Description
In a time defined by uncertainty, change and inequality, speculative fiction is fast-becoming the genre of the 21st century. Straddling genres such as fantasy, science fiction, dystopia, alternative history, and horror, this book is a comprehensive introduction to the art of writing in this imaginative, fluid, and inclusive mode. An all-in-one textbook combining a craft guide with an extensive, diverse anthology, Speculative Fiction explores the multiplicity of influences that the genre has consumed and incorporated, digs into techniques specific to speculative writing, and gives writers exercises and prompts to begin their own works.
In addition, Speculative Fiction features:
- Annotated stories to showcase speculative techniques in practice
- Interviews with authors about the use of craft in their speculative work
- Detailed exploration of techniques from world-building to creating characters to plots and conflict in a specifically speculative mode
- Chapters on finding a speculative writing community and workshopping writing within the genre
Featuring the works of such authors as George Saunders, Carmen Maria Machado, Joyce Carol Oates, Sofia Samatar, Rebecca Roanhorse, and many more, this book gives writers the resources to write boldly, differently and freely as they embrace stories that defy, undermine, and subvert reality to welcome hitherto censored or silenced voices, visions, and points of view.
An accessible and wide-ranging all-in-one craft guide and anthology to the mode of speculative fiction writing, featuring author interviews, exercises, and annotated stories.
About the Author
Benjamin Warner is Lecturer in the English Department at Towson University, USA. He is the author of the speculative novels Thirst (2016) and Fearless (2023) and his fiction and nonfiction has appeared in Salon.com, The Washington Post Magazine, and Punchnel's, among others. His website is benjaminwarner.net.
Ron Tanner is Professor Emeritus in the Writing Department at Loyola University, Maryland, USA. He is the author of five books, most recently Far West: Stories (2022), which was winner of the 2020 Elixir Press book prize. Other awards for writing include a Faulkner Society gold medal, a Pushcart Prize, a New Letters Award, a Best of the Web Award, and a James Michener/Copernicus Society Fellowship. His website is https://www.ronaldtanner.com/
Reviews
Benjamin Warner and Ron Tanner's Speculative Fiction: A Writer's Guide and Anthology is an accessible and charming student centered introduction to the pleasures and possibilities of both the creative writing workshop and genre bending fiction.This book is sure to find a place in many classrooms and bookshelves. * Jennifer Pullen, Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Ohio Northern University, USA; Author of Fantasy Fiction: A Writer's Guide and Anthology. *
Weaving together an excellent selection of modern and cannonical stories with thoughtful discussions of genre and go-to exercises that students can put to use in their own work immediately, Speculative Fiction presents a perfect opportunity for teachers and learners of all ages to enter the larger classroom that speculative fiction offers. I'm very glad to see this in the world! * Fran Wilde, two-time Nebula-winning author of Updraft, Riverland, and A Philosophy of Thieves *
Book Information
ISBN 9781350408487
Author Benjamin Warner
Format Hardback
Page Count 256
Imprint Bloomsbury Academic
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Series Bloomsbury Writer's Guides and Anthologies
