Michael Swanwick

American science fiction author (born 1950)

Michael Swanwick

Swanwick in 2019

Born|  (1950-11-18) November 18, 1950 (age 73)
Occupation| Author
Period| 1980s–present
Genre| Science fiction, fantasy
Website
michaelswanwick.com

Michael Swanwick (born 18 November 1950)[1] is an American fantasy and science fiction author who began publishing in the early 1980s.[2]

## Writing career[edit]

At the 63rd World Science Fiction Convention in Glasgow, August 2005 At the Avram Davidson tribute, NYC, 2007

Swanwick's fiction writing began with short stories, starting in 1980 when he published "Ginungagap" in TriQuarterly and "The Feast of St. Janis" in New Dimensions 11. Both stories were nominees for the Nebula Award for Best Short Story in 1981.[3] His first novel was In the Drift (an Ace Special, 1985), a look at the results of a more catastrophic Three Mile Island incident, which expands on his earlier short story "Mummer's Kiss". This was followed in 1987 by Vacuum Flowers, an adventurous tour of an inhabited Solar System, where the people of Earth have been subsumed by a cybernetic mass-mind. Some characters’ bodies contain multiple personalities, which can be recorded and edited (or damaged) as if they were wetware.

In the 1990s, Swanwick moved towards the intersection between science fiction, fantasy, and magical realism. Stations of the Tide (1991) is the story of a bureaucrat's pursuit of a magician on a world soon to be altered by its 50-year tide swell; it is set far in the future, blurring the line between magic and technology. The Iron Dragon's Daughter (1993) is a fantasy set in a Fairyland based on modern America, with elves wearing Armani suits and dragons serving as jet fighters. The main character, a changeling stolen from the real world, struggles to survive a factory, a high school, and a university, all the while being manipulated by a dragon. In Jack Faust (1997), a retelling of the Faust legend, the scholar does not gain magical power but modern scientific knowledge with which he begins the Industrial Revolution centuries early.

In the 2000s, Swanwick wrote several series of flash fictions, beginning with Puck Aleshire's Abecedary, a collection of 26 stories, each titled for a different letter of the alphabet. Other series included The Periodic Table of Science Fiction, 118 stories each themed about a different chemical element. These were originally published in Sci Fiction. Later, The Infinite Matrix published The Sleep of Reason, in which each story was based on one of Goya’s caprichos. In this period, he won several awards for short fiction; between 1999 and 2003, he had nine stories shortlisted for the Hugo Award for Best Short Story, and won in 1999, 2000, and 2002.[4]

He also continued to write novels. Bones of the Earth (2002) is a time-travel story involving dinosaurs. The Dragons of Babel (2008) is set in the same world as The Iron Dragon's Daughter, although the setting and characters are different; The Iron Dragon's Mother (2019) was a third volume in the series. He has written two novels featuring the posthuman rogues Darger and Surplus, who had already appeared in short stories: Dancing with Bears (2011) concerns their adventures in post-Utopian Russia, and in “Chasing the Phoenix” (2015) they travel to China. After Gardner Dozois's death, Swanwick completed his unfinished novel City Under the Stars.

His many works of short fiction have been collected in Gravity's Angels (1991), Moon Dogs (2000), Tales of Old Earth (2000), and others. A novella, Griffin's Egg, was published in book form in 1991 and is also collected in Moon Dogs. He has collaborated with other authors on several short works, including Gardner Dozois ("Ancestral Voices", "City of God", "Snow Job") and William Gibson ("Dogfight").

Stations of the Tide won the Nebula for best novel in 1991, and several of his shorter works have won awards as well: the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for "The Edge of the World" in 1989, the World Fantasy Award for "Radio Waves" in 1996,[5] and Hugos for "The Very Pulse of the Machine" in 1999, "Scherzo with Tyrannosaur" in 2000, "The Dog Said Bow-Wow" in 2002, "Slow Life" in 2003, and "Legions in Time" in 2004.

