Christopher McKitterick (born David Christopher McKitterick in 1967) is an American
writer of science fiction,and a scholar, educator, and popularizer of the field.
Life and career
Chris McKitterick was born on July 4, 1967, in
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...
. He moved extensively throughout his early childhood, to
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Virginia Beach is an independent city located on the southeastern coast of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The population was 459,470 at the 2020 census. Although mostly suburban in character, it is the most populous city ...
;
St. Louis Park, Minnesota
St. Louis Park is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 50,010 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is a first-ring suburb immediately west of Minneapolis, Minnesota, Min ...
;
Junction City, Kansas
Junction City is a city in and the county seat of Geary County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 22,932. Fort Riley, a major U.S. Army post, is nearby.
History
Junction City is so named from its ...
; a small village in the northern region of
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
;
Paynesville, Minnesota
Paynesville is a city in Stearns County, Minnesota, United States, on Lake Koronis, in the central part of the state. The population was 2,388 at the 2020 census. It is part of the St. Cloud Metropolitan Statistical Area.
History
Paynesville w ...
, settling at the age of 10 in
Ortonville, Minnesota
Ortonville is a city in Big Stone County in the U.S. state of Minnesota at the southern tip of Big Stone Lake, along the border with South Dakota. The population was 2,021 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Big Stone County. Big St ...
, where he finished high school in 1985. He attended the
University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, but transferred to the
University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...
two years later, completing a BA in creative writing in 1991.
After a year teaching and writing in
Peerless, Montana, McKitterick was invited in 1992 by SF scholar and writer
James E. Gunn
James Edwin Gunn (July 12, 1923 – December 23, 2020) was an American science fiction writer, editor, scholar, and anthologist. His work as an editor of anthologies includes the six-volume ''The Road to Science Fiction, Road to Science Ficti ...
to pursue a graduate degree at the
University of Kansas
The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...
and assist him in running the J. Wayne and Elsie M. Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction, a research center specializing in science fiction scholarship and studies. McKitterick completed a Master of Arts with a creative thesis under Gunn in 1995, moving shortly afterward to
Seattle, Washington
Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...
. He continued to assist Gunn, while writing game materials for
Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast LLC (often referred to as WotC or simply Wizards) is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and List of science fiction themes, science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for ga ...
and
WizKids, and working as an editor, writer, and writing lead for
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
. He was appointed by Gunn as the director for the center in 2010. During his involvement with this, he was nominations director for the
Theodore Sturgeon 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 the best short SF story of the year (1993-2015), and director and juror for the
John W. Campbell Award for best SF novel of the year (between 2002 and 2020, when the award was placed on hiatus). In 2002, he returned to Lawrence to work at the University of Kansas in the English Department, leaving in 2020, after Gunn's death. In 2021 he served as director for KU's short-lived Ad Astra Center for Science and the Imagination; now he directs the unaffiliated nonprofit Ad Astra Institute.
McKitterick has taught and written extensively about science fiction. He has taught science fiction as literature in Kansas; and for the Future Affairs Administration (FAA) in Beijing in 2019, as well as elsewhere. He has published nonfiction about SF literature and authors, including scholarly book chapters and introductions, academic journals, reference works on the field, and digital humanities, as well as articles, essays, chapters, and other nonfiction in
Analog
Analog or analogue may refer to:
Computing and electronics
* Analog signal, in which information is encoded in a continuous variable
** Analog device, an apparatus that operates on analog signals
*** Analog electronics, circuits which use analog ...
,
Locus Magazine
''Locus: The Magazine of The Science Fiction & Fantasy Field'', founded in 1968, is an American magazine published monthly in Oakland, California. It is the news organ and trade journal for the English-language science fiction and fantasy (genre ...
, and other media focusing on the field for a popular audience. He has been a SF pundit for
NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
, the
''New York'' ''Times'', and other national presses.
Starting in 1995, McKitterick began coteaching (with James Gunn) an intensive residential workshop for writers preparing for publication in science fiction and fantasy
1held each summer in Lawrence, Kansas. By 2006, under McKitterick's direction, the summer program had expanded to a month-long program, including courses on writing short fiction and the novel, and the Intensive Institute on the Teaching of Science Fiction. In 2010, Gunn stepped down entirely; since then more than 300 students have taken workshops in the program from McKitterick,
Kij Johnson, and guest instructors such as
Pat Cadigan
Patricia Oren Kearney Cadigan (born September 10, 1953) is a British-American science fiction author, whose work is most often identified with the cyberpunk movement. Her novels and short stories often explore the relationship between the human ...
,
John Kessel
John Joseph Vincent Kessel (born September 24, 1950) is an American author of science fiction and fantasy. He is a prolific short story writer, and the author of four solo novels, '' Good News From Outer Space'' (1989), ''Corrupting Dr. Nice'' ( ...
,
Tina Connolly
Tina Connolly is an American science fiction and fantasy writer and poet. Her 2012 book ''Ironskin'' was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel. Her flash fiction podcast "Toasted Cake" won the Parsec Award for Best New Speculative Fict ...
, and
Andy Duncan. He has also taught courses, workshops, and master classes for universities, conventions, conferences, and other venues.
