Tachyon tidbits featuring Kameron Hurley, Lisa Goldstein, Daniel Pinkwater, Peter S. Beagle, Patricia A. McKillip, and Nalo Hopkinson
Because of Covid-19, John R. Edlund, Professor Emeritus at Cal Poly Pomona, has moved his English 3140 “Genre Fiction” class online to TEACHING TEXT RHETORICALLY. Among the many fascinating texts is THE SECRET HISTORY OF FANTASY, edited by Peter S. Beagle. Edlund supplies lectures and notes on the site for many of the stories.
- Stephen King, “Mrs. Todd’s Shortcut”
- Neil Gaiman, “Snow, Glass, Apples”
- “Fruit and Words” by Aimee Bender
- “The Empire of Ice Cream” by Jeffrey Ford
- “The Edge of the World” by Michael Swanwick
- “Super Goat Man” by Jonathan Lethem
- “John Uskglass and the Cumbrian Charcoal Burner” by Susanna Clarke
- “The Book of Martha” by Octavia E. Butler
- Peter Beagle, “Sleight of Hand”
- Robert Holdstock, “Mythago Wood”
- Kiji Johnson, “26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss”
Emily O’Donnell at COMIC YEARS includes Patricia A. McKillip in Fantasy Has Always Been Female: 10 Women Authors Who Shaped The Genre.
Patricia McKillip started writing fantasy in 1974 with the publication of her first novel THE FORGOTTEN BEASTS OF ELD which earned her a World Fantasy Award. Since then she has consistently published fantasy novels that often end up as winners or finalists for the Mythopoeic Awards. In 2008 she also received the World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Award. Her work is defined by her careful attention to detail, and finely crafted delicate prose. Her worlds are often medieval in nature and contain all of the usual fantasy tropes of castles, wizards, and mysterious magic beyond the realm of the protagonist’s understanding. Now in her 70s, McKillip is a female fantasy author who is still going strong. She recently published a short story collection DREAMS OF DISTANT SHORES in 2016.
For BOOK RIOT, Leah Rachel von Essen’s 20 Must-Read Fantasy and Sci-Fi Short Story Collections features Nalo Hopkinson’s FALLING IN LOVE WITH HOMINIDS.
Hopkinson is a Jamaican-born writer and editor who lives in Canada, her stories drawing from Caribbean history, language, and oral traditions. This collection showcases years of her short fiction, tales which mix modern worlds with Afro-Caribbean folklore, featuring everything from fire-breathing chickens to a new take on Caliban and Ariel to trees eagerly enjoying a storm.
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