Steven Paulsen (born 1955) is an Australian writer of science fiction, fantasy and horror fiction whose work has been published in books, magazines, journals and newspapers around the world. He is the author of the best selling children's book, The Stray Cat, which has seen publication in several foreign language editions. His short story collection, Shadows on the Wall: Weird Tales of Science Fiction, Fantasy and the Supernatural), won the 2018 Australian Shadows Award for Best Collected Work, and his short stories have appeared in anthologies such as Dreaming Down-Under, Terror Australis: Best Australian Horror, Strange Fruit, Fantastic Worlds, The Cthulhu Cycle: Thirteen Tentacles of Terror, and Cthulhu Deep Down Under: Volume 3.

Steven Paulsen
Born1955 (age 68–69)
Melbourne, Australia
OccupationWriter
Period1982 to present
GenreScience fiction, fantasy, horror
Website
stevenpaulsen.com

Paulsen has also written extensively about Australian speculative fiction in various publications including Bloodsongs, Eidolon (Australian magazine), Sirius, Interzone, The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, Fantasy Annual, The St James Guide to Horror, Ghost and Gothic Writers, and The Melbourne University Press Encyclopedia of Australian Science Fiction and Fantasy. In the 1990s he conceived and edited The Australian SF Writer's News, a writer's resource magazine for Australian Speculative Fiction writers, which was later incorporated into Aurealis magazine. He has conducted interviews with a variety of Australian Speculative Fiction writers, and was a judge for 2000 Aurealis Awards.

He returned to writing in 2010 after a ten-year hiatus.[1]

Bibliography edit

Books edit

English Language Editions
  • The Stray Cat (illustrated by Shaun Tan), Lothian Books, 1996. ISBN 978-0-85091-785-7
  • The Stray Cat (illustrated by Shaun Tan), Franklin Watts (UK), 1996. ISBN 978-0-7496-3523-7
  • Shadows on the Wall (Weird Tales of Science Fiction, Fantasy and the Supernatural), IFWG Publishing Australia, 2018. ISBN 978-1-925496-44-4
Foreign Language Editions

Short stories (selected) edit

Essays (selected) edit

  • "The State of the Australian Horror Fiction Magazine" – Bloodsongs No. 1, ed. Chris Masters and Steve Proposch, 1993
  • "The Quest for Australian Fantasy (with Sean McMullen) " – Aurealis No. 13, 1994
  • "The Search for Early Australian Horror" – Bloodsongs No. 2, ed. Chris Masters and Steve Proposch, 1994
  • "The Hunt for Australian Horror (with Sean McMullen)" – Aurealis No. 14, 1994 (reprinted in "The Aurealis Mega Oz SF Anthology", edited by Stephen Higgins and Dirk Strasser (Chimaera Publications), 1999)
  • "The Art of HAK)" – Bloodsongs No. 3, ed. Chris Masters and Steve Proposch, 1994
  • "The State of the Aust. Horror Fiction Magazine (reprint) – SF Fan Resource Book, 1995
  • "Pulp Fiction in Oz)" – Bloodsongs No. 4, ed. Chris Masters and Steve Proposch, 1995
  • "Kid's Stuff) " – Bloodsongs No. 5, ed. Chris Masters and Steve Proposch, 1995
  • "The Hunt for Australian HorrorFiction(with McMullen & Congreve)The ScreamFactory#16, 1995
  • "Australian Children's TV (with Sean McMullen) ) " – Sirius No. 10, 1995
  • "A Touch of Darkness – Gary Crew)" – Bloodsongs No. 6, ed. Chris Masters and Steve Proposch, 1995
  • "Cowboys and Atmosfear)" – Bloodsongs No. 7, ed. Chris Masters and Steve Proposch, 1996
  • "Australian Fantasy (with Sean McMullen)" – The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, ed. John Clute and John Grant, 1997
  • Author entries (with Sean McMullen) for Conrad Aiken, Gary Crew, Terry Dowling, G. M. Hague, Robert Hood, Victor Kelleher, Rick Kennett, Isaac Bashevis Singer and Rosemary Timperley – St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost & Gothic Writers (St. James Press), ed. David Pringle, 1997
  • "A History of Australian Horror (with Sean McMullen & Bill Congreve) " – Bonescribes: Year's Best Australian Horror: 1995 (1996) ed. Bill Congreve and Robert Hood, 1996
  • "The Quest for Australian Fantasy – Continues (with Sean McMullen) " – Fantasy Annual (USA), 1997
  • "Fantastique et horreur made in Australie" (with Bill Congreve)" – Ténèbres No. 3, ed. Daniel Conrad (France), July 1998
  • "Golden Age or New Dawn?" – Aussiecon 3 Souvenir Book for the 57th World Science Fiction Convention, ed. Marc Ortlieb, 1999
  • "Hakwork: An Appreciation of John Brosnan" – Studies in Australian Weird Fiction Volume 3, ed. Benjamin Szumskyj, 2009

