"Bears Discover Fire" is a science fiction short story by American

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

author

Terry Bisson Terry is a unisex given name, derived from French Thierry and Theodoric. It can also be used as a diminutive nickname for the names Teresa or Theresa (feminine) or Terence or Terrier (masculine). People Male * Terry Albritton (1955–2005), Am ...

.LOCUS Index to SF Awards
It concerns aging and evolution in the US South, the dream of wilderness, and community. The premise is that

bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Nor ...

s have discovered

fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition ...

, and are having campfires on highway medians. It was originally published in '' Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine'' in August 1990.

Reception

"Bears Discover Fire" won the

Hugo Award for Best Short Story The Hugo Award for Best Short Story is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories published or translated into English during the previous calendar year. The short story award is available for works of fiction of ...

and the

Nebula Award for Best Short Story The Nebula Award for Best Short Story is a literary award assigned each year by Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) for science fiction or fantasy short stories. A work of fiction is defined by the organization as a short stor ...

. It was the inspiration for Michael Bishop's 2005 story "Bears Discover Smut".Bears Discover Smut
by Michael Bishop, at

SciFi.com Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Launc ...

, via archive.org; retrieved February 6, 2017

In popular culture

"Bears Discover Fire" has been adapted into a Columbia University MF
thesis film
directed by Ben Leonberg and produced by Scott Riehs.

Awards

* 1991

* 1990

* 1991 Asimov's Reader's Award * 1991 The Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award * 1991 Locus Award * 1991 SF Chronicle Award

References

External links

Full text
at ''

Lightspeed Magazine ''Lightspeed'' is an American online fantasy and science fiction magazine edited and published by John Joseph Adams. The first issue was published in June 2010 and it has maintained a regular monthly schedule since. The magazine currently publis ...

'' * * Movie short: http://www.bearsdiscoverfire.com/ 1990 short stories Short stories by Terry Bisson Hugo Award for Best Short Story winning works Works originally published in Asimov's Science Fiction Nebula Award for Best Short Story-winning works Theodore Sturgeon Award-winning works {{1990s-sf-story-stub