Emma Bull
Encyclopedia
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
and fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
author whose best-known novel is War for the Oaks
War for the Oaks
War for the Oaks is a fantasy novel by Emma Bull. The book tells the story of Eddi McCandry, a rock musician who finds herself unwillingly pulled into the supernatural faerie conflict between good and evil...
, one of the pioneering works of urban fantasy
Urban fantasy
Urban fantasy is a sub-genre of fantasy defined by place; the fantastic narrative has an urban setting. Many urban fantasies are set in contemporary times and contain supernatural elements. However, the stories can take place in historical, modern, or futuristic periods...
. She has participated in Terri Windling
Terri Windling
Terri Windling is an American editor, artist, essayist, and the author of books for both children and adults. Windling has won nine World Fantasy Awards, the Mythopoeic Award, the Bram Stoker Award, and her collection The Armless Maiden appeared on the short-list for the James Tiptree, Jr. Award...
's Borderland
The Borderland Series
Borderland is a series of urban fantasy novels and stories created for teenage readers by Terri Windling. The series is set in Bordertown, a dystopian metropolis that lies along the border between "the Elflands" and "The World". The series consists of five anthologies and three novels to date...
shared universe
Shared universe
A shared universe is a fictional universe to which more than one writer contributes. Work set in a shared universe share characters and other elements with varying degrees of consistency. Shared universes are contrasted with collaborative writing, in which multiple authors work on a single story....
, which is the setting of her 1994 novel Finder
Finder (novel)
Finder is a fantasy fiction novel written by Emma Bull and published in 1994.-Setting:The Borderlands setting of Finder is the collaborative creation of several authors, including Will Shetterley—Emma Bull's husband. It posits the abrupt intrusion of Elfland, a walled territory of unspecified...
. She sang in the rock-funk band Cats Laughing
Cats Laughing
Cats Laughing is a now-defunct folk rock band based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The group consisted of Steven Brust, Emma Bull, Bill Colsher, Lojo Russo, and Adam Stemple. Both Brust and Bull are better known as writers of fantasy and science fiction...
, and both sang and played guitar in the folk duo The Flash Girls
The Flash Girls
The Flash Girls are a now defunct folk music duo based out of Minneapolis, Minnesota.. The duo consisted of Emma Bull, a noted science fiction author, and Lorraine Garland, also known as "The Fabulous Lorraine". Garland is also notable as Neil Gaiman's personal assistant; the group formed at a Guy...
while living in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
.
Her 1991 post-apocalyptic science fiction novel Bone Dance
Bone Dance
Bone Dance is a fantasy novel written by Emma Bull and published in 1991. It was nominated for the Hugo and World Fantasy Awards.-Setting:Although the city in which Bone Dance is set is not named, it appears to be a climate-modified Minneapolis, the author's setting for her first novel, War for the...
was nominated for the Hugo
Hugo Award
The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...
, Nebula
Nebula Award
The Nebula Award is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America , for the best science fiction/fantasy fiction published in the United States during the previous year...
, and World Fantasy Award
World Fantasy Award
The World Fantasy Awards are annual, international awards given to authors and artists who have demonstrated outstanding achievement in the field of fantasy...
s.
Bull wrote a screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
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 her husband, Will Shetterly
Will Shetterly
Will Shetterly is an American writer of fantasy and science fiction best known for his novel Dogland . The novel is inspired by his childhood at the tourist attraction Dog Land owned by his parents...
, directed.
Bull and Shetterly created the shared universe
Shared universe
A shared universe is a fictional universe to which more than one writer contributes. Work set in a shared universe share characters and other elements with varying degrees of consistency. Shared universes are contrasted with collaborative writing, in which multiple authors work on a single story....
of Liavek
Liavek
Liavek is a shared world brought to life in a series of five fantasy anthologies edited by Emma Bull and Will Shetterly.-Contributors:Contributors include Bull, Shetterly, Gene Wolfe, Jane Yolen, John M. Ford, Kara Dalkey, Barry B. Longyear, Megan Lindholm, Nancy Kress, Patricia C. Wrede, Steven...
, for which they have both written stories. There are five Liavek collections extant.
She was a member of the writing group The Scribblies
The Scribblies
The Scribblies were a fantasy fiction writer's group based in the U.S. city of Minneapolis. Members included Nate Bucklin, Emma Bull, Steven Brust, Kara Dalkey, Pamela Dean, Will Shetterly and Patricia Wrede....
, which included Will Shetterly as well as Pamela Dean
Pamela Dean
Pamela Dean Dyer-Bennet is an American fantasy author whose most notable book is Tam Lin, based on the Child Ballad of the same name, in which the Scottish fairy story is set on a midwestern college campus loosely based on her alma mater, Carleton College in Minnesota.She was a member of the...
, Kara Dalkey
Kara Dalkey
Kara Mia Dalkey is an American author of young adult fiction and historical fantasy. She was born in Los Angeles and has lived in Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Colorado, and Seattle. Much of her fiction is set in the Heian period of Japan....
, Nate Bucklin, Patricia Wrede
Patricia Wrede
Patricia Collins Wrede is an American fantasy writer from Chicago, Illinois.The eldest of five children, she graduated from Carleton College in 1974 with a BA in Biology, married James Wrede in 1976 , and obtained an MBA from University of Minnesota in 1977.She finished her first book in 1978,...
and Steven Brust
Steven Brust
Steven Karl Zoltán Brust is an American fantasy and science fiction author of Hungarian descent. He was a member of the writers' group The Scribblies, which included Emma Bull, Pamela Dean, Will Shetterly, Nate Bucklin, Kara Dalkey, and Patricia Wrede; he also belongs to the Pre-Joycean...
. With Steven Brust, Bull wrote Freedom and Necessity (1997), an epistolary novel
Epistolary novel
An epistolary novel is a novel written as a series of documents. The usual form is letters, although diary entries, newspaper clippings and other documents are sometimes used. Recently, electronic "documents" such as recordings and radio, blogs, and e-mails have also come into use...
set during the 19th century United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
Chartist
Chartism
Chartism was a movement for political and social reform in the United Kingdom during the mid-19th century, between 1838 and 1859. It takes its name from the People's Charter of 1838. Chartism was possibly the first mass working class labour movement in the world...
movement.
She is Executive Producer and one of the writers for Shadow Unit, along with Elizabeth Bear
Elizabeth Bear
Sarah Bear Elizabeth Wishnevsky is an American author. Writing under the name Elizabeth Bear, she works primarily in the genre of speculative fiction, and was a winner of the 2005 John W...
, Sarah Monette
Sarah Monette
Sarah Monette is an American novelist and short story author writing mostly in the genres of fantasy and horror. She was born and raised in Oak Ridge, Tennessee and she began writing at the age of 12. In 2004 she earned a PhD in English literature, specializing in Renaissance Drama and writing her...
, Will Shetterly
Will Shetterly
Will Shetterly is an American writer of fantasy and science fiction best known for his novel Dogland . The novel is inspired by his childhood at the tourist attraction Dog Land owned by his parents...
and Amanda Downum.
Bull graduated from Beloit College
Beloit College
Beloit College is a liberal arts college in Beloit, Wisconsin, USA. It is a member of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest, and has an enrollment of roughly 1,300 undergraduate students. Beloit is the oldest continuously operated college in Wisconsin, and has the oldest building of any college...
in 1976. Bull and Shetterly live in Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
.
Novels
- War for the OaksWar for the OaksWar for the Oaks is a fantasy novel by Emma Bull. The book tells the story of Eddi McCandry, a rock musician who finds herself unwillingly pulled into the supernatural faerie conflict between good and evil...
(1987) - Falcon (1989)
- Bone DanceBone DanceBone Dance is a fantasy novel written by Emma Bull and published in 1991. It was nominated for the Hugo and World Fantasy Awards.-Setting:Although the city in which Bone Dance is set is not named, it appears to be a climate-modified Minneapolis, the author's setting for her first novel, War for the...
(1991; nominated for Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Awards) - FinderFinder (novel)Finder is a fantasy fiction novel written by Emma Bull and published in 1994.-Setting:The Borderlands setting of Finder is the collaborative creation of several authors, including Will Shetterley—Emma Bull's husband. It posits the abrupt intrusion of Elfland, a walled territory of unspecified...
(1994) - The Princess and the Lord of Night (1994)
- Freedom and Necessity (1997, with Steven BrustSteven BrustSteven Karl Zoltán Brust is an American fantasy and science fiction author of Hungarian descent. He was a member of the writers' group The Scribblies, which included Emma Bull, Pamela Dean, Will Shetterly, Nate Bucklin, Kara Dalkey, and Patricia Wrede; he also belongs to the Pre-Joycean...
) - TerritoryTerritory (novel)Territory is a fantasy western or Weird West novel by Emma Bull, published in 2007. It placed 4th in the 2008 Locus Poll Award for Best Fantasy Novel...
(July 2007)
Short Works
- "Rending Dark" (1984) in Sword and Sorceress, edited by Marion Zimmer BradleyMarion Zimmer BradleyMarion Eleanor Zimmer Bradley was an American author of fantasy novels such as The Mists of Avalon and the Darkover series. Many critics have noted a feminist perspective in her writing. Her first child, David R...
- "Badu's Luck" (1985) in Liavek
- "The Well-Made Plan" (1986) in Liavek: The Players of Luck
- "Danceland Blood" (1986, with Will ShetterlyWill ShetterlyWill Shetterly is an American writer of fantasy and science fiction best known for his novel Dogland . The novel is inspired by his childhood at the tourist attraction Dog Land owned by his parents...
) as "Danceland" in Bordertown, edited by Terri WindlingTerri WindlingTerri Windling is an American editor, artist, essayist, and the author of books for both children and adults. Windling has won nine World Fantasy Awards, the Mythopoeic Award, the Bram Stoker Award, and her collection The Armless Maiden appeared on the short-list for the James Tiptree, Jr. Award... - "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 JonesDiana Wynne JonesDiana Wynne Jones was a British writer, principally of fantasy novels for children and adults, as well as a small amount of non-fiction...
- "Why I Write Fantasy" (1990 essay) in PulphousePulphouse PublishingPulphouse 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...
6 - "Silver or Gold" (1992) in After the King: Stories in Honor of J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Martin H. GreenbergMartin H. GreenbergMartin Harry Greenberg was an American speculative fiction anthologist and writer.-Biography:Dr. Martin H. Greenberg was born March 1, 1941, to Max and Mae Greenberg in South Miami Beach, Florida...
- "The Stepsister’s Story" (1995) in The Armless Maiden, edited by Terri WindlingTerri WindlingTerri Windling is an American editor, artist, essayist, and the author of books for both children and adults. Windling has won nine World Fantasy Awards, the Mythopoeic Award, the Bram Stoker Award, and her collection The Armless Maiden appeared on the short-list for the James Tiptree, Jr. Award...
- "Joshua Tree" (2002) in The Green Man: Tales from the Mythic Forest, edited by Ellen DatlowEllen DatlowEllen Datlow is an American science fiction, fantasy, and horror editor and anthologist.-Biography:Datlow was the fiction editor of Omni magazine and Omni Online from 1981 through 1998, and edited the ten associated Omni anthologies...
and Terri WindlingTerri WindlingTerri Windling is an American editor, artist, essayist, and the author of books for both children and adults. Windling has won nine World Fantasy Awards, the Mythopoeic Award, the Bram Stoker Award, and her collection The Armless Maiden appeared on the short-list for the James Tiptree, Jr. Award... - "The Black Fox" (2003) in Firebirds, edited by Sharyn NovemberSharyn NovemberSharyn November is an American editor of books for children and teenagers. She is Senior Editor for Viking Children's Books and Editorial Director of Firebird Books, which is a mainly paperback imprint publishing fantasy and science fiction for teenagers and adults...
- "De La Tierra" (2004) in The Faery Reel, edited by Ellen DatlowEllen DatlowEllen Datlow is an American science fiction, fantasy, and horror editor and anthologist.-Biography:Datlow was the fiction editor of Omni magazine and Omni Online from 1981 through 1998, and edited the ten associated Omni anthologies...
and Terri WindlingTerri WindlingTerri Windling is an American editor, artist, essayist, and the author of books for both children and adults. Windling has won nine World Fantasy Awards, the Mythopoeic Award, the Bram Stoker Award, and her collection The Armless Maiden appeared on the short-list for the James Tiptree, Jr. Award... - "What Used to Be Good Still Is" (2006) in Firebirds Rising, edited by Sharyn NovemberSharyn NovemberSharyn November is an American editor of books for children and teenagers. She is Senior Editor for Viking Children's Books and Editorial Director of Firebird Books, which is a mainly paperback imprint publishing fantasy and science fiction for teenagers and adults...
Collection
Double FeatureDouble feature
The double feature, also known as a double bill, was a motion picture industry phenomenon in which theatre managers would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which one feature film and various short subject reels would be shown.The double feature, also known as...
(1994, collected works with Will Shetterly
Will Shetterly
Will Shetterly is an American writer of fantasy and science fiction best known for his novel Dogland . The novel is inspired by his childhood at the tourist attraction Dog Land owned by his parents...
) from NESFA Press
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:...
- "Visionary" (poem)
- "Why I Write Fantasy" (essay)
- "Rending Dark"
- "Badu's Luck"
- "The Well-Made Plan"
- "A Bird That Whistles"
- "Danceland Blood" (with Will ShetterlyWill ShetterlyWill Shetterly is an American writer of fantasy and science fiction best known for his novel Dogland . The novel is inspired by his childhood at the tourist attraction Dog Land owned by his parents...
) - "Wonders of the Invisible World" (essay)
Anthology Series
- LiavekLiavekLiavek is a shared world brought to life in a series of five fantasy anthologies edited by Emma Bull and Will Shetterly.-Contributors:Contributors include Bull, Shetterly, Gene Wolfe, Jane Yolen, John M. Ford, Kara Dalkey, Barry B. Longyear, Megan Lindholm, Nancy Kress, Patricia C. Wrede, Steven...
(1985, Ace BooksAce BooksAce Books is the oldest active specialty publisher of science fiction and fantasy books. The company was founded in New York City in 1952 by Aaron A. Wyn, and began as a genre publisher of mysteries and westerns...
, edited with Will ShetterlyWill ShetterlyWill Shetterly is an American writer of fantasy and science fiction best known for his novel Dogland . The novel is inspired by his childhood at the tourist attraction Dog Land owned by his parents...
) - Liavek: The Players of Luck (1986, Ace BooksAce BooksAce Books is the oldest active specialty publisher of science fiction and fantasy books. The company was founded in New York City in 1952 by Aaron A. Wyn, and began as a genre publisher of mysteries and westerns...
, edited with Will ShetterlyWill ShetterlyWill Shetterly is an American writer of fantasy and science fiction best known for his novel Dogland . The novel is inspired by his childhood at the tourist attraction Dog Land owned by his parents...
) - Liavek: Wizard's Row (1987, Ace BooksAce BooksAce Books is the oldest active specialty publisher of science fiction and fantasy books. The company was founded in New York City in 1952 by Aaron A. Wyn, and began as a genre publisher of mysteries and westerns...
, edited with Will ShetterlyWill ShetterlyWill Shetterly is an American writer of fantasy and science fiction best known for his novel Dogland . The novel is inspired by his childhood at the tourist attraction Dog Land owned by his parents...
) - Liavek: Spells of Binding (1988, Ace BooksAce BooksAce Books is the oldest active specialty publisher of science fiction and fantasy books. The company was founded in New York City in 1952 by Aaron A. Wyn, and began as a genre publisher of mysteries and westerns...
, edited with Will ShetterlyWill ShetterlyWill Shetterly is an American writer of fantasy and science fiction best known for his novel Dogland . The novel is inspired by his childhood at the tourist attraction Dog Land owned by his parents...
) - Liavek: Festival Week (1990, Ace BooksAce BooksAce Books is the oldest active specialty publisher of science fiction and fantasy books. The company was founded in New York City in 1952 by Aaron A. Wyn, and began as a genre publisher of mysteries and westerns...
, edited with Will ShetterlyWill ShetterlyWill Shetterly is an American writer of fantasy and science fiction best known for his novel Dogland . The novel is inspired by his childhood at the tourist attraction Dog Land owned by his parents...
)
Award Nominations
- Nominee, 1988 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for War for the Oaks
- Nominee, 1991 Philip K. Dick Award, Best Novel for Bone Dance
- Nominee, 1992 World Fantasy AwardWorld Fantasy AwardThe World Fantasy Awards are annual, international awards given to authors and artists who have demonstrated outstanding achievement in the field of fantasy...
, Best Novel for Bone Dance - Nominee, 1992 Hugo AwardHugo AwardThe Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...
, Best Novel for Bone Dance - Nominee, 1992 Nebula AwardNebula AwardThe Nebula Award is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America , for the best science fiction/fantasy fiction published in the United States during the previous year...
, Best Novel for Bone Dance - Nominee, 1993 Nebula AwardNebula AwardThe Nebula Award is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America , for the best science fiction/fantasy fiction published in the United States during the previous year...
, Best Novella for "Silver or Gold"
External links
- Official website
- Emma_Bull's LiveJournal
- Emma Bull's official bibliography
- Locus bibliography
- Fantastic Fiction bibliography
- Bibliography on SciFanSciFanSciFan is an online database for fans of science fiction and fantasy books.The site provides detailed bibliographies, linking books together into series' where appropriate and, in turn, grouping series by universe...
- Bio on Endicott Studio site
- The Unusual Suspects at Shockwave Silver
- Reviews for Emma Bull's Fantasy Fiction