The Bunch of Seven was a group of science fiction and fantasy writers who met regularly in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

from March 28, 1985, until the early '90s to mutually critique manuscripts with the intention of helping each other turn professional—a goal in which several members succeeded. The group's founders were

Tanya Huff Tanya Sue Huff (born 1957) is a Canadian fantasy author. Her stories have been published since the late 1980s, including five fantasy series and one science fiction series. One of these, her '' Blood Books'' series, featuring detective Vicki Ne ...

S. M. Stirling Stephen Michael Stirling (born September 30, 1953) is a Canadian-American science fiction and fantasy author who was born in France. Stirling is well known for his Draka series of alternate history novels and his later time travel/alternate hi ...

Karen Wehrstein Karen may refer to: * Karen (name), a given name and surname * Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding woman displaying certain behaviors People * Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand ** Karen languages or Karenic l ...

, Shirley Meier, Louise Hypher, Terri Neal and Lloyd Penney. Later members included

Julie Czerneda Julie E. Czerneda (born April 11, 1955) is a Canadian science fiction and fantasy author. She has written many novels, including four Aurora Award for Best Novel winners (''In the Company of Others'', ''A Turn of Light'', ''A Play of Shadow'', an ...

Fiona Patton Fiona Patton (born 1962) is a Canadian fantasy author. She has written more than 50 short stories including within the genres heroic fantasy, horror and science fiction and is well known for her The Warriors of Estavia series. Born in Calgary, A ...

, Marian Hughes, Stephanie Rendino and others. The group became a model for other Toronto writing groups including the Cecil Street Irregulars, the Ink*Specs, and others. The name was invented by Terri Neal as a take-off on the

Group of Seven The Group of Seven (G7) is an intergovernmental political forum consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States; additionally, the European Union (EU) is a "non-enumerated member". It is officiall ...

, a group of well-known Canadian artists. Clute, John and John Grant. ''The Encyclopedia of Fantasy'' New York:Macmillan, 1999; pp. 11, 162

References

Canadian science fiction Writing circles {{sf-stub