Bibliography
Novels
* ''Transcendence'' (Hadley Rille Books, November 5, 2010)
Short fiction
* "Ashes of Exploding Suns, Monuments to Dust" (''
Analog
Analog or analogue may refer to:
Computing and electronics
* Analog signal, in which information is encoded in a continuous variable
** Analog device, an apparatus that operates on analog signals
*** Analog electronics, circuits which use analog ...
'', November/December 2018) - Winner: 2018 Analytical Laboratory (AnLab) Readers' Award for best novelette.
*"Waking the Predator" (''The Hanging Garden: where fiction grows'', July 19, 2016)
*"Orpheus' Engines" (''Mission Tomorrow: A New Century Of Exploration'', Baen Books, October 2015
)
*"The Recursive Man" (''Aftermaths'', Hadley Rille Books, April 2012
*"Surveyor of Mars" (''
Westward Weird'',
DAW Books, February 2012)
* "The Enlightenment" (''
Sentinels: In Honor of Arthur C. Clarke'', Hadley Rille Books, 2010
)
* "The Empty Utopia" (''
Ruins: Extraterrestrial'', Hadley Rille Books, 2007
)
* "Jupiter Whispers" (''
Visual Journeys: A Tribute to Space Art'', Hadley Rille Books, 2007
)
* "The Enlightenment" (''
Synergy: New Science Fiction'',
Five Star Books, 2004
)
* "Lost Dogs" (''
Analog
Analog or analogue may refer to:
Computing and electronics
* Analog signal, in which information is encoded in a continuous variable
** Analog device, an apparatus that operates on analog signals
*** Analog electronics, circuits which use analog ...
'', September 2001)
* "The Web" (''
Artemis Magazine'' for
Artemis Project
The Artemis Project was a private spaceflight venture to establish a permanent, self-supporting base on the Moon by 2002. It was named after Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, in some myths the moon,
and twin sister of Apollo (a reference to the ...
, Summer 2000)
* "City of Tomorrow" (''
Captain Proton'', (a
Star Trek
''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...
book),
Pocket Books
Pocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books.
History
Pocket Books produced the first mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in the United States in early 1939 and revolutionized the publishing in ...
, November 1999)
* "Under Observation" (''
Captain Proton'', (a
Star Trek
''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...
book),
Pocket Books
Pocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books.
History
Pocket Books produced the first mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in the United States in early 1939 and revolutionized the publishing in ...
, November 1999)
* "Worlds of Tomorrow" (''
Captain Proton'', (a
Star Trek
''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...
book),
Pocket Books
Pocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books.
History
Pocket Books produced the first mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in the United States in early 1939 and revolutionized the publishing in ...
, November 1999)
* "What Lurks in a Man's Mind" (''
Analog
Analog or analogue may refer to:
Computing and electronics
* Analog signal, in which information is encoded in a continuous variable
** Analog device, an apparatus that operates on analog signals
*** Analog electronics, circuits which use analog ...
'', October 1999)
* "Circles of Light and Shadow" (''
Analog
Analog or analogue may refer to:
Computing and electronics
* Analog signal, in which information is encoded in a continuous variable
** Analog device, an apparatus that operates on analog signals
*** Analog electronics, circuits which use analog ...
'', February 1999)
* "A Scientist's War" (''
E-Scape E-scape was a project run by the Technology Education Research Unit (TERU) at Goldsmiths University of London, England that developed an approach to the authentic assessment of creativity and collaboration based on open-ended but structured activiti ...
'', December 1998)
* "A Plague of Mannequins" (''
E-Scape E-scape was a project run by the Technology Education Research Unit (TERU) at Goldsmiths University of London, England that developed an approach to the authentic assessment of creativity and collaboration based on open-ended but structured activiti ...
'', October 1996)
* "The Recursive Man" (''
Tomorrow Speculative Fiction
''Tomorrow Speculative Fiction'' was a science fiction magazine published in the United States from 1993 through 2000. Over this period, it had 24 bi-monthly issues as a print magazine from 1993 to 1997,. then transitioned to become one of the ...
'', April 1996)
* "Paving the Road to Armageddon" (''
Analog
Analog or analogue may refer to:
Computing and electronics
* Analog signal, in which information is encoded in a continuous variable
** Analog device, an apparatus that operates on analog signals
*** Analog electronics, circuits which use analog ...
'', May 1995)
Editing
* "International Science Fiction" issue and companion website, (''
World Literature Today
''World Literature Today'' is an American magazine of international literature and culture, published at the University of Oklahoma. The stated goal of the magazine is to publish international essays, poetry, fiction, interviews, and book review ...
'', May/June 2010
)
* National Space Society ''Return to Luna'' anthology, Hadley Rille Books,
December 5, 2008 (editorial juror)
References
External links
*
21st-century American novelists
American male novelists
American science fiction writers
1967 births
Living people
University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire alumni
University of Kansas alumni
University of Kansas faculty
American male short story writers
21st-century American short story writers
21st-century American male writers Christopher McKitterickin th
Science Fiction Encyclopedia
*
(director) on the Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction website
Christopher McKitterickon Google Scholar
Christopher McKitterickon the board of th
Lifeboat Foundation
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