Chris Lawson is an Australian writer of
speculative fiction
Speculative fiction is a term that has been used with a variety of (sometimes contradictory) meanings. The broadest interpretation is as a category of fiction encompassing genres with elements that do not exist in reality, recorded history, na ...
.
Early life and education
Lawson was born in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
, Australia in 1966.
During his childhood Lawson spent time in
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
, where his father worked as a
biologist
A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...
on a crocodile farm and his mother studied psychology of personal identity.
Later he studied medicine, attaining a graduate diploma in
biostatistics
Biostatistics (also known as biometry) are the development and application of statistical methods to a wide range of topics in biology. It encompasses the design of biological experiments, the collection and analysis of data from those experime ...
,
epidemiology
Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population.
It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decisions and evidenc ...
and
human genetics
Human genetics is the study of inheritance as it occurs in human beings. Human genetics encompasses a variety of overlapping fields including: classical genetics, cytogenetics, molecular genetics, biochemical genetics, genomics, population gene ...
.
Career
Medicine
Lawson worked for the
Victorian Aboriginal Health Service
Victorian or Victorians may refer to:
19th century
* Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign
** Victorian architecture
** Victorian house
** Victorian decorative arts
** Victorian fashion
** Victorian literature ...
and
Merck Sharp & Dohme
Merck & Co., Inc. is an American multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Rahway, New Jersey, and is named for Merck Group, founded in Germany in 1668, of whom it was once the American arm. The company does business as Merck Sharp ...
. As of 2011 was practising as a
family doctor
Family medicine is a medical specialty within primary care that provides continuing and comprehensive health care for the individual and family across all ages, genders, diseases, and parts of the body. The specialist, who is usually a primary ...
.
Writing
Lawson's first work was published in 1993, entitled "Metacarcinoma" his short story was published in the Summer 1993 edition of ''
Eidolon (Australian magazine)
Eidolon Publications was a small press publisher based in North Perth, Western Australia. The company previously published the speculative fiction magazine ''Eidolon'' which ran from 1990 to 2000 and published books under the name of Eidolon Boo ...
''.
He received his first award for his work in 2000 when his short story "Written in Blood" won both the 1999
Aurealis Award for best science fiction short story and the 2000
Ditmar Award
The Ditmar Award (formally the Australian SF ("Ditmar") Award; formerly the "Australian Science Fiction Achievement Award") has been awarded annually since 1969 at the Australian National Science Fiction Convention (the "Natcon") to recognise a ...
for best short fiction.
Personal life
Lawson is married and has two children and as of 2011 was living in Melbourne.
Awards and nominations
Bibliography
Short fiction
*"Metacarcinoma" (1993) in ''
Eidolon (Australian magazine)
Eidolon Publications was a small press publisher based in North Perth, Western Australia. The company previously published the speculative fiction magazine ''Eidolon'' which ran from 1990 to 2000 and published books under the name of Eidolon Boo ...
'' Summer 1993 (ed.
Jeremy G. Byrne
Jeremy may refer to:
* Jeremy (given name), a given name
* Jérémy, a French given name
* ''Jeremy'' (film), a 1973 film
* "Jeremy" (song), a song by Pearl Jam
* Jeremy (snail), a left-coiled garden snail that died in 2017
* ''Jeremy'', a 1919 ...
,
Jonathan Strahan
Jonathan Strahan (born 1964, Belfast, Northern Ireland) is an editor and publisher of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. His family moved to Perth, Western Australia in 1968, and he graduated from the University of Western Australia with a ...
)
*"The Judas Kiss" (1996) in ''Eidolon'' Spring 1996 (ed. Jonathan Strahan, Jeremy G. Byrne,
Richard Scriven
Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'strong ...
)
*"Unborn Again" (1998) in ''
Dreaming Down-Under
''Dreaming Down-Under'' is a 1998 speculative fiction anthology edited by Jack Dann and Janeen Webb.
Background
''Dreaming Down-Under'' was first published in Australia in November 1998 by Voyager Books in trade paperback format. In 1999 and ...
'' (ed.
Jack Dann
Jack Dann (born February 15, 1945) is an American writer best known for his science fiction, an editor and a writing teacher, who has lived in Australia since 1994. He has published over seventy books, in the majority of cases as editor or co-edit ...
,
Janeen Webb
Janeen Webb (''née'' Pemberton) is an Australian writer, critic and editor, working mainly in the field of science fiction and fantasy.
Biography
The daughter of a Second World War Australian Army commando and salesman, Webb was brought up in ...
)
*"Written in Blood" (1999) in ''
Asimov's Science Fiction
''Asimov's Science Fiction'' is an American science fiction magazine which publishes science fiction and fantasy named after science fiction author Isaac Asimov. It is currently published by Penny Publications. From January 2017, the publication ...
'' June 1999 (ed.
Gardner Dozois
Gardner Raymond Dozois ( ; July 23, 1947 – May 27, 2018) was an American people, American science fiction author and editing, editor. He was the founding editor of ''The Year's Best Science Fiction'' anthologies (1984–2018) and was editor of ...
)
*"Chinese Rooms" (1999) in ''Eidolon'' Spring 1999 (ed. Jonathan Strahan, Jeremy G. Byrne)
*"Matthew 24:36" (2000) in ''Eidolon'' Autumn 2000, (ed. Jeremy G. Byrne)
*"Lacey's Fingerprints" (2001) in ''
Agog! Terrific Tales
Agog! Press was an independent Australian book publisher, specializing in speculative fiction short story collections. Founded in 2002 by Cat Sparks, the press published nine anthologies of speculative fiction.
