Annalee Newitz (born May 7, 1969) is an American

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

, editor, and

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

of both fiction and nonfiction, who has written for the periodicals ''

Popular Science ''Popular Science'' (also known as ''PopSci'') is an American digital magazine carrying popular science content, which refers to articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. ''Popular Science'' has won over 58 awards, incl ...

'' and ''

Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fra ...

''. From 1999 to 2008 Newitz wrote a syndicated weekly column called ''Techsploitation'', and from 2000 to 2004 was the culture editor of the ''

San Francisco Bay Guardian The ''San Francisco Bay Guardian'' was a free alternative newspaper published weekly in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1966 by Bruce B. Brugmann and his wife, Jean Dibble. The paper was shut down on October 14, 2014. It was relaun ...

''. In 2004 Newitz became a policy analyst at the

Electronic Frontier Foundation The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is an international non-profit digital rights group based in San Francisco, California. The foundation was formed on 10 July 1990 by John Gilmore, John Perry Barlow and Mitch Kapor to promote Internet ci ...

. With

Charlie Jane Anders Charlie Jane Anders is an American writer and commentator. She has written several novels, published magazines and websites, and hosted podcasts. In 2005, she received the Lambda Literary Award for work in the transgender category, and in 2009, t ...

, they also co-founded ''Other'' magazine, a periodical that ran from 2002 to 2007. From 2008 to 2015 Newitz was editor-in-chief of

Gawker ''Gawker'' is an American blog founded by Nick Denton and Elizabeth Spiers and based in New York City focusing on celebrities and the media industry. According to SimilarWeb, the site had over 23 million visits per month as of 2015. Founded in ...

-owned media venture ''

io9 ''io9'' is part of Gizmodo media since 2015, and it began as blog launched in 2008 by Gawker Media. The site initially focused on the subjects of science fiction, fantasy, futurism, science, technology and related areas but over the years has ...

'', and subsequently its direct descendant ''

Gizmodo ''Gizmodo'' ( ) is a design, technology, science and science fiction website. It was originally launched as part of the Gawker Media network run by Nick Denton, and runs on the Kinja platform. ''Gizmodo'' also includes the subsite ''io9'', whic ...

'', Gawker's design and technology blog. As of 2019, Newitz is a contributing opinion writer at ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''.

Early life

Newitz was born in 1969, and grew up in

Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, master-planned city in South Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s and the city was formally incorporated on ...

, graduating from Irvine High School, and in 1987 moved to

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

.Annalee Newitz, 2006, "About Annalee," at techsploitation.com (online), see , accessed February 19, 2015. In 1996, Newitz started doing freelance writing, and in 1998 completed a Ph.D. in English and American Studies from

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of Californi ...

, with a dissertation on images of monsters, psychopaths, and capitalism in twentieth century American popular culture, the content of which later appeared in book form from Duke University Press. Around 1999, Newitz co-founded the Post-World War II American Literature and Culture Database in an attempt to chronicle modern literature and popular culture.

Career

Newitz became a full-time writer and journalist in 1999 with an invitation to write a weekly column for the ''

Metro Silicon Valley ''Metro'' is a free weekly newspaper published by the San Jose, California, based Metro Newspapers. Also known as ''Metro Silicon Valley'', as well as ''Metroactive'' online, the paper serves the greater Silicon Valley area. In addition to print ...

'', a column which then ran in various venues for nine years. Newitz then served as the culture editor at the ''

'' from 2000 to 2004. Newitz was awarded a Knight Science Journalism

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

ship for 2002 to 2003, supporting them as a research fellow at

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

. From 2004 to 2005 Newitz was a policy analyst for the

, and from 2007 to 2009 was on the board of

Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR) was a global organization promoting the responsible use of computer technology. CPSR was incorporated in 1983 following discussions and organizing that began in 1981. It educated policymakers ...

. Newitz and

, a

Hugo award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier a ...

