Eileen Gunn (born June 23, 1945,

Dorchester, Massachusetts Dorchester (colloquially referred to as Dot) is a Boston neighborhood comprising more than in the City of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Originally, Dorchester was a separate town, founded by Puritans who emigrated in 1630 from Dorchester ...

) is a

science fiction author This is a list of noted science-fiction authors (in alphabetical order): A *Dafydd ab Hugh (born 1960) *Alexander Abasheli (1884–1954) *Edwin Abbott Abbott (1838–1926) *Kōbō Abe (1924–1993) * Robert Abernathy (1924–1990) *Dan Abn ...

and editor based in

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 ...

, who began publishing in 1978. Her story "Coming to Terms", inspired, in part, by a friendship with

Avram Davidson Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Jews ...

, won 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 ...

for Best Short Story in 2004. Two other stories were nominated for the

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 ...

: " Stable Strategies for Middle Management" (in 1989) and "Computer Friendly" (1990).

Background

Gunn has a background in high-tech advertising and marketing; she wrote advertising for

Digital Equipment Corporation Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC ), using the trademark Digital, was a major American company in the computer industry from the 1960s to the 1990s. The company was co-founded by Ken Olsen and Harlan Anderson in 1957. Olsen was president unt ...

in the 1970s and was Director of Advertising at

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 ...

in 1985. She is a graduate of the

Clarion Workshop Clarion is a six-week workshop for aspiring science fiction and fantasy writers. Originally an outgrowth of Damon Knight's and Kate Wilhelm's Milford Writers' Conference, held at their home in Milford, Pennsylvania, United States, it was founded i ...

and is on the

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

of the

Clarion West Clarion West Writers Workshop is an intensive six-week program for writers preparing for professional careers in science fiction and fantasy. It runs annually from late June through the end of July. The workshop is limited to 18 students per year. ...

Writers Workshop.

Writing

A collection of her short stories, ''Stable Strategies and Others'' (2004, published by

Tachyon Publications Tachyon Publications is an independent press specializing in science fiction and fantasy books. Founded in San Francisco in 1995 by Jacob Weisman, Tachyon books have tended toward high-end literary works, short story collections, and anthologies ...

), was nominated for the

Philip K. Dick Award The Philip K. Dick Award is an American science fiction award given annually at Norwescon and sponsored by the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society and (since 2005) the Philip K. Dick Trust. Named after science fiction writer Philip K. Dick, ...

and

short-listed A short list or shortlist is a list of candidates for a job, prize, award, political position, etc., that has been reduced from a longer list of candidates (sometimes via intermediate lists known as "long lists"). The length of short lists varie ...

for the James Tiptree, Jr. Award and the

World Fantasy Award The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy literature, fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year a ...

. The Japanese translation was awarded the

Sense of Gender Award The Sense of Gender Awards are annual awards given by the Japanese Association for Gender, Fantasy & Science Fiction since 2001 for the science fiction or fantasy fiction published in the Japanese language in the prior year which best "explore an ...

at the 2007

World Science Fiction Convention Worldcon, or more formally the World Science Fiction Convention, the annual convention of the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS), is a science fiction convention. It has been held each year since 1939 (except for the years 1942 to 1945, during ...

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

, Japan. About the stories: "Stable Strategies for Middle Management" has generally been interpreted as a

pastiche A pastiche is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche pays homage to the work it imitates, rather than mocking it ...

Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It typ ...

’s ''

The Metamorphosis ''Metamorphosis'' (german: Die Verwandlung) is a novella written by Franz Kafka which was first published in 1915. One of Kafka's best-known works, ''Metamorphosis'' tells the story of salesman Gregor Samsa, who wakes one morning to find himsel ...

'', with satiric relevance to late-20th-Century

high-tech High technology (high tech), also known as advanced technology (advanced tech) or exotechnology, is technology that is at the cutting edge: the highest form of technology available. It can be defined as either the most complex or the newest te ...

corporate culture Historically there have been differences among investigators regarding the definition of organizational culture. Edgar Schein, a leading researcher in this field, defined "organizational culture" as comprising a number of features, including a s ...

. "Fellow Americans" (1991) posits an

alternate history Alternate history (also alternative history, althist, AH) is a genre of speculative fiction of stories in which one or more historical events occur and are resolved differently than in real life. As conjecture based upon historical fact, altern ...

in which

Barry Goldwater Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and United States Air Force officer who was a five-term U.S. Senator from Arizona (1953–1965, 1969–1987) and the Republican Party nominee for presiden ...

hired

Roger Ailes Roger Eugene Ailes (May 15, 1940 – May 18, 2017) was an American television executive and media consultant. He was the chairman and CEO of Fox News, Fox Television Stations and 20th Television. Ailes was a media consultant for Republican ...

to run his 1964 presidential campaign, and

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

became the host of a TV game show called ''Tricky Dick''. ''Green Fire'' (1998), a collaborative novella by Gunn,

Michael Swanwick Michael Swanwick (born 18 November 1950) is an American fantasy and science fiction author who began publishing in the early 1980s. Writing career Swanwick's fiction writing began with short stories, starting in 1980 when he published "Ginungagap ...

, Pat Murphy, and Andy Duncan, is an

homage Homage (Old English) or Hommage (French) may refer to: History *Homage (feudal) /ˈhɒmɪdʒ/, the medieval oath of allegiance *Commendation ceremony, medieval homage ceremony Arts *Homage (arts) /oʊˈmɑʒ/, an allusion or imitation by one arti ...

of sorts, in which

Robert A. Heinlein Robert Anson Heinlein (; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accu ...

Isaac Asimov yi, יצחק אזימאװ , birth_date = , birth_place = Petrovichi, Russian SFSR , spouse = , relatives = , children = 2 , death_date = , death_place = Manhattan, New York City, U.S. , nationality = Russian (1920–1922)Soviet (192 ...

, and

Grace Hopper Grace Brewster Hopper (; December 9, 1906 – January 1, 1992) was an American computer scientist, mathematician, and United States Navy Rear admiral (United States), rear admiral. One of the first programmers of the Harvard Mark I, Harvard Mar ...

take part in the

Philadelphia Experiment The Philadelphia Experiment was an alleged event claimed to have been witnessed by an ex- merchant mariner named Carl M. Allen at the United States Navy's Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, sometime around ...

, with the assistance of Nicola Tesla and the

Aztec The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those g ...

deity A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greate ...

Quetzalcoatl Quetzalcoatl (, ; Spanish: ''Quetzalcóatl'' ; nci-IPA, Quetzalcōātl, ket͡saɬˈkoːaːt͡ɬ (Modern Nahuatl pronunciation), in honorific form: ''Quetzalcōātzin'') is a deity in Aztec culture and literature whose name comes from the Nahu ...

. In March 2014 an anthology, ''Questionable Practices: Stories by Eileen Gunn'' was published by

Small Beer Press Small Beer Press is a publisher of fantasy and literary fiction, based in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was founded by Gavin Grant and Kelly Link in 2000 and publishes novels, collections, and anthologies. It also publishes the zine ''Lady Churc ...

. In August 2022 an anthology, ''Night Shift'' was published by PM Press.

Websites

She is also the editor/publisher of the webzine '' The Infinite Matrix''. Her website ''The Difference Dictionary'' is an online concordance to ''

The Difference Engine ''The Difference Engine'' (1990) is an alternative history novel by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling. It is widely regarded as a book that helped establish the genre conventions of steampunk. It posits a Victorian era Britain in which great t ...

'', a novel by

William Gibson William Ford Gibson (born March 17, 1948) is an American-Canadian speculative fiction writer and essayist widely credited with pioneering the science fiction subgenre known as ''cyberpunk''. Beginning his writing career in the late 1970s, his ...

and

Bruce Sterling Michael Bruce Sterling (born April 14, 1954) is an American science fiction author known for his novels and short fiction and editorship of the ''Mirrorshades'' anthology. In particular, he is linked to the cyberpunk subgenre. Sterling's first ...

Bibliography

Nonfiction

As editor

'The WisCon Chronicles, Vol. 2: Provocative essays on feminism, race, revolution, and the future' with L.Timmel Duchamp. ''

Aqueduct Press Aqueduct Press is a publisher based in Seattle, Washington, United States that publishes material featuring a feminist viewpoint. History Aqueduct Press was founded in 2004 by L. Timmel Duchamp. The company has focused on publishing speculati ...

.'' 2008.

Short fiction

Collected

''Spring Conditions''. 1983 ''Stable Strategies and Others.'' Tachyon Publishers. 1988, 2012. Hugo nominee. Philip K. Dick nominee. World Fantasy nominee. ''Computer Friendly''. 1989. Hugo nominee. ''Questionable Practices: Stories.''

. 2014 ''Night Shift (Outspoken Authors Book 29),''

PM Press PM Press is an independent publisher, founded in 2007, that specializes in radical, Marxist and anarchist literature, as well as crime fiction, graphic novels, music CDs, and political documentaries. It has offices in the San Francisco Bay Area, ...

, 2022

Short stories and novellas

* "

Nirvana High "Nirvana High" is a science fiction short story by Eileen Gunn and Leslie What. It was first published in Gunn's 2004 collection ''Stable Strategies and Others''. Synopsis Barbara is a student at Kurt Cobain High School, where everyone has a tenden ...

" (with Leslie What), 2004 'Speak, Geek: Every Dog will Have Its Day'

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...

, Vol 442,24. August 2006. 'No Place to Raise Kids' ''

Flurb ''Flurb'' was an American science fiction webzine, edited by author Rudy Rucker and launched in August 2006. In addition to short stories, ''Flurb'' featured paintings and photography by Rucker. It was released biannually. The author of an acce ...

'' #3''.'' 2007. 'Zeppelin City' with Michael Swanwick.

Tor.com ''Tor.com'' is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine published by Tor Books, a division of Macmillan Publishers. The magazine publishes articles, reviews, original short fiction, re-reads and commentary on speculative fiction. From 20 ...

. 2009. 'The Armies of Elfland' with Michael Swanwick. Asimov's SF Magazine. 2009. 'The Trains that Climb the Winter Tree' with Michael Swanwick.

. 2010. 'Steampunk Quartet' a

Tor.Com ''Tor.com'' is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine published by Tor Books, a division of Macmillan Publishers. The magazine publishes articles, reviews, original short fiction, re-reads and commentary on speculative fiction. From 20 ...

Original. 2011. 'After the Thaw' ''

'' #12. 2011. 'Phantom Pain' ''

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 ...

. 2017.'' 'Nightshift' in ''Visions, Ventures, Escape Velocities: A Collection of Space Futures.'' Arizona State University, Center for Science and the Imagination. 2017 'What are Friends For?' ''Fantastic Fiction.'' 2021

References

External links

Eileen Gunn's website

''The Infinite Matrix''

''The Difference Dictionary''
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gunn, Eileen 1945 births Living people American online publication editors American science fiction writers American women short story writers 20th-century American short story writers American speculative fiction editors American speculative fiction publishers (people) Nebula Award winners Writers from Boston Writers from Seattle Science fiction editors Women science fiction and fantasy writers The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction people 21st-century American short story writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers