Dr. Heather Osborne

Science fiction/fantasy writer. Maker of queer feminist digital games. Doctor of creative writing.

[Dr. Heather Osborne @heatherkosborne]

Release day for SONGBROKEN! Thank you to @ForestPathBooks for the opportunity to share the story. I'm absolutely thrilled. #lgbt #fantasybooks #fantasy

[Dr. Heather Osborne @heatherkosborne]

I hope everyone had an amazing When Words Collide this past weekend! I heard nothing but wonderful things about the con.

[Reactor Magazine @reactormag]

We're excited to reveal the cover for Aunt Tigress by @EyxQin! An urban fantasy novel inspired by Chinese and First Nation mythology, follow Tam as she runs from her unique upbringing and the demons and monsters who follow her...

https://t.co/AndnKUWkgJ

[Dr. Heather Osborne @heatherkosborne]

I am so proud of @EyxQin! Look at this gorgeous cover for her forthcoming AUNT TIGRESS. I absolutely love the way this novel evokes a setting that's familiar, and then brings in the edges of magic - surreal, beautiful, outstanding. https://t.co/TyBhUxWrIw

[Dr. Heather Osborne @heatherkosborne]

Had a lovely meeting with the writing group tonight. So awesome to talk structure & readerly effects with them. So nice for my brain.

[Dr. Heather Osborne @heatherkosborne]

Oops correction on the title: "The Gentrification of the Mind: Witness to a Lost Imagination".

[Dr. Heather Osborne @heatherkosborne]

Book recommendation from this paper: Sarah Schulman, "The Gentrification of The Imagination", https://t.co/kBIQswBUIP #icfa44

[Dr. Heather Osborne @heatherkosborne]

Soderstrom: The diversity of cities as inherently queer. The "Brownian motion" of humanity allows encounters with the other. #icfa44

[Dr. Heather Osborne @heatherkosborne]

Hallo afternoon panels! First up: “The Right to the Queer City: Speculative Fiction and Urban Gender Politics” by Mark Soderstrom.

[Dr. Heather Osborne @heatherkosborne]

One of the things I like about these two papers together is how they inform each other even though they're on wildly different topics. But one common thread I see is how the characters/people in both are caught in a "have your cake and eat it too" as far as political action goes.

[Dr. Heather Osborne @heatherkosborne]

Second paper also super interesting! “Why Are There Ninjas in Rural England?: Absurdism, Genre Tropes, and Otherness in Nick Harkaway’s The Gone-Away World” by Jennifer Krause. Discussion of Orientalism in Harkaway's book. #icfa44

[Dr. Heather Osborne @heatherkosborne]

This morning's first paper is awesome: “Apes and Smooth-Brains: SF imagery and Performative Solidarity in Alt-Finance Discourse Communities” by Joshua Pearson. Well-constructed and well-delivered, with a fun argument. #icfa44

[Dr. Heather Osborne @heatherkosborne]

Buckley identifies themes in WWDITS: Fashion, found family, home preservation, and pride parades. #icfa44

[Dr. Heather Osborne @heatherkosborne]

Buckley: Blood as fear in 1980s vampire media; the stigma and taboo of AIDS reflected in horror.

[Dr. Heather Osborne @heatherkosborne]

Next panel! "Gender, Queerness, and Monstrosity." First paper is by Emilie Buckley, on queer performativity in What We Do In The Shadows. I'm already excited! #icfa44

[Dr. Heather Osborne @heatherkosborne]

Just about to head to "Anthologies: Curation, Crowdfunding, and Copyediting." Looking forward to insights from @susanjforest !

[Dr. Heather Osborne @heatherkosborne]

In Afrofuturism, creators are pushing back against Eurocentric notions of what is 'real', what is 'time', what is 'speculative'. #icfa44

[Dr. Heather Osborne @heatherkosborne]

Erickson: Afrofuturism is always post-apocalyptic because of colonialism, slavery, and the destruction of African/Black communities.

[Dr. Heather Osborne @heatherkosborne]

Second paper! Erickson: "The Futures of Postapocalyptic Afrofuturism". He starts by exploring his positionality which I like. #icfa44

[Dr. Heather Osborne @heatherkosborne]

First paper! Haile: Black speculative production is "its own thing", not SFF; a qualitative difference of thought and imagination. It emerged separately from the European tradition (response to industrial revolution) where as Black SF emerges from antebellum slavery. #icfa44

[Dr. Heather Osborne @heatherkosborne]

Next panel! "Querying Afro-Speculative Fiction". PS this particular conference room is freezing. #icfa44