-winning author and commentator, co-founded ''Other'' magazine. In 2008,

media asked Newitz to start a blog about science and science fiction, dubbed

, for which Newitz served as editor-in-chief from its founding until 2015 when it merged with ''

,'' another Gawker media design and technology blog property; Newitz then took on the same leadership of the new venture.Richard Mankiewicz, 2010, "Science 2.0: Eureka’s Top 30 Science Blogs," at ''TimesOnline,'' February 21, 2010, se

accessed February 19, 2015. In November 2015, Newitz left Gawker to join ''Ars Technica'', where Newitz has been employed as tech culture editor since December 2015. Newitz is a contributing opinion writer at ''The New York Times''. Newitz's first novel, ''Autonomous'', was published in 2017. ''Autonomous'' won the Lambda Literary Award, Lambda Award and was nominated for the

Nebula Award The Nebula Awards annually recognize the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the United States. The awards are organized and awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), a nonprofit association of profe ...

and

Locus Award The Locus Awards are an annual set of literary awards voted on by readers of the science fiction and fantasy magazine ''Locus'', a monthly magazine based in Oakland, California. The awards are presented at an annual banquet. In addition to the pl ...

in 2018 for best novel. Newitz's second novel, ''

The Future of Another Timeline ''The Future of Another Timeline'' is a 2019 science-fiction novel by Annalee Newitz. The feminist time-travel adventure follows Tess, a professional time traveler, geoscientist, and secretly a member of the Daughters of Harriet (Tubman), who are ...

'', published in 2019, was described on Newitz's website as: " ..about time travel and what it would be like to meet yourself as a teenager and have a really, really intense conversation with her about how fucked up your high school friends are." The book was received with acclaim by critics, and was a Locus Award nominee for Best Science Fiction Novel. Their 2014 non-fiction science book ''Scatter, Adapt, and Remember: How Humans Will Survive a Mass Extinction'' was a finalist for the ''L.A. Times'' Book Prize. They also wrote ''Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age'', published in 2021. They have also written for publications including Wired, Popular Science, the New Yorker, the Atlantic, Slate, Washington Post, Smithsonian Magazine, and more. They have published short stories in Lightspeed, Shimmer, Apex, and Technology Review's Twelve Tomorrows. In March 2018, with their partner and co-host

, Newitz launched the

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...

''Our Opinions Are Correct'', which “explor sthe meaning of science fiction, and how it’s relevant to real-life science and society.” The podcast won the

Hugo Award for Best Fancast The Hugo Award for Best Fancast is one of the Hugo Awards, and is awarded to the best non-professional audio or video periodical devoted to science fiction, fantasy, or related subjects. The Hugo Awards have been described as "a fine showcase for ...

in 2019.

Personal life

Newitz is the child of two English teachers: Newitz's mother, Cynthia, worked at a high school, and Newitz's father, Marty, at a

community college A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an "open enrollment" for students who have graduated from high school (also known as senior sec ...

. Since 2000, Newitz has been in a relationship with

. The two began the podcast ''Our Opinions Are Correct'' in March 2018. Newitz has used

they In Modern English, ''they'' is a third-person pronoun relating to a grammatical subject. Morphology In Standard Modern English, ''they'' has five distinct word forms: * ''they'': the nominative (subjective) form * ''them'': the accusat ...

pronouns In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun (list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated ) is a word or a group of words that one may substitute for a noun or noun phrase. Pronouns have traditionally been regarded as one of the part of speech, parts o ...

since 2019.

Venues

* Co-founder, '' Bad Subjects'', 1992 * Co-founder, ''other'' (magazine), 2002 * Co-founder, Editor in chief,

io9.com ''io9'' is part of Gizmodo media since 2015, and it began as blog launched in 2008 by Gawker Media. The site initially focused on the subjects of science fiction, fantasy, futurism, science, technology and related areas but over the years ha ...

Gawker Media Gawker Media LLC (formerly Blogwire, Inc. and Gawker Media, Inc.) was an American Online and offline, online Mass media, media company and Link farm#Blog network, blog network. It was founded by Nick Denton in October 2003 as Blogwire, and was ba ...

's science and science fiction blog * Editor in chief, ''

'', Gawker Media's technology blog * Tech culture editor, ''Ars Technica''

Awards & nominations

* ''Autonomous'' (

Tor Books Tor Books is the primary imprint of Tor Publishing Group (previously Tom Doherty Associates), a publishing company based in New York City. It primarily publishes science fiction and fantasy titles, and is the largest publisher of Chinese scien ...

, September 2017) ** Finalist for 2018

Nebula Award for Best Novel The Nebula Award for Best Novel is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) for science fiction or fantasy novels. A work of fiction is considered a novel by the organization if it is 40,000 words or longer; a ...

** Finalist for 2018

John W. Campbell Memorial Award The John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel, or Campbell Memorial Award, is an annual award presented by the Center for the Study of Science Fiction at the University of Kansas to the author of the best science fiction no ...

** Finalist for 2018

Locus Award for Best First Novel The Locus Award for Best First Novel is one of the annual Locus Awards presented by the science fiction and fantasy magazine '' Locus''. Awards presented in a given year are for works published in the previous calendar year. The award for Best Fi ...