### Nonfiction writing[edit]

Swanwick has written about the field as well. He published two long essays on the state of the science fiction ("The User's Guide to the Postmoderns", 1986) and fantasy ("In the Tradition...", 1994), the former of which was controversial for its categorization of new SF writers into "cyberpunk" and "literary humanist" camps. Both essays were collected together in The Postmodern Archipelago 1997\. A book-length interview with Gardner Dozois, Being Gardner Dozois, was published in 2001. He is a prolific contributor to the New York Review of Science Fiction. Swanwick wrote a monograph on James Branch Cabell, What Can Be Saved From the Wreckage?, which was published in 2007 with a preface by Barry Humphries,[6] and a short literary biography of Hope Mirrlees, Hope-in-the-Mist, which was published in 2009.

### Television and film[edit]

Swanwick's short stories "Ice Age" and "The Very Pulse of the Machine" from Tales of Old Earth were adapted for the Netflix series Love, Death + Robots (2019) for its first and third seasons respectively.[7]

## Personal life[edit]

Swanwick thanks his wife, Marianne C. Porter, in all his books, referring to her as "the M. C. Porter Endowment for the Arts".[8]

He was a friend of Gardner Dozois and Susan Caspar for many years. From this friendship grew Being Gardner Dozois and several collaborations, including the novel City Under the Stars.[9]

## Awards[edit]

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (November 2023)

|

Year

(awarded)

| Work  | Award  | Cat  | Result  | Reference

|
|
|
|
|

1989  | "The Edge of the World"  | Theodore Sturgeon Award | —  |  |
1992  | Stations of the Tide | Hugo Award | Novel |  |
John W. Campbell Memorial Award | —  |  |
Locus Award | Fantasy Novel |  |
Nebula Award | Novel |  |
1993  | Arthur C. Clarke Award | —  |  |
1994  | The Iron Dragon's Daughter | Arthur C. Clarke Award | —  |  |
World Fantasy Award | WFA Novel |  |
Locus Award | Fantasy Novel |  |
1997  | Jack Faust | BSFA Award | Novel |  |
Hugo Award | Novel |  |
Locus Award | Fantasy Novel |  |

## Bibliography[edit]

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (November 2023)

|

### Novels[edit]

* In the Drift (1985)
* Vacuum Flowers (1987)
* Stations of the Tide (1991)
* The Iron Dragon's Daughter (1993)
* Jack Faust (1997)
* Bones of the Earth (2002), Nebula Award nominee, 2002; Hugo, Locus SF, and Campbell Awards nominee, 2003
* The Dragons of Babel (2008), Locus Fantasy Award nominee, 2009
* The Iron Dragon's Mother (2019)
* City Under the Stars (2020), with Gardner Dozois

Darger and Surplus series

1. Dancing With Bears (2011)
2. Chasing the Phoenix (2015)

### Short fiction[edit]

Collections

* Gravity's Angels (Arkham House Publishers, 1991)
* A Geography of Unknown Lands (1997)
* Moon Dogs (2000)
* Puck Aleshire's Abecedary (2000)
* Tales of Old Earth (Tachyon Publications, 2000)
* Cigar-Box Faust and Other Miniatures (Tachyon Publications, 2003)
* Michael Swanwick's Field Guide to the Mesozoic Megafauna (Tachyon Publications, 2004)
* The Periodic Table of Science Fiction (2005)
* The Dog Said Bow-Wow (Tachyon Publications, 2007)
* The Best of Michael Swanwick (2008)
* It Came Upon a Midnight: Three Brief Midwinter Tales (2011)
* Midwinter Elves: Three Brief Midwinter Tales (2012)
* Solstice Fire (2013)
* Season's Greetings (2014)
* Not So Much, Said the Cat (Tachyon Publications, 2016)

Stories[a]
Title  | Year  | First published  | Reprinted/collected  | Notes

|
|
|
|

Ginungagap  | 1980  | TriQuarterly |  |
Griffin's egg  | 1991  | Swanwick, Michael (1991). Griffin's egg. Legend/Century. |  | Novella / Chapbook
The Madness of Gordon Van Gelder  | 2000  | Swanwick, Michael (March 2000). "The madness of Gordon Van Gelder". F&SF. 98 (3): 101–102. |  |
'Shed that guilt! Double your productivity overnight!'  | 2008  | Swanwick, Michael & Gunn, Eileen (September 2008). "'Shed that guilt! Double your productivity overnight!'". F&SF. 115 (3): 129–136. |  |
The scarecrow's boy  | 2008  | Swanwick, Michael (October–November 2008). "The scarecrow's boy". F&SF. 115 (4&5): 231–238. |  |
Of finest scarlet was her gown  | 2014  | Swanwick, Michael (April–May 2014). "Of finest scarlet was her gown". Asimov's Science Fiction. 38 (4&5): 74–90. |  |
Lock up your chickens and daughters—H'ard and Andy are come to town!  | 2015  | Swanwick, Michael & Gregory Frost (April–May 2015). "Lock up your chickens and daughters—H'ard and Andy are come to town!". Asimov's Science Fiction. 39 (4–5): 54–69. |  | Novelette

* "The Feast of Saint Janis" (1980)
* "Walden Three" (1981)
* "The Man Who Met Picasso" (1982)
* "The Transmigration of Philip K." (1985)
* "The Gods of Mars" (1985) (with Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann)
* "Dogfight" (1985) (with William Gibson)
* "The Edge of the World" (1989) (Sturgeon Award winner)
* "The Dead" (1996)[10]
* "The Very Pulse of the Machine" (1998) (Hugo Award winner )
* "Radiant Doors" (1999) (Nebula Award nominee)
* "Ancient Engines" (1999) (Nebula Award nominee)
* "Scherzo with Tyrannosaur" (1999) (Hugo Award winner )
* "The Dog Said Bow-Wow" (2001) (Hugo Award winner )
* "Slow Life" (2002) (Hugo Award winner)
* "'Hello,' Said the Stick" (2002) (Hugo Award nominee)
* "Legions in Time"[11] (2003) (Hugo Award winner)
* "Tin Marsh" (2006)
* "Urdumheim" (2007)
* "The Little Cat Laughed to See Such Sport" (2008) - a Darger and Surplus tale[12]
* "For I Have Lain Me Down on the Stone of Loneliness and I'll Not Be Back Again" (2011)
* "The Dala Horse" (2011), 3 "Best of" reprints[13]
* The Mongolian Wizard series[14]
* "The Mongolian Wizard" (2012)[15]
* "The Fire Gown" (2012)
* "Day of the Kraken" (2012)
* "House of Dreams" (2013)
* "The Night of the Salamander" (2015)
* "The Pyramid of Krakow" (2015)
* "The Phantom in the Maze" (2015)
* "Murder in the Spook House" (2019)
* "The New Prometheus" (2019)

### Essays[edit]

* "User's Guide to the Postmoderns", Asimov's, 1986
* "The Postmodern Archipelago" (1997) Tachyon Publications
* Being Gardner Dozois (2001)
* What Can Be Saved from the Wreckage? James Branch Cabell in the 21st Century (2007)
* Hope-in-the-Mist: The Extraordinary Career & Mysterious Life of Hope Mirrlees (2011)

### Critical studies and reviews of Swanwick's work[edit]

Chasing the Phoenix

* Sakers, Don (September 2015). "The Reference Library". Analog Science Fiction and Fact. 135 (9): 105–108.

———————

Notes

1. ^ Short stories unless otherwise noted.

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Summary Bibliography: Michael Swanwick".
2. ^ "Locus Online: Michael Swanwick interview excerpts". Locus Magazine. 2004-05-27. Retrieved 2010-03-31.
3. ^ The Periodic Prime of Michael Swanwick (interview with Michael Swanwick) accessed 3 January 2014
4. ^ "Conversations with a Dark God: An Interview With Michael Swanwick". The SF Site. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
5. ^ World Fantasy Convention (2010). "Award Winners and Nominees". Archived from the original on 2010-12-01. Retrieved 4 Feb 2011.
6. ^ "What Can Be Saved from the Wreckage? by Michael Swanwick". avramdavidson.org. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
7. ^ "Love, Death & Robots | Netflix Official Site". www.netflix.com. Retrieved 2019-10-07.
8. ^ "Don't Try to Make a Living Writing Short Stories". Wired. 23 September 2016. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
9. ^ "The City Under the Stars - Gardner Dozois' Last Book". Flogging Babel. 9 July 2019. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
10. ^ The Dead, 2011 reprint at Tor.com
11. ^ Willie Garcia, Webmaster. ""Legions In Time" by Michael Swanwick". Asimovs. Archived from the original on 2004-12-08. Retrieved 2010-03-31.
12. ^ Michael Swanwick (23 May 2011). ""The Little Cat Laughed to See Such Sport" by Michael Swanwick". io9.com. Retrieved 2014-04-24.
13. ^ The Dala Horse at ISFDB
14. ^ "The Mongolian Wizard Series by Michael Swanwick". www.goodreads.com. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
15. ^ The Mongolian Wizard at Tor.com

## External links[edit]

Wikiquote has quotations related to Michael Swanwick.

* Swanwick's weblog
* Michael Swanwick at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
* Michael Swanwick's online fiction at Free Speculative Fiction Online
* "October Leaves", a photo-story at Flickr

* v
* t
* e

Works by Michael Swanwick

Novels|

* In the Drift (1984)
* Vacuum Flowers (1987)
* Stations of the Tide (1991)
* The Iron Dragon's Daughter (1993)
* Jack Faust (1997)
* Bones of the Earth (2002)
* The Dragons of Babel (2008)
* Dancing With Bears (2011)
* Chasing the Phoenix (2015)
* The Iron Dragon's Mother (2019)

Short stories|

* "Dogfight" (1985)
* "The Dead" (1996)
* "The Very Pulse of the Machine" (1998)
* "Radiant Doors" (1999)
* "Ancient Engines" (1999)
* "Scherzo with Tyrannosaur" (1999)
* "The Dog Said Bow-Wow" (2001)
* "Slow Life" (2002)
* "'Hello,' Said the Stick" (2002)
* "Legions in Time" (2003)

Short story collections|

* Gravity's Angels (1991)
* A Geography of Unknown Lands (1997)
* Moon Dogs (2000)
* Puck Aleshire's Abecedary (2000)
* The Periodic Table of Science Fiction (2005)

* v
* t
* e

Nebula Award for Best Novel

1966–1980|

* Dune by Frank Herbert (1966)
* Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany and Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes (1967)
* The Einstein Intersection by Samuel R. Delany (1968)
* Rite of Passage by Alexei Panshin (1969)
* The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin (1970)
* Ringworld by Larry Niven (1971)
* A Time of Changes by Robert Silverberg (1972)
* The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov (1973)
* Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke (1974)
* The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin (1975)
* The Forever War by Joe Haldeman (1976)
* Man Plus by Frederik Pohl (1977)
* Gateway by Frederik Pohl (1978)
* Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre (1979)
* The Fountains of Paradise by Arthur C. Clarke (1980)

1981–2000|

* Timescape by Gregory Benford (1981)
* The Claw of the Conciliator by Gene Wolfe (1982)
* No Enemy But Time by Michael Bishop (1983)
* Startide Rising by David Brin (1984)
* Neuromancer by William Gibson (1985)
* Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (1986)
* Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card (1987)
* The Falling Woman by Pat Murphy (1988)
* Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold (1989)
* The Healer's War by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough (1990)
* Tehanu: The Last Book of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin (1991)
* Stations of the Tide by Michael Swanwick (1992)
* Doomsday Book by Connie Willis (1993)
* Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson (1994)
* Moving Mars by Greg Bear (1995)
* The Terminal Experiment by Robert J. Sawyer (1996)
* Slow River by Nicola Griffith (1997)
* The Moon and the Sun by Vonda N. McIntyre (1998)
* Forever Peace by Joe Haldeman (1999)
* Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler (2000)

2001–2020|

* Darwin's Radio by Greg Bear (2001)
* The Quantum Rose by Catherine Asaro (2002)
* American Gods by Neil Gaiman (2003)
* Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon (2004)
* Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold (2005)
* Camouflage by Joe Haldeman (2006)
* Seeker by Jack McDevitt (2007)
* The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon (2008)
* Powers by Ursula K. Le Guin (2009)
* The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi (2010)
* Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis (2011)
* Among Others by Jo Walton (2012)
* 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson (2013)
* Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie (2014)
* Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (2015)
* Uprooted by Naomi Novik (2016)
* All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders (2017)
* The Stone Sky by N. K. Jemisin (2018)
* The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal (2019)
* A Song for a New Day by Sarah Pinsker (2020)

2021–present|

* Network Effect by Martha Wells (2021)
* A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark (2022)
* Babel, or the Necessity of Violence by R. F. Kuang (2023)

* v
* t
* e

World Fantasy Award—Novella

1982–2000|

* The Fire When It Comes by Parke Godwin (1982)
* Confess the Seasons by Charles L. Grant (1983, tie)
* Beyond Any Measure by Karl Edward Wagner (1983, tie)
* Black Air by Kim Stanley Robinson (1984)
* The Unconquered Country by Geoff Ryman (1985)
* Nadelman's God by T.E.D. Klein (1986)
* Hatrack River by Orson Scott Card (1987)
* Buffalo Gals, Won't You Come Out Tonight by Ursula K. Le Guin (1988)
* The Skin Trade by George R. R. Martin (1989)
* "Great Work of Time" by John Crowley (1990)
* Bones by Pat Murphy (1991)
* The Ragthorn by Robert Holdstock and Garry Kilworth (1992)
* The Ghost Village by Peter Straub (1993)
* Under the Crust by Terry Lamsley (1994)
* Last Summer at Mars Hill by Elizabeth Hand (1995)
* Radio Waves by Michael Swanwick (1996)
* A City in Winter by Mark Helprin (1997)
* Streetcar Dreams by Richard Bowes (1998)
* The Summer Isles by Ian R. MacLeod (1999)
* The Transformation of Martin Lake by Jeff VanderMeer (2000, tie)
* Sky Eyes by Laurel Winter (2000, tie)

2001–present|

* The Man on the Ceiling by Steve Rasnic Tem & Melanie Tem (2001)
* The Bird Catcher by S. P. Somtow (2002)
* The Library by Zoran Živković (2003)
* A Crowd of Bone by Greer Gilman (2004)
* The Growlimb by Michael Shea (2005)
* Voluntary Committal by Joe Hill (2006)
* Botch Town by Jeffrey Ford (2007)
* Illyria by Elizabeth Hand (2008)
* If Angels Fight by Richard Bowes (2009)
* Sea-Hearts by Margo Lanagan (2010)
* The Maiden Flight of McCauley's Bellerophon by Elizabeth Hand (2011)
* A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong by K. J. Parker (2012)
* Let Maps to Others by K. J. Parker (2013)
* Wakulla Springs by Andy Duncan and Ellen Klages (2014)
* We Are All Completely Fine by Daryl Gregory (2015)
* The Unlicensed Magician by Kelly Barnhill (2016)
* The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe by Kij Johnson (2017)
* Passing Strange by Ellen Klages (2018)
* "The Privilege of the Happy Ending" by Kij Johnson (2019)
* Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh (2020)
* Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi (2021)
* And What Can We Offer You Tonight by Premee Mohamed (2022)

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