seventeenth century. Early published fantasy was written by and for any gender. However, speculative fiction, with science fiction in particular, has traditionally been viewed as a male-oriented genre.
Abyss & Apex Magazine (A&A) is a long-running, semi-pro online speculative fiction magazine. The title of the zine comes from a quote by Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), "And if you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." The stories and poetry therefore follow the pattern of "how would humans react?" if a new technology or a type of magic or supernatural power affected them.
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