**Winner of 2018 Lambda Literary Award, Lambda Award SF/Fantasy/Horror *Winner of 2019

Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award The Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award is an annual literary award presented by the Theodore Sturgeon Literary Trust and the Center for the Study of Science Fiction at the University of Kansas to the author of the best short science fiction story ...

for best short science fiction - "

When Robot and Crow Saved East St. Louis "When Robot and Crow Saved East St. Louis" is a 2018 science fiction short story by Annalee Newitz. It was first published in '' Slate''. Synopsis Robot is an autonomous CDC drone, monitoring the Metro East population for viral outbreaks. When the ...

" *Winner of 2019

- '' Our Opinions Are Correct'' *''Future of Another Timeline'' (2019) **Finalist for

Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel The Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel is one of the annual Locus Awards The Locus Awards are an annual set of literary awards voted on by readers of the science fiction and fantasy magazine '' Locus'', a monthly magazine based in Oaklan ...

(2020) **Nominee for Goodreads Choice Award for Science Fiction (2019) **Winner (long-form) of

Sidewise Award for Alternate History The Sidewise Awards for Alternate History were established in 1995 to recognize the best alternate history stories and novels of the year. Overview The awards take their name from the 1934 short story " Sidewise in Time" by Murray Leinster, in ...

(2019)

Bibliography

Newitz's work has been published in ''

'', ''

,''

Salon.com ''Salon'' is an American politically progressive/ liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events. Content and coverage ''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, including re ...

, ''

New Scientist ''New Scientist'' is a magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organisation publishe ...

,'' ''

'', the ''

'', and at ''

AlterNet AlterNet is a left-leaning online news outlet. It was launched in 1997 by the Independent Media Institute. In 2018, the website was acquired by owners of '' Raw Story''. Coverage Coverage is divided into several special sections related to progr ...

''. In addition to these print and online periodicals, they have published the following short stories and books:

Novels

* ''Autonomous'' (

, September 2017) (translated in German as ''Autonom'' in 2018) * ''

'' (Tor Books, 2019) * ''The Terraformers'' (Tor Books, forthcoming 2022)

Short stories

"The Great Oxygen Race"
''Hilobrow'' magazine, 2010

'' Flurb'' magazine, 2010
"Twilight of the Eco-Terrorist"
''Apex Magazine'', 2011
"Unclaimed"
''Shimmer Magazine'', issue 18, 2014
"Drones Don't Kill People"
''Lightspeed Magazine'', issue 54, 2014
"All Natural Organic Microbes"
''MIT's Twelve Tomorrows'', 2016
"Birth of the Ant Rights Movement"
''Ars Technica UK'', 2016
"The Blue Fairy's Manifesto"
''Robots vs. Fairies'', ed. by Dominik Parisien and

Navah Wolfe Navah Wolfe is a two-time Hugo Award winning American editor of science fiction, fantasy and horror works. Biography Navah Wolfe went to college at Yeshiva University where she studied History and English. She won the Hugo Award for Best E ...

, 2018
"When Robot and Crow Saved East St. Louis"
Slate, 2018. Winner of the 2019

for best short science fiction.

Non-fiction

* Co-edited, with Matt Wray * * * Co-edited with

Charlie Anders Charlie Jane Anders is an American writer and commentator. She has written several novels, published magazines and websites, and hosted podcasts. In 2005, she received the Lambda Literary Award for work in the transgender category, and in 2009, t ...

. * * Edited by Kathryn Cramer and Ed Finn. * * Edited by Nalo Hopkinson. * *

References

External links

Official site

Annalee Newitz
Gettingit.com authors
Annalee Newitz
at

columnists
Annalee Newitz
at the

Internet Speculative Fiction Database The Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB) is a database of bibliographic information on genres considered speculative fiction, including science fiction and related genres such as fantasy, alternate history, and horror fiction. The ISFDB ...

Annalee Newitz, "She's Such A Geek" Interview
at 23C3
Annalee Newitz and Charlie Anders read from "She's Such A Geek"
Authors@Google {{DEFAULTSORT:Newitz, Annalee 1969 births Living people American women journalists American technology writers American bloggers People from Irvine, California American science writers Science fiction fans Journalists from California Writers from San Francisco Women technology writers American women bloggers 20th-century American journalists 21st-century American journalists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers Lambda Literary Award winners Women science fiction and fantasy writers Sidewise Award winners American LGBT novelists 21st-century LGBT people