On Wednesday, January 18th 2017, Speculations will sponsor its third annual ROUND ROBIN READINGS.

Readers bring three selections from their poetry and/or prose, each about five minutes’ worth, and we’ll keep reading till 7:30 or until we run out of selections, whichever comes first.

Then we’ll go hang out at a bistro.

Speculations is a co-production of DreamHaven Books and SF MINNESOTA, a multicultural speculative fiction organization that also hosts a midsummer SF convention, DIVERSICON, the 25th edition of which will be held July 21-23, 2017, in the Twin Cities, with Guests of Honor ELEANOR ARNASON and  MELISSA SCOTT.

On Wednesday, February 22 at 6:30 MICHAEL MERRIAM reads from his work. Michael Merriam is an author, actor, poet, playwright, and professional storyteller. His debut novel, Last Car to Annwyn Station, was named a Top Book in 2011 by Readings in Lesbian & Bisexual Women’s Fiction and his novella, Should We Drown in Feathered Sleep, was long-listed for the Nebula Award. His scripts have been produced for stage and radio and he has appeared on stage in the Minnesota Fringe Festival, Tellebration!, StoryFest Minnesota and over the air on KFAI and Minnesota Public Radio. Michael is the co-organizer of the Minnesota Speculative Fiction Writers and a member of the Artists with Disabilities Alliance, the Steampunk Artists and Writers Guild, and Story Arts Minnesota. Visit his homepage at www.michaelmerriam.com .

On Wednesday, March 15 at 6:30 p.m. LOIS McMASTER BUJOLD reads from her fiction. Ms. Bujold was born in 1949, the daughter of an engineering professor at Ohio State University, from whom she picked up her early interest in science fiction. She now lives in Minneapolis, and has two grown children. She began writing with the aim of professional publication in 1982. She wrote three novels in three years; in October of 1985, all three sold to Baen Books, launching her career. Bujold went on to write many other books for Baen, mostly featuring her popular character Miles Naismith Vorkosigan, his family, friends, and enemies. Her fantasy from HarperCollins includes the award-winning Chalion series and the Sharing Knife series. Most recently she has been exploring self-e-publishing with the novella-length tales of the sorcerer Penric in the World of the Five Gods. Ten times nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel, she has won in that category four times, in addition to garnering another Hugo for best novella, three Nebula Awards, three Locus Awards, the Mythopoeic Award, two Sapphire Awards, the Minnesota Book Award, the Forry Award and the Skylark Award. In 2007, she was given the Ohioanan Career Award, and in 2008 was Writer Guest of Honor for the 66th World Science Fiction Convention. A complete list may be found here: http://www.sfadb.com/Lois_McMaster_Bujold  Her works have been translated into over 20 languages. More information on Bujold and her books is archived at www.dendarii.com and her blog at                https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16094.Lois_McMaster_Bujold/bkog

On Wednesday, April 19, at 6:30 p.m., CATHERINE LUNDOFF reads from her fiction. Catherine Lundoff is an award-winning author and editor (and newbie publisher) from Minneapolis, where she lives with her wife and fabulous cats. She toils in IT by day and writes all the things by night. Her recent stories have appeared in “Callisto: A Queer Fiction Journal,” “Respectable Horror,” “The Cainite Conspiracies: A Vampire the Masquerade V20 Anthology,” “The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper Tales” and “The Mammoth Book of the Adventures of Professor Moriarty.” Her short story collection “Out of This World: Queer Speculative Fiction Stories,” is now available from Queen of Swords Press and she teaches writing classses at the Loft Literary Center.
www.catherinelundoff.com

Speculations is a co-production of DreamHaven Books and SF MINNESOTA, a multicultural organization that also sponsors a midsummer speculative fiction convention, DIVERSICON, the 25th edition of which will be held July 21-23, 2017 at the Best Western Plus–Bandana Square, St Paul, with Guests of Honor ELEANOR ARNASON and MELISSA SCOTT.

Our latest in the SPECULATIONS reading series —

In a departure from the usual speculative readings, Dr. Lisa C. Freitag will read from her
upcoming book on caregiving called “Extreme Caregiving : The Moral Work of Raising Children with
Exceptional Needs”.  Dr. Freitag is a retired pediatrician with a Masters Degree in Bio-Ethics,
and is a long time member of the local SF fan community. After reading from her book she will also
answer questions about the current politics of caregiving.

On Wednesday, June 14 at 6:30 p.m. TYLER TORK reads from his fiction. Tyler is a local, not yet famous writer and a frequent panelist at local science fiction conventions. His works include the steampunkish novel Doctor Dead, and the non-fictional “One-Hour Author Website.” Having decided he’s ready to sell out, he’s currently at work on a lesbian candy shop cozy.  Tyler grew up in Louisiana, among other places. Little known fact: Donald Duck comics were banned from Finland because he doesn’t wear pants. Tyler is seeking representation, and has a Master’s degree — in Science!

On Thursday, July 20 (Moon Landing Day), from 6:30-7:45 p.m., MELISSA SCOTT and ELEANOR ARNASON read from their respective works.

Melissa Scott is the author of some two dozen science fiction and fantasy works.  Including several co-authored with her late partner, Lisa A. Barnett.  Scott’s works are known for their elaborate and well-connected settings. While her works, with the exception of Shadow Man (1996), don’t usually deal directly with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender themes, most of her protagonists are LGBT.  She won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 1986, and has won several Lambda Literary Awards.  Her novels include Trouble and Her Friends (1994), Dreaming Metal (1997), and The Shapes of Their Hearts (1998).  She is also the author of Conceiving the Heavens: Creating the Science Fiction Novel (1997).

Eleanor Arnason has lived in Manhattan, Chicago, London, Paris, Washington, DC, Detroit, Saint Paul, and Minneapolis.  Since 1973 she has published five novels and over 30 novellas, novelettes, short stories, and experimental short forms.  Her fourth novel, A Woman of the Iron People (1990), won the James Tiptree, Jr. Award for gender-bending science fiction and the Mythopoeic Society Award for Best Adult Fantasy. Her fifth novel, Ring of Swords (1995), won the Minnesota Book Award.  Her most recent book is the collection Hwarhath Stories: Transgressive