Steve Berman is an American editor,

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

and short story writer. He writes in the field of

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the lat ...

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 ...

Biography

Berman was born on August 28 in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, and raised in southern New Jersey. Berman realized in junior high school he was gay. He attended

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private university, private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into ...

, earning a bachelor's degree in English Literature, then later studied History at Rutgers–Camden campus in

Camden, New Jersey Camden is a city in and the county seat of Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Camden is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan area and is located directly across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the 2020 ...

as well as a master's degree in

Liberal Studies Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term '' art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically th ...

in 2006. He began his publishing career working in pharmaceutical and medical publishing, then worked as a senior book buyer for wholesaler Bookazine, and served in the marketing department of a small Jewish press. He spent a decade as an employee engagement survey analyst for a

human resources Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms include m ...

consulting firm in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Berman attended the

Clarion East 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 ...

2006 class, the last year that workshop was held in

East Lansing, Michigan East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Most of the city lies within Ingham County, Michigan, Ingham County with a smaller portion extending north into Clinton County, Michigan, Clinton County. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 ...

. Though raised

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

, Berman wavers between Jewish secularism and

Atheism Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no d ...

. Berman is a former member of

Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, doing business as Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association, commonly known as SFWA ( or ) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization of professional science fiction and fantasy writers. Whil ...

(SFWA) and a lifetime member of the

RPGA The RPGA (also called the Role Playing Game Association and the RPGA Network at various times), was initially part of the organized play arm of TSR, Inc and later of Wizards of the Coast. From 1980 to 2014, it organized and sanctioned role-playing ...

. His short fiction is mainly dark fantasy, horror, urban fantasy, and weird

autofiction In literary criticism, autofiction is a form of fictionalized autobiography. Autofiction combines two mutually inconsistent narrative forms, namely autobiography and fiction. An author may decide to recount their life in the third person, to mod ...

. He has spoken online and at convention panels on the history of LGBT-inclusive speculative fiction and on LGBT young adult topics. In 2001, Berman founded

Lethe Press Lethe Press is an American book publishing company based in Maple Shade, New Jersey.Toby Johnson Toby Johnson (born 1945 in San Antonio, Texas) is an American novelist and writer in the field of gay spirituality. Life After leaving seminary in 1970, Johnson moved to San Francisco and lived in the Bay Area throughout the 1970s. While a stu ...

and offered to reprint Johnson's book, ''Gay Spirituality''. Lethe Press regularly publishes title of LGBT speculative fiction. Several of his urban fantasy stories are set in the Fallen Area. In June 2009, he launched the quarterly publication, ''Icarus, the Magazine of Gay Speculative Fiction'', which ended in October 2013. In August 2017, Berman moved to Western Massachusetts.

Awards and honors

Berman has been a finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award, the Golden Crown Literary Award(1), a seven-time finalist for the

Gaylactic Spectrum Awards The Gaylactic Spectrum Awards are given to works of science fiction, fantasy and horror that explore LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) topics in a positive way. Established in 1998, the awards were initially presented by the Gaylacti ...

and five-time finalist (as editor) for the

Lambda Literary Award Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ literature.The awards were instituted i ...

in various categories. He won the latter in 2018 for ''His Seed''. His first novel, ''Vintage: A Ghost Story'' released in 2007 and was a finalist for the

Andre Norton Award The Andre Norton Nebula Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction (formerly the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy) is an annual award presented by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) to the ...

As editor

*''Charmed Lives: Gay Spirit in Storytelling'' (co-edited with

Toby Johnson Toby Johnson (born 1945 in San Antonio, Texas) is an American novelist and writer in the field of gay spirituality. Life After leaving seminary in 1970, Johnson moved to San Francisco and lived in the Bay Area throughout the 1970s. While a stu ...

) (2006). The inaugural title in the White Crane Wisdom Series, this anthology of inspirational essays and short fiction for gay men was a finalist for a

. *''So Fey: Queer Fairy Fiction'' (2007, Reprinted 2009). This is an anthology of

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

short fiction dealing with

faeries A fairy (also fay, fae, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, English, and French folklore), a form of spirit, o ...

was a finalist for the Gaylactic Spectrum Awards and the Golden Crown Literary Awards. *''Magic in the Mirrorstone'' (2008). This is an anthology of

young adult fiction Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults. The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...

, all stories dealing with magic. *''Best Gay Stories'' (2008–10, 2013-6). An annual anthology reprinting quality short fiction and essays that have gay themes. Canadian author Peter Dube took over editorial duties for the 2011 and 2012 volumes. *''Wilde Stories'' (2008–18). An annual anthology offers reprints of the prior year's best works of

speculative Speculative may refer to: In arts and entertainment *Speculative art (disambiguation) *Speculative fiction, which includes elements created out of human imagination, such as the science fiction and fantasy genres **Speculative Fiction Group, a Per ...

and

interstitial An interstitial space or interstice is a space between structures or objects. In particular, interstitial may refer to: Biology * Interstitial cell tumor * Interstitial cell, any cell that lies between other cells * Interstitial collagenase ...

fiction with gay characters and themes - the 2008 and 2010 editions were finalists for a

. *''Speaking Out'' (2011). A young adult anthology of inspirational short fiction aimed at LGBT teens. *''Boys of Summer'' (2012). A young adult anthology of summer-themed short fiction aimed at gay teens. *''Heiresses of Russ'' (2011–16). An annual anthology of

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

-themed speculative fiction (each volume is co-edited with a different female editor) named in honor after

Joanna Russ Joanna Russ (February 22, 1937 – April 29, 2011) was an American writer, academic and feminist. She is the author of a number of works of science fiction, fantasy and feminist literary criticism such as ''How to Suppress Women's Writing'', as w ...

. The 2012 volume was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award and the Golden Crown Literary Award. *''The Touch of the Sea'' (2012). An anthology of gay-themed fantastical stories involving the sea and maritime folklore. *''Bad Seeds: Evil Progeny'' (2013). A horror anthology of stories about evil children from Prime Books. *''Where Thy Dark Eye Glances: Queering

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...

'' (2013). A dark fantasy anthology that remixes the oeuvre of Poe through a queer perspective. A finalist for the

Shirley Jackson Award The Shirley Jackson Awards are literary awards named after Shirley Jackson in recognition of her legacy in writing. These awards for outstanding achievement in the literature of psychological suspense, horror and the dark fantastic are presented a ...

. *''Zombies: Shambling Through the Ages'' (2013). An anthology of historical stories featuring

ghoul A ghoul ( ar, غول, ') is a demon-like being or monstrous humanoid. The concept originated in pre-Islamic Arabian religion, associated with graveyards and the consumption of human flesh. Modern fiction often uses the term to label a cert ...

s and

zombie A zombie ( Haitian French: , ht, zonbi) is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in w ...

s from Prime Books. *''Shades of Blue & Gray: Civil War Ghost Stories'' (2013). An anthology of ghost stories set during or based on the consequences of the American Civil War. *''Suffered From the Night: Queering Bram Stoker's Dracula'' (2013). A dark fantasy and horror anthology that offers new gay-themed stories about characters from the most famous

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...

novel of all time. *''Handsome Devil: Stories of Sin and Seduction'' (2014). An anthology of

incubus An incubus is a demon in male form in folklore that seeks to have sexual intercourse with sleeping women; the corresponding spirit in female form is called a succubus. In medieval Europe, union with an incubus was supposed by some to result in t ...

-themed horror and dark fantasy tales from Prime Books. *''Daughters of Frankenstein: Lesbian

Mad Scientist The mad scientist (also mad doctor or mad professor) is a stock character of a scientist who is perceived as " mad, bad and dangerous to know" or " insane" owing to a combination of unusual or unsettling personality traits and the unabashedly a ...

s'' (2015). A science-fiction lesbian-themed anthology, a finalist for the Golden Crown Literary Award. *''His Seed'' (2017). Winner for the Lambda Literary Award. *''Burly Tales'' (2021). An anthology of fairy-tale retellings for hirsute gay men.

References

External links

Steve Berman website20 Questions with Steve Berman (Interview)Norton Award InterviewInterview with Steve Berman on Tor.com
*
Steve Berman
at RPGgeek

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berman, Steve 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American novelists American agnostics American fantasy writers American male novelists American male short story writers American short story writers American gay writers Jewish agnostics Jewish American writers Lambda Literary Award winners LGBT Jews American LGBT novelists LGBT people from Pennsylvania Living people Role-playing game designers Rutgers University alumni Tulane University alumni Year of birth missing (living people)