Editor edit

Interviews (selected) edit

Steven Paulsen conducted interviews with a number a leading Australian Speculative Fiction writers during the 1990s. These were notable because Paulsen conducted most of these interviews face-to-face instead of via e-mail, recording the interviews and transcribing the conversations. He also conducted a few interviews in collaboration with Van Ikin.

  • Stephen R. Donaldson – Dark Horizons (Journal of the British Fantasy Society), Issue 27, Summer 1983
  • Martin Middleton – The Australian SF Writers' News No. 2, June 1992 and Sirius No. 1, March 1993
  • Sean McMullen – The Australian SF Writers' News No. 3, September 1992
  • Paul Voermans – The Australian SF Writers' News No. 4, December 1992 and Interzone No. 76, October 1993
  • Rick Kennett – The Australian SF Writers' News No. 5, March 1993 and Sirius No. 2, June 1993
  • Victor Kelleher – The Australian SF Writers' News No. 6, June 1993 and Sirius No. 4, February 1994
  • Sherry-Anne Jacobs – The Australian SF Writers' News No. 9, March 1994 and Sirius No. 5, September 1994
  • Sean Williams – The Australian SF Writers' News No. 10, June 1994
  • Paul Collins – Sirius No. 7, December 1994
  • Isobelle Carmody – Sirius No. 8, March 1995
  • Paul Jennings – Sirius No. 9, July 1995
  • Sean McMullen – Eidolon No. 21, April 1996 and Interzone No. 107, May 1996
  • Garth Nix – Eidolon #22/23, September 1996
  • Simon Brown – Eidolon #22/23, February 1997
  • Lucy Sussex – Eidolon No. 24, June 1997
  • Simon Brown "From Sydney to Troy: An Interview with Simon Brown" – Science Fiction: A Review of Speculative Literature # 41, Volume 15, Number 1, 1998 (interview conducted in collaboration with Van Ikin)
  • Gary Crew – Eidolon No. 27, April 1998
  • Richard Harland – Eidolon No. 27, April 1998 (interview conducted in collaboration with Van Ikin)
  • Terry Dowling "Smoking Mirrors, with a Hint of Scrimshaw" Interzone No. 146, August 1999 (interview conducted in collaboration with Van Ikin)

Awards edit

Wins[3] edit

Nominations[4] edit

Contributions[5] edit

References edit

Specific
  1. ^ "Steven Paulsen". www.stevenpaulsen.com. Archived from the original on 6 May 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  2. ^ Paulsen was "Assistant Editor" along with another Australian SF writer, Sean McMullen.
  3. ^ "The Locus Index to SF Awards: Ditmar Nominees List". Archived from the original on 7 September 2008. Retrieved 14 January 2011. Retrieved 14 January 2011.
  4. ^ "The Locus Index to SF Awards: Ditmar Nominees List". Archived from the original on 7 September 2008. Retrieved 14 January 2011. Retrieved 14 January 2011.
  5. ^ "The Locus Index to SF Awards: Ditmar Nominees List". Archived from the original on 7 September 2008. Retrieved 14 January 2011. Retrieved 14 January 2011.
  6. ^ "1999 World Fantasy Award Winners". Archived from the original on 15 October 2013. Retrieved 29 November 2013. Retrieved 14 January 2011.
General

External links edit