Ruth Berman appointed SFPA Grand Master

 The Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association has named its 13th Grand Master. The honor goes to the multi-talented Ruth Berman.

Ruth Berman's speculative poetry has appeared in Asimov’s SF, Amazing Stories, Analog, Aliens and Lovers, Burning With A Vision, Fungi, Tales of the Unanticipated, Weird Tales, Worlds of Fantasy and Horror, Star*Line, and other magazines and anthologies. As a translator from French, she has placed work in Space & Time, Tales of the Unanticipated, and Fantasy Macabre. Editing credits include working with Mythlore and Pandora, assembling a collection by past Rhysling winner Terry A. Garey, The Middle Earth Songbook, The Star Trek Songbook, and the in-house newsletter on the set of the original Star Trek.

Her impact in and out of the genre has been far-reaching. In 1973, she was a nominee for the John W. Campbell category Best New Writer. She won the first ever Dwarf Stars Award (2006), won the Rhysling Award twice (2003 & 2016) and placed twice (2nd in 2000 & 3rd in 2015). Her articles on genre writing appeared in Jabberwocky (from the Lewis Carroll Society), Extrapolation, and Children’s Literature in Education.

She was active in the performances and publications of the group the Lady Poetesses from Hell. Her imprint of crumbfairy press has published sf/fantasy poetry by herself, Terry A. Garey, Rebecca Marjesdatter, and Eleanor Arnason.

https://ruthberman.com

Congratulations!

A SFPA Grand Master designation may be conferred by the SFPA President with consensus of the membership to an individual living at the time of selection whose body of work shall reflect the highest artistic goals of the SFPA, who shall have been actively publishing within the target genres of Science Fiction and Fantasy for a period of no fewer than 20 years, and whose poetry has been noted to be exceptional in merit, scope, vision and innovation.

The other Grand Masters include:

F.J. Bergmann (2024)

Akua Lezli Hope (2022)

Mary Soon Lee (2022)

Linda D. Addison (2020)

Ann K. Schwader (2018)

David C. Kopaska-Merkel (2017)

Marge Simon & Steve Sneyd (2015)

Jane Yolen (2010)

Ray Bradbury (2008)

Robert Frazier (2005)

Bruce Boston (1999)

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association was established in 1978 by Suzette Haden-Elgin and has an international membership representing over 19 nations and cultures including United States, Italy, Canada, Brazil, United Kingdom, Ireland, Romania, Poland, Denmark, Germany, France, Spain, Israel, South Africa, Singapore, Thailand, Laos, the Hmong, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association publishes two journals: Star*Line and Eye to the Telescope. It oversees three major literary awards for poetry: The Rhyslings, the Dwarf Stars, and the Elgin Awards. We also conduct an annual science fiction poetry contest and other special events and gatherings. Further, we also provide resources for emerging and established poets seeking professional publication and networking opportunities.

Research and Reflections on Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement available now!

A look at the anthology I helped to edit in advance of the 20th anniversary of the Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement, housed at the University of Purdue.

The cover is by Amorn Setthithorn. Mr. Setthithorn was born April 18, 1949, and his education includes a 1971 Diploma in Painting; Sculpture & Printing from Silprakorn University, in Bangkok ,Thailand and a 1974 Postdiploma in Painting & Sculpture from Visva Bharati University, West Bengal, India, and he has been a practicing artist for over 40 years now, and he now resides in Chiangmai, Thailand. I was happy we were able to get a 20-headed Naga for the cover just in time before the end of Year of the Dragon in April, 2025. There are so many anniversaries to observe as we also prepared to recognize 50 years in the United States since the end of the Southeast Asian conflicts of the 20th century.

I have now served as the Creative Works Editor there for almost 18 years, so it has been a delight to revisit so many wonderful pieces in our community and to see where the authors have gone since. Thank you all for your support!

I give a special thanks to my fellow editors, Dr. Wayne E. Wright, Vikrant Chap, Phitamay S. Uy, Chhany Sak-Humphry, and Vichet Chhuon who’ve been exceptional colleagues across the decades in this journey. The journal is an on-line and free open access interdisciplinary journal providing a forum for scholars and writers from diverse fields who share a common interest in Southeast Asian (SEA) Americans and their communities. JSAAEA is published with support from the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and the College of Education at Purdue University, and Purdue Libraries Scholarly Publishing Services and Purdue University Press.

Silk and Sinew Available now!

I had a poem appear last year in the Asian horror anthology Silk & Sinew, which has a wonderful range of writers included in it, edited by K.P. Kulski. Look for it from Bad Hand Books!

From lengths of muscle and vein, ground bones, endless ropes of sinew…it is with our bodies folk horror is woven. Edited by Bram Stoker Award-nominee Kristy Park Kulski, this stunning anthology features contributions from some of the most acclaimed authors of the Asian Diaspora.

The other writers featured include:
Ai Jiang
Nadia Bulkin
Christina Sng
Rena Mason
Lee Murray
J.A.W. McCarthy
Geneve Flynn
Ayida Shonibar
Yi Izzy Yu
Angela Yuriko Smith
Kanishk Tantia
Robert Nazar Arjoyan
Christopher Hann
Audrey Zhou
Seoung Kim
Rowan Cardosa
Gabriela Lee
Shawna Yang Ryan
Priya Sridhar
Jess Cho
Saheli Khastagir

Be sure to take a look at the great work they’re doing!

Founded in 2021, Bad Hand Books is owned and operated by Bram Stoker Award-winning and Shirley Jackson Award-winning editor, Doug Murano.

Editor Kristy Park Kulski (K.P. Kulski) is the Hawaii-born, Korean-American author of Fairest Flesh and House of Pungsu. Her short fiction and nonfiction have appeared in Unquiet Spirits, Fantasy Magazine, Unnerving Magazine, anthologies Not All Monsters, Chromophobia, A Conjuring for All Seasons and many others. She is a veteran of the U.S. Navy and Air Force and formerly taught college history. She currently makes her home in the woods of Northeast Ohio. You can find her on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/garnetonwinter/ and directly at her website https://www.garnetonwinter.com/

The cover is by Eileen Kai Hing Kwan a freelance Illustrator based in London. She primarily illustrates in publishing and games, and loves to illustrate haunting and beautiful dream-like moments and particularly enjoys exploring horror, gothic romance & fantasy in her work. Find her at eileenkaihingkwan.co.uk and on Instagram @whereiseileen.

Appointed Honorary Alumni by Otterbein University

 Pleased to announce that I have accepted the 2025 Otterbein Honorary Alumni Award with a presentation ceremony of September 26-27 later this year in Westerville, Ohio for my distinguished contributions over the decades.

I'd first begun attending Otterbein in 1991 until 1997 when financial circumstances and an academic snarl involving an issue over whether or not religion and philosophy courses were part of the same major or not, among other details all led to my departure at the time to begin work on Southeast Asian refugee resettlement issues in Washington DC instead.

"... And the rest is history..." as they say, although it often led to a significant level of disparagement by fellow refugees and non-profit colleagues that frequently bled into a number of my personal relationships. This was even as my work was, and remains, taught in college textbooks and papers around the globe, and I am about to finish nearly 2 decades as the creative works editor of the Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement.

It's a nice vindication even I also note that it remains a challenge for so many in our community to attain a degree. 50 years in the US and fewer than 15% of the Lao and many other Southeast Asian refugees manage to successfully graduate college for a number of reasons rarely related to academic performance itself.

There are challenging conversation to be held in the future about this, and how we create successful alternate pathways for our community members to be contributing participants in our various democracies across the globe.