Geoffrey Charles Ryman (born 1951) is a Canadian writer of

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 unive ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), 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 ...

slipstream A slipstream is a region behind a moving object in which a wake of fluid (typically air or mustard) is moving at velocities comparable to that of the moving fluid, relative to the ambient fluid through which the object is churning. The term slip ...

and

historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...

Biography

Ryman was born in Canada and moved to the United States at age 11. He earned degrees in History and English at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

, then moved to England in 1973, where he has lived most of his life. He is gay. In addition to being an author, Ryman started a web design team for the UK government at the Central Office of Information in 1994. He also led the teams that designed the first official British Monarchy and 10 Downing Street websites, and worked on the UK government's flagship website www.direct.gov.uk.

Works

Ryman says he knew he was a writer "before ecould talk", with his first work published in his mother's newspaper column at six years of age. He is best known for his science fiction; however, his first novel was the fantasy '' The Warrior Who Carried Life'', and his revisionist fantasy of ''The Wizard of Oz'', '' Was...'', has been called "his most accomplished work".Ency fantasy Much of Ryman's work is based on travels to Cambodia. The first of these, ''The Unconquered Country'' (1986) was winner of 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 ...

and

British Science Fiction Association Award The BSFA Awards are literary awards presented annually since 1970 by the British Science Fiction Association (BSFA) to honour works in the genre of science fiction. Nominees and winners are chosen based on a vote of BSFA members. More recently, m ...

. His novel ''The King's Last Song'' (2006) was set both in the

Angkor Wat Angkor Wat (; km, អង្គរវត្ត, "City/Capital of Temples") is a temple complex in Cambodia and is the largest religious monument in the world, on a site measuring . Originally constructed as a Hinduism, Hindu temple dedicated ...

era and the time after

Pol Pot Pol Pot; (born Saloth Sâr;; 19 May 1925 – 15 April 1998) was a Cambodian revolutionary, dictator, and politician who ruled Cambodia as Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea between 1976 and 1979. Ideologically a Marxist–Leninist a ...

and the

Khmer Rouge The Khmer Rouge (; ; km, ខ្មែរក្រហម, ; ) is the name that was popularly given to members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) and by extension to the regime through which the CPK ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. ...

. Ryman has written, directed and performed in several plays based on works by other writers. He was guest of honour at

Novacon Novacon is an annual science fiction convention, usually held each November in the English Midlands. Launched in 1971, it has been hosted by the Birmingham Science Fiction Group since 1972. History The first Novacon was organised by the University ...

in 1989 and has twice been a guest speaker at

Microcon Microcon was an annual science fiction and fantasy convention, held annually at the University of Exeter in Exeter, Devon, England since 1982, usually over the first weekend in March. It is organised by the Exeter University Science Fiction and ...

, in 1994 and in 2004. He was also the guest of honour at the national

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

science fiction convention Swecon in 2006, at Gaylaxicon 2008, at

Wiscon WisCon or Wiscon, a Wisconsin science fiction convention, is the oldest, and often called the world's leading, feminist science fiction convention and conference. It was first held in Madison, Wisconsin in February 1977, after a group of fans att ...

2009, and at

Åcon Åcon is an annual science fiction convention, held in May or June every year in Mariehamn, Åland. It was founded in 2007 with the goal of bringing Swedish and Finnish science fiction fandom together, and described as being a literary Lit ...

2010. An article by Wendy Gay Pearson on Ryman's novel ''The Child Garden'' won the British Science Fiction Foundation's graduate essay award and was published in a special issue of ''Foundation'' on LGBT science fiction edited by Andrew M. Butler in 2002. Ryman's works were also the subject of a special issue of ''Extrapolation'' in 2008, with articles dealing with ''Air, The Child Garden, Lust,'' and ''Was,'' in particular. Neil Easterbrook's article in this special issue, "'Giving An Account of Oneself': Ethics, Alterity, Air" won the Science Fiction Research Association's 2009 Pioneer Award for best published article on science fiction (this award has since been renamed the SFRA Innovative Research Award). The issue includes an interview with Geoff Ryman by Canadian speculative fiction writer

Hiromi Goto Hiromi Goto (born December 31, 1966 Chiba-ken, Japan) is a Japanese-Canadian writer, editor, and instructor of creative writing. Life Goto was born in Chiba'ken, Japan in 1966 and immigrated to Canada with her family in 1969. They lived on the ...

. The introduction to the special issue, by Susan Knabe and Wendy Gay Pearson, also responds to Ryman's call for Mundane science fiction. Mundane science fiction is a subgenre of science fiction focusing on stories set on or near the Earth, with a believable use of technology and science as it exists at the time the story is written. The Mundane SF movement was founded in 2002 during 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 ...

by Ryman and others. In 2008 a

Mundane SF Mundane science fiction (MSF) is a niche literary movement within science fiction that developed in the early 2000s, with principles codified by the "Mundane Manifesto"Geoff Ryman ''et al''. (2004), "The Mundane Manifesto". The manifesto was or ...

issue of '' Interzone'' magazine was published, guest-edited by Ryman,

Julian Todd Julian Todd is a British computer programmer and activist for freedom of information who works in Liverpool. He was inventor and co-founder of Public Whip with Francis Irving, and also the affiliated TheyWorkForYou website, a project that pars ...

and Trent Walters. Ryman has lectured at the University of Manchester since at least 2007; as of 2022 he is an Honorary Senior Lecturer in

Creative Writing Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary ...

for

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

's English Department, where in 2011 he won the Faculty Students' Teaching Award for the School of Arts, History and Culture. As of 2008 he was at work on a new historical novel set in the United States before their

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

Bibliography

Novels

* '' The Unconquered Country'' (1984) * '' The Warrior Who Carried Life'' (1985) * '' The Child Garden'' (1989) * '' Was...'' (1992) * '' 253, or Tube Theatre'' (1996 online, 1998 print) * ''

Lust Lust is a psychological force producing intense desire for something, or circumstance while already having a significant amount of the desired object. Lust can take any form such as the lust for sexuality (see libido), money, or power. It can ...

'' (2001) * '' Air: Or, Have not Have'' (2005) * ''

The King's Last Song ''The King's Last Song'' is a novel by Canadian author Geoff Ryman. It was first published in 2006 by HarperCollins in the UK. It was published in the United States in 2008 by Small Beer Press. Plot introduction Set in Cambodia, it tells the ...

'' (2006 UK, 2008 US)

Collections

* '' Unconquered countries: Four novellas'' (1994) * '' Paradise Tales'' (July 2011, Small Beer Press)

Awards

, - , valign=top , ;

British Science Fiction Award The BSFA Awards are literary awards presented annually since 1970 by the British Science Fiction Association (BSFA) to honour works in the genre of science fiction. Nominees and winners are chosen based on a vote of BSFA members. More recently, m ...

* ''The Unconquered Country'' for Best Short (1984) * ''Air'' for Best Novel (2005) ;

* ''The Unconquered Country'' Best Novella (1985) ;

Arthur C. Clarke Award The Arthur C. Clarke Award is a British award given for the best science fiction novel first published in the United Kingdom during the previous year. It is named after British author Arthur C. Clarke, who gave a grant to establish the award i ...

* ''The Child Garden'' for Best Novel (1990) * ''Air'' (2005) , valign=top , ; Campbell Award * ''The Child Garden'' for Best Novel (1990) ;

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, ...

* ''253: The Print Remix'', 1998 ; James Tiptree, Jr. Award * ''Air'' (2005) ;

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 Novelette * '' What We Found'' (2012)

References

External links

*
Author page at Small Beer Press

Comment on the victims of the 7 July 2005 London bombings

conducted by

Kit Reed Kit Reed, born Lillian Hyde Craig or Lil(l)ian Craig Reed (June 7, 1932 – September 24, 2017), was an American author of both speculative fiction and literary fiction, as well as psychological thrillers under the pseudonym Kit Craig. Biog ...

Infinity Plus ''Infinity Plus'' (sometimes stylized as ''infinity plus'' and ''infinityplus'') was a science fiction webzine active from 1997 to 2007,

, discussing his novel ''Air'' and the

movement.
Compilation of reviews of Ryman's book ''The King's Last Song''

Biog page at the University of ManchesterRyman special issue of ''Extrapolation'' at Liverpool University Press
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryman, Geoff 1951 births Living people British science fiction writers Canadian science fiction writers Canadian gay writers English LGBT writers The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction people University of California, Los Angeles alumni World Fantasy Award-winning writers Nebula Award winners British male novelists