In 2006 Agog! Press forged a ...
'' (ed.
Cat Sparks
Catriona (Cat) Sparks (born 11 September 1965, Sydney, New South Wales) is an Australian science fiction writer, editor and publisher.
Publishing
As manager and editor of Agog! Press with her partner, Australian horror writer Rob Hood, Sp ...
)
*"Faster, Higher, Stronger" (2002) in ''Spectrum SF'' No. 9 (ed. Paul Fraser)
*"Your Soothsayers Are Better" (2003) in ''Written in Blood''
*"No Man's Land" (2003, with
Simon Brown) in ''Gathering the Bones'' (ed.
Ramsey Campbell
Ramsey Campbell (born 4 January 1946) is an English horror fiction writer, editor and critic who has been writing for well over fifty years. He is the author of over 30 novels and hundreds of short stories, many of them winners of literary awa ...
, Jack Dann,
Dennis Etchison
Dennis William Etchison (March 30, 1943 – May 29, 2019) was an American writer and editor of fantasy and horror fiction. )
*"Countless Screaming Argonauts" (2005) in ''
Realms of Fantasy
''Realms of Fantasy'' was a professional bimonthly fantasy speculative fiction magazine published by Sovereign Media, then Tir Na Nog Press, and Damnation Books, which specialized in fantasy fiction (including some horror), related nonfiction (wit ...
'' August 2005 (ed.
Shawna McCarthy
Shawna Lee McCarthy (born 1954) is an American science fiction and fantasy editor and literary agent.
McCarthy graduated from the Wilkes University and studied at the American University.
Career
McCarthy edited various magazines for several ...
)
*"The Surfing Cannibals of Norway" (2005) in ''Mitch?4: Stories by Writers Who Should Have Known Better''
*"Empathy" (2006) in ''
Cosmos
The cosmos (, ) is another name for the Universe. Using the word ''cosmos'' implies viewing the universe as a complex and orderly system or entity.
The cosmos, and understandings of the reasons for its existence and significance, are studied in ...
'' April–May 2006, (ed.
Damien Broderick
Damien Francis Broderick (born 22 April 1944) is an Australian science fiction and popular science writer and editor of some 74 books. His science fiction novel ''The Dreaming Dragons'' (1980) introduced the trope of the generation time machine ...
,
Wilson da Silva
Wilson da Silva is an Australian feature writer, science journalist, editor and documentary filmmaker who has worked in magazines, newswires, newspapers, television and online. He is a co-founder and the long-serving former editor of ''Cosmos'', ...
)
*"Screening Test" (2006) in ''Agog! Ripping Reads'' (ed. Cat Sparks)
*"Hieronymus Boche" (2006) in ''
Eidolon I
''Eidolon I'' is a 2006 speculative fiction anthology edited by Jonathan Strahan and Jeremy G. Byrne.
Background
''Eidolon I'' was first published in 2006 by Eidolon Books in trade paperback format. It was a short-list nominee for the 2007 Ditm ...
'' (ed. Jeremy G. Byrne, Jonathan Strahan)
*"Canterbury Hollow" (2011) in ''
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Press. Editors Anthony Boucher a ...
'' January–February 2011 (ed.
Gordon Van Gelder
Gordon Van Gelder (born 1966) is an American science fiction editor. From 1997 until 2014, Van Gelder was editor and later publisher of ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'', for which he has twice won the Hugo Award for Best Editor Shor ...
)
*"Sundown" (2011) in ''Welcome to the Greenhouse'' (ed. Gordon Van Gelder)
Collections
*''Written in Blood'' (2003)
Essays
*"The Tithonus Option is Not an Option" (1999)
*"Worldcon 1999 Report" (1999) in ''
Locus
Locus (plural loci) is Latin for "place". It may refer to:
Entertainment
* Locus (comics), a Marvel Comics mutant villainess, a member of the Mutant Liberation Front
* ''Locus'' (magazine), science fiction and fantasy magazine
** ''Locus Award' ...
'' No. 466
*Counter-Intuitive: "Life Without Sex" (2000) in ''Ticonderoga On-line''
*"We Done Kill'd the Columbia" (2003) in ''Written in Blood''
*"Evolutionary Pressure on Creationists" (2003) in ''Written in Blood''
*"The Standard Book of Alchymical Elementals" (2003) in ''Written in Blood''
*"Fun Experiments With Your Own Brain" (2003) in ''Written in Blood''
*"Body Parts" (2004) in ''Borderlands'' #4
*Counter-Intuitive: "The Shape That Kills" in ''Ticonderoga On-line''
*"Neglected Science in Science Fiction" (2004) in ''
Fables & Reflections
''Fables & Reflections'' (1993) is an American fantasy comic book, the sixth collection of issues in the DC Comics series '' The Sandman''. It was written by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Bryan Talbot, Stan Woch, P. Craig Russell, Shawn McMan ...
'' No. 6
*"The Triangle of Meaning" (2004) in ''Borderlands'' No. 3
*Counter-Intuitive: "Still Evolving After All These Years" (2005) in ''Ticonderoga On-line''
*"Preservation of What Exactly?" (2005) in ''Borderlands'' #5
*"Conspiracy Theories are Deadlier Than Conspiracies" in ''Borderlands'' #6
References
;General
*
*
;Specific
External links
Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawson, Chris
1966 births
Living people
Australian male short story writers
Writers from Melbourne