Bruce Boston (born 1943) is an American

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 ...

writer and poet.

Early years

Bruce Boston was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and grew up in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

.Diane Severson
Interview with Bruce Boston
''Amazing Stories'' March 15, 2013 (accessed Sept. 18, 2013) He received a B.A. in economics from the University of California, Berkeley in 1965, and an M.A. in 1967. He lived in the San Francisco Bay Area from 1961 to 2001, where he worked in a variety of occupations, including computer programmer, college professor (literature and creative writing, John F. Kennedy University, Orinda, California, 1978–82),

technical writer A technical writer is a professional information communicator whose task is to transfer information between two or more parties, through any medium that best facilitates the transfer and comprehension of the information. Technical writers researc ...

book design Book design is the art of incorporating the content, style, format, design, and sequence of the various components and elements of a book into a coherent unit. In the words of renowned typographer Jan Tschichold (1902–1974), book design, "though ...

er, gardener, movie

projectionist A projectionist is a person who operates a movie projector, particularly as an employee of a movie theater. Projectionists are also known as "operators". Historical background N.B. The dates given in the subject headings are approximate. Early ...

retail clerk A retail clerk, also known as a salesclerk, shop clerk, retail associate or (in the United Kingdom) shop assistant or customer service assistant, is a service role in a retail business. A retail clerk obtains or receives merchandise, totals bil ...

, and furniture mover. According to Boston, he meant to major in math at university and write on the side, but soon found that he was more interested in writing. After being advised by a friend that he should not major in English to become a writer, he decided on economics instead.

Writing career

Boston has won the

Rhysling Award __NOTOC__ The Rhysling Awards are an annual award given for the best science fiction, fantasy, or horror poem of the year. Unlike most literary awards, which are named for the creator of the award, the subject of the award, or a noted member of t ...

for

speculative poetry Speculative poetry is a genre of poetry that focusses on fantastic, science fictional and mythological themes. It is also known as science fiction poetry or fantastic poetry. It is distinguished from other poetic genres by being categorized by it ...

a record seven times, and the Asimov's Readers' Award for poetry a record seven times. He has also received a

Pushcart Prize The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize published by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are ...

for fiction, 1976, a record four

Bram Stoker Award The Bram Stoker Award is a recognition presented annually by the Horror Writers Association (HWA) for "superior achievement" in dark fantasy and horror writing. History The Awards were established in 1987 and have been presented annually since 1 ...

s for solo poetry collections, and the first Grand Master Award of the

Science Fiction Poetry Association The Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association (SFPA) is a society based in the United States with the aim of fostering an international community of writers and readers interested in poetry pertaining to the genres of science fiction, fantasy, ...

, 1999. His

collaborative poem Collaboration (from Latin ''com-'' "with" + ''laborare'' "to labor", "to work") is the process of two or more people, entities or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. Collaboration is similar to cooperation. Most ...

with Robert Frazier, "Return to the Mutant Rain Forest," received first place in the 2006 Locus Online Poetry Poll for Best All-Time Science Fiction, Fantasy, or Horror Poem. Boston has also publishedInternet SF Database
Bruce Boston Summary Bibliography
(accessed Sept. 18, 2013) more than a hundred short stories and the novels ''Stained Glass Rain'' and ''The Guardener's Tale'' (the latter a

Finalist and

Prometheus Award The Prometheus Award is an award for libertarian science fiction novels given annually by the Libertarian Futurist Society. American author and activist L. Neil Smith established the award in 1979, but it was not awarded regularly until the newl ...

Nominee). His work has appeared widely in periodicals and anthologies, including '' Asimov's SF Magazine,

Amazing Stories Magazine ''Amazing Stories'' is an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction. Science fiction stories had made regular appearances i ...

, Analog,

Realms of Fantasy ''Realms of Fantasy'' was a professional bimonthly fantasy speculative fiction magazine published by Sovereign Media, then Tir Na Nog Press, and Damnation Books, which specialized in fantasy fiction (including some horror), related nonfiction (wit ...

, ''Science Fiction Age'',

Weird Tales ''Weird Tales'' is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine founded by J. C. Henneberger and J. M. Lansinger in late 1922. The first issue, dated March 1923, appeared on newsstands February 18. The first editor, Edwin Baird, prin ...

Strange Horizons ''Strange Horizons'' is an online speculative fiction magazine. It also features speculative poetry and nonfiction in every issue, including reviews, essays, interviews, and roundtables. History and profile It was launched in September 2000, and ...

, Year's Best Fantasy and Horror,'' and the ''Nebula Awards Showcase.'' Writing in ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'',

Paul Di Filippo Paul Di Filippo (born October 29, 1954) is an American science fiction writer. He is a regular reviewer for print magazines ''Asimov's Science Fiction'', ''The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction'', ''Science Fiction Eye'', ''The New York Re ...

described his collection ''Masque of Dreams'' as containing "nearly two dozen brilliant stories ranging across all emotional and narrative terrains." Boston has chaired 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 ...

Novel Jury (SFWA), the

Novel Jury, and 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, ...

Jury, and served as Secretary and Treasurer of the

. He has served as fiction and/or poetry editor for a number of publications, including ''Occident'', ''The Open Cell'', ''Berkeley Poets Cooperative'', ''City Miner'', ''Star*Line'' and ''The Pedestal Magazine''. He was the poet guest of honor at the

World Horror Convention The World Horror Convention was an annual professional gathering of the World Horror Society and other interested parties that ran annually for 26 years, from 1991 through 2016, before being discontinued. Site selection The annual World Horror ...

in 2013.World Horror Convention 2013 GoH Interview #5: Bruce Boston
(accessed Sept. 18, 2013)

Personal life

As of 2022 Boston was living in

Ocala, Florida Ocala ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Marion County within the northern region of Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city's population was 63,591, making it the 54th most populated city in Florida. Home to ...

, with his wife, writer-artist

Marge Simon Marge Baliff Simon (born 1942) is an American artist and a writer of speculative poetry and fiction. Biography Early life Marge Simon was born in Bethesda, Maryland, but grew up in Boulder, Colorado. Education and career She received her ...

, whom he married in 2001.

Bibliography

Novels

* ** * ** **''El Guardián de Almas'', Spanish-language edition of ''The Guardener's Tale'', ''La Factoria de Ideas'', 2009 **

Novelettes

*''After Magic''. Eotu, 1990, Dark Regions, 1999 *''Houses''. Talisman, 1991

Fiction and poetry collections

*''The Complete Accursed Wives'', Talisman/Dark Regions, 2000 *''Masque of Dreams'', Wildside, 2001, 2009 *''Bruce Boston: Short Stories, Volume 1'' (ebook),

Fictionwise Fictionwise, owned by Barnes & Noble since 2009, was one of the largest electronic book sellers in North America with an estimated 1.5 million ebook content units sold in 2008. Fictionwise sold both DRM-encrypted and unencrypted (DRM-free) ebook ...

, 2003 *''Bruce Boston: Short Stories, Volume 2'' (ebook),

, 2003 *''Visions of the Mutant Rain Forest'' (with Robert Frazier), Crystal Lake Publishing, 2017

Fiction collections

*''Jackbird''. BPW&P, 1976 *''She Comes When You're Leaving''. BPW&P, 1982 *''Skin Trades,'' Chris Drumm, 1988 *''Hypertales & Metafictions''. Chris Drumm, 1990 *''All the Clocks Are Melting'' (single story booklet),

Pulphouse Publishing Pulphouse Publishing was an American small press publisher based in Eugene, Oregon, and specializing in science fiction and fantasy. It was founded by Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch in 1988. The press was active until 1996. Over that ...

, 1991 *''Night Eyes''. Chris Drumm, 1993 *''Dark Tales & Light''. Dark Regions, 1999 *''Flashing the Dark''. Sam's Dot Publishing, 2006 *''Gallimaufry''. Plum White Press, 2021

Poetry

Collections

*''XXO''. Maya Press, 1969 *''Potted Poems''. Maya Press, 1970 *''All the Clock Are Melting''. Velocities, 1984 *''Alchemical Texts''. Ocean View, 1985 *''Nuclear Futures''. Velocities, 1987 *''Time''. Titan, 1988 *''The Nightmare Collector''. 2AM Publications, 1989 *''Faces of the Beast''. Starmont House, 1990 *''Other Voices, Other Worlds'' (audio tape, music by Jack Poley). Chris Drumm, 1990, (MP3 audio) Telltale Weekly, 2004 *''Short Circuits'' (prose poems). Ocean View, 1991 *''Cybertexts''. Talisman, 1991 * *''Accursed Wives''. Night Visions, 1993 *''Specula: Selected Uncollected Poems, 1968-1993''. Talisman, 1993 *''Sensuous Debris: Selected Poems, 1970-1995''. Dark Regions, 1995 *''Conditions of Sentient Life''. Gothic Press, 1996 *''Cold Tomorrows''. Gothic Press, 1998 *''Pavane for a Cyber-Princess'' (single poem chapbook). Miniature Sun, 2001 *''White Space''. Dark Regions, 2001 *''Quanta: Award Winning Poems''. Miniature Sun, 2001 *''Night Smoke'' (ebook, with

), Miniature Sun & Quixsilver, 2002 *''She Was There for Him the Last Time'' (single poem chapbook). Miniature Sun, 2002 *''Head Full of Strange'' (ebook). CyberPulp, 2003 *''Pitchblende''. Dark Regions, 2003 *''Etiquette with Your Robot Wife''. Talisman, 2005 *''Shades Fantastic''. Gromagon Press, 2006 *''Night Smoke'' (with Marge Simon, expanded print edition of 2002 ebook). Kelp Queen Press, 2007 *''The Nightmare Collection''. Dark Regions, 2008 *''Double Visions'' (collaborative poems). Dark Regions, 2009 *''North Left of Earth''. Sam's Dot, 2009 *''Dark Matters''.

Bad Moon Books {{Infobox company , name = Bad Moon Books, foundation = 1992, founder = Roy K. Robbins , logo = , type = Publishing, location = Garden Grove, California, USA, key_people = , num_employees = ...

, 2010 *''Surrealities''. Dark Regions, 2011 *''Anthropomorphisms''. Elektrik Milk Bath Press, 2012 *''Notes from the Shadow City'' (with

Gary William Crawford Gary William Crawford (January 1, 1953 -July 9, 2020) was an American writer and small press publisher. He is the founder and editor of Gothic Press, which since 1979 has published books and periodicals in the field of Gothic literature. Fro ...

). Dark Regions, 2012 *''Dark Roads: Selected Long Poems 1971-2012''. Dark Renaissance Books, 2013 *''Resonance Dark & Light''. Eldritch Press, 2015 *''Sacrificial Nights'' (with Alessandro Manzetti). Kipple Officina Libraria, 2016 *''Brief Encounters with My Third Eye: Selected Short Poems 1975-2016''. Crystal Lake Publishing, 2016, Korean-language edition, Philyohanchaek, 2021 *''Artifacts''. Independent Legions, 2018 *''Spacers Snarled in the Hair of Comets''. Mind's Eye Publications, 2022

Broadsides

*''Musings''. Eldritch Emu Press, 1988 *''The Last Existentialist''. Chris Drumm, 1993 *''Confessions of a Body Thief.'' Talisman, 1998 *''The Lesions of Genetic Sin''. Miniature Sun, 2000 *''In Far Pale Clarity''. Quixsilver, 2002 *''The Crow Is Dismantled in Flight'' (ebroadside). Miniature Sun, 2003

Major awards and honors

Bram Stoker Award for Poetry Collection

* 2003 ''Pitchblende'', Dark Regions Press * 2006 ''Shades Fantastic'', Gromagon Press * 2008 ''The Nightmare Collection'', Dark Regions Press * 2010 ''Dark Matters'', Bad Moon Books

Asimov’s Readers Award for Poetry

* 1989 Old Robots Are the Worst * 1993 Curse of the Shapeshifter's Wife * 1997 Curse of the SF Writer's Wife * 2003 Eight Things Not to Do or Say When a Mad Scientist Moves into Your Neighborhood * 2005 Heavy Weather * 2007 The Dimensional Rush of Relative Primes * 2014 In the Quiet Hour

Rhysling Award for Speculative Poetry (SFPA)

* 1985 For Spacers Snarled in the Hair of Comets, short * 1987 The Nightmare Collector, short * 1988 In the Darkened Hours, long * 1994 Spacer's Compass, short * 1995 Future Present: A Lesson in Expectation, short * 1999 Confessions of a Body Thief, long * 2001 My Wife Returns as She Would Have It, short

Others

* 1976 Pushcart Prize for Fiction for “Broken Portraiture” * 1999 Grandmaster Award, Science Fiction Poetry Association * 2006 Winner of Locus Poll for Favorite SF, Fantasy, Horror Poem -- "Return to the Mutant Rain Forest" with Robert Frazier * 2013 Poet Guest of Honor, World Horror/Bram Stoker Awards Convention, New Orleans

References

External links

Bruce Boston's websiteInterview
by John Amen at ''The Pedestal Magazine''
Interview
by JoSelle Vanderhooft at ''Strange Horizons''

Bruce Boston at Smashwords
Songs of the Stars, Songs of the Dark
Retrospective essay on Boston's poetry by Gary William Crawford * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boston, Bruce 1943 births Living people 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American novelists John F. Kennedy University faculty American male novelists American science fiction writers Analog Science Fiction and Fact people Asimov's Science Fiction people Projectionists Retail clerks Rhysling Award for Best Long Poem winners Rhysling Award for Best Short Poem winners Writers from California Writers from the San Francisco Bay Area