Emma Bull (born December 13, 1954) is an 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 univers ...

and

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

author. Her novels include the Hugo- and

Nebula A nebula ('cloud' or 'fog' in Latin; pl. nebulae, nebulæ or nebulas) is a distinct luminescent part of interstellar medium, which can consist of ionized, neutral or molecular hydrogen and also cosmic dust. Nebulae are often star-forming region ...

-nominated '' Bone Dance'' and the urban fantasy '' War for the Oaks''. She is also known for a series of anthologies set in Liavek, a

shared universe A shared universe or shared world is a fictional universe from a set of creative works where more than one writer (or other artist) independently contributes a work that can stand alone but fits into the joint development of the storyline, chara ...

that she created with her husband, Will Shetterly. As a singer, songwriter, and guitarist, she has been a member of the

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

-based folk/rock bands Cats Laughing and The Flash Girls.

Early years

Emma Bull was born in

Torrance, California Torrance is a city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay region of the metropolitan area. Torrance has of beachfront on the Pacific Oc ...

. She attended

Beloit College Beloit College is a private liberal arts college in Beloit, Wisconsin. Founded in 1846, when Wisconsin was still a territory, it is the state's oldest continuously operated college. It is a member of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest and has ...

in Wisconsin, and graduated in 1976 with a degree in English Literature and Composition. After graduating, she worked for a while as a journalist and graphic designer.

Career

Emma Bull's best-known novel is '' War for the Oaks'', one of the pioneering works of urban fantasy. Emma Bull, Wiscon 2006

Her 1991 post-apocalyptic science fiction novel '' Bone Dance'' was nominated for the Hugo,

, and

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

s. She was a member of the writing group

The Scribblies The Scribblies were a fantasy fiction group of writers formed in the U.S. city of Minneapolis in January 1980. Members included Nate Bucklin, Emma Bull, Steven Brust, Kara Dalkey, Pamela Dean, Will Shetterly and Patricia Wrede.Novel Spaces, htt ...

, which included her husband, Will Shetterly, as well as

Pamela Dean Pamela Collins Dean Dyer-Bennet (born 1953), better known as Pamela Dean, is an American fantasy author whose best-known book is ''Tam Lin'', based on the Child Ballad of the same name, in which the Scottish fairy story is set on a midwestern c ...

Kara Dalkey Kara Mia Dalkey (born 1953) is an American author of young adult fiction and historical fantasy. Personal life She was born in Los Angeles and has lived in Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Colorado, and Seattle. Much of her fiction is set in the He ...

, Nate Bucklin, Patricia Wrede and

Steven Brust Steven Karl Zoltán Brust (born November 23, 1955) is an American fantasy and science fiction author of Hungarian descent. He is best known for his series of novels about the assassin Vlad Taltos, one of a disdained minority group of humans livi ...

. With Steven Brust, Bull wrote ''Freedom and Necessity'' (1997), an

epistolary novel An epistolary novel is a novel written as a series of letters. The term is often extended to cover novels that intersperse documents of other kinds with the letters, most commonly diary entries and newspaper clippings, and sometimes considered ...

set during the 19th century Chartist movement of the

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was a sovereign state in the British Isles that existed between 1801 and 1922, when it included all of Ireland. It was established by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the Kingdom of Great ...

Shared universes

Bull and Shetterly created the

of Liavek, for which they have both written stories. There are five Liavek collections extant. Bull has also participated in

Terri Windling Terri Windling (born December 3, 1958 in Fort Dix, New Jersey) is an American editor, artist, essayist, and the author of books for both children and adults. She has won nine World Fantasy Awards, the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award, and the Bram Sto ...

's Borderland shared universe, which is the setting of her 1994 novel '' Finder''.

Music

Emma Bull and Lojo Russo in Cats Laughing reunion

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Bull sang in the

-based rock-folk band Cats Laughing. She also reunited with the band for two concerts in 2015, including a reunion show at the Minicon 50 science fiction convention. Bull appears on Cats Laughing's two studio albums, and on the live CD and reunion concert DVD ''Cats Laughing: A Long Time Gone'' (2016). From the early 1990s to 2001, Bull also both sang and played guitar in the "goth-folk" duo The Flash Girls, with whom she recorded three albums.

Screenwriting

Bull wrote a

screenplay ''ScreenPlay'' is a television drama anthology series broadcast on BBC2 between 9 July 1986 and 27 October 1993. Background After single-play anthology series went off the air, the BBC introduced several showcases for made-for-television, f ...

for ''War for the Oaks'', which was made into an 11-minute mini-film designed to look like a film trailer. She made a cameo appearance as the Queen of the Seelie Court, and Will Shetterly directed. She is Executive Producer and one of the writers for ''Shadow Unit'',''Shadow Unit''
(official website). along with Shetterly,

Elizabeth Bear Sarah Bear Elizabeth Wishnevsky (born September 22, 1971) is an American author who works primarily in speculative fiction genres, writing under the name Elizabeth Bear. She won the 2005 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, the 2008 Hugo A ...

, Sarah Monette, and Amanda Downum.

Personal life

Bull and Shetterly live in

, Minnesota.

Bibliography

Novels

*'' War for the Oaks'' (1987) *''Falcon'' (1989) *'' Bone Dance'' (1991; nominated for Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Awards) *'' Finder'' (1994) *''The Princess and the Lord of Night'' (1994) *''Freedom and Necessity'' (1997, with

) *''

Territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or an ...

'' (July 2007)

Short works

*"Rending Dark" (1984) in ''Sword and Sorceress,'' edited by

Marion Zimmer Bradley Marion Eleanor Zimmer Bradley (June 3, 1930 – September 25, 1999) was an American author of fantasy, historical fantasy, science fiction, and science fantasy novels, and is best known for the Arthurian fiction novel '' The Mists of Avalon'' ...

*"Badu's Luck" (1985) in ''Liavek'' *"The Well-Made Plan" (1986) in ''Liavek: The Players of Luck'' *"Danceland Blood" (1986, with Will Shetterly) as "Danceland" in ''Bordertown,'' edited by

*"Wonders of the Invisible World" (1988 essay) in October–November issue of ''New North Artscape'' *"A Bird That Whistles" (1989) in ''Hidden Turnings,'' edited by Diana Wynne Jones *"Why I Write Fantasy" (1990 essay) in '' Pulphouse 6'' *"Silver or Gold" (1992) in ''After the King: Stories in Honor of

J.R.R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and '' The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawli ...

,'' edited by

Martin H. Greenberg Martin Harry Greenberg (March 1, 1941 – June 25, 2011) was an American academic and anthologist in many genres, including mysteries and horror, but especially in speculative fiction. In all, he compiled 1,298 anthologies and commissioned o ...

*"The Stepsister's Story" (1995) in ''The Armless Maiden,'' edited by Terri Windling *"Joshua Tree" (2002) in ''The Green Man: Tales from the Mythic Forest,'' edited by

Ellen Datlow Ellen Datlow (born December 31, 1949) is an American science fiction, fantasy, and horror editor and anthologist. She is a winner of the World Fantasy Award and the Bram Stoker Award (Horror Writers Association). Career Datlow began her career ...

and Terri Windling *"The Black Fox" (2003) in ''Firebirds,'' edited by Sharyn November *"De La Tierra" (2004) in ''The Faery Reel,'' edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling *"What Used to Be Good Still Is" (2006) in ''Firebirds Rising,'' edited by Sharyn November

Collection

''Double Feature'' (1994, collected works with Will Shetterly) from

NESFA Press NESFA Press is the publishing arm of the New England Science Fiction Association, Inc. The NESFA Press primarily produces three types of books: * Books honoring the guest(s) of honor at their annual convention, Boskone, and at some Worldcons and ...

*"Visionary" (poem) *"Why I Write Fantasy" (essay) *"Rending Dark" *"Badu's Luck" *"The Well-Made Plan" *"A Bird That Whistles" *"Danceland Blood" (with Will Shetterly) *"Wonders of the Invisible World" (essay)

Anthology series

*'' Liavek'' (1985,

Ace Books Ace Books is a publisher of science fiction (SF) and fantasy books founded in New York City in 1952 by Aaron A. Wyn. It began as a genre publisher of mysteries and westerns, and soon branched out into other genres, publishing its first scienc ...

, edited with Will Shetterly) *'' Liavek: The Players of Luck'' (1986, Ace Books, edited with Will Shetterly) *'' Liavek: Wizard's Row'' (1987, Ace Books, edited with Will Shetterly) *'' Liavek: Spells of Binding'' (1988, Ace Books, edited with Will Shetterly) *'' Liavek: Festival Week'' (1990, Ace Books, edited with Will Shetterly)

Discography

With Cats Laughing: * ''Bootleg Issue'' (1988) * ''Another Way to Travel'' (1990) * ''A Long Time Gone'' (forthcoming CD and concert DVD, 2016) With The Flash Girls * ''The Return of Pansy Smith and Violet Jones'' (1993) * ''Maurice and I'' (1994) * ''Play Each Morning Wild Queen'' (2001)

Award nominations

*Nominee, 1988

Mythopoeic Fantasy Award The Mythopoeic Awards for literature and literary studies are given annually for outstanding works in the fields of myth, fantasy, and the scholarly study of these areas. Established by the Mythopoeic Society in 1971, the Mythopoeic Fantasy Awar ...

for ''War for the Oaks'' *Nominee, 1991 Philip K. Dick Award, Best Novel for ''Bone Dance'' *Nominee, 1992

, Best Novel for ''Bone Dance'' *Nominee, 1992

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 ...

, Best Novel for ''Bone Dance'' *Nominee, 1992

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 prof ...

, Best Novel for ''Bone Dance'' *Nominee, 1993 Nebula Award, Best Novella for "Silver or Gold" *Nominee, 2008 World Fantasy Award, Best Novel for ''Territory'' *Nominee, 2014 Cando Award, Best Novel for "Territory"

References

External links

* at

WordPress WordPress (WP or WordPress.org) is a free and open-source content management system (CMS) written in hypertext preprocessor language and paired with a MySQL or MariaDB database with supported HTTPS. Features include a plugin architecture a ...

*
Fantastic Fiction bibliographyBibliography
on SciFan

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bull, Emma 1954 births Living people American women bloggers American bloggers American fantasy writers American science fiction writers Beloit College alumni Women science fiction and fantasy writers 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers Novelists from Minnesota American women novelists Songwriters from California Guitarists from California People from Torrance, California Novelists from California 20th-century American guitarists Cats Laughing members 20th-century American women guitarists