Can you break down the difference between speculative fiction and science fiction for those who are unfamiliar?

Science fiction is a category of speculative fiction, which is itself an umbrella term comprising horror, science fiction and fantasy and all the many, many sub modes. Speculative fiction comprises stories that start by asking… What if? What if one of the fundamental rules of the universe doesn’t work the way we think it does?

Who are some of your favourite speculative fiction authors, and why?

A tough question because I have so many. Ursula K. LeGuin for her humanity. Ray Bradbury for his audacity. Shirley Jackson for her perversity. Some of my favourite contemporary speculative fiction authors are right here in Australia – Kaaron Warren, Angela Slatter, Dan O’Malley, Aaron Dries, Joseph Ashley Smith, Grace Chan – all of whom are doing unique and important things in the literature of the imagination.

Internationally, Tananarive Due, Kelly Link and Jeff Ford, Paul Tremblay and Priya Sharma are just a few of the authors I love – again, for looking at what speculative fiction is meant to do – looking at an impossible or implausible situation and thinking about the human problems that arise as a consequence. 

Genre fiction is sometimes not taken as seriously as literary fiction. What is it about spec fic, sci fi, horror, and fantasy that you find so appealing?

I agree and we need to fix this quickly! To be honest, I think that genre fiction is taken seriously by many people who are aware that all fiction is genre of one kind or another, and that the idea of “genre” as being essentially pulpier or trashier is outdated. Many writers, including myself, lean into the escapist or pulpy elements of our genre when it suits us, and many of us would love to see a return to the days when authors could earn a living from churning out pulp – many of those stories have become classics today.

I’ve read imaginative literature voraciously all my life, but not exclusively. I love speculative fiction the same way I love all fiction – for the joy of being free to let my imagination roam and to see possible new worlds and ways of being. Each mode appeals to me in different ways. Science fiction is joyfully mind bending, horror awakens a deep emotional response, and I love the feeling of breathtaking limitlessness in fantasy, either that which takes place in secondary worlds or which makes one or two key changes in my own.

Speculative fiction speculates on what our world could become if we were to travel down a dark path. Do you believe it is an inherently political, or hopeful, genre?

Like all literature it depends on the writer and what they’re trying to do or say. I think I believe that if a writer, new or experienced, is joyful and committed to their work, the path opens up for itself in all its darkness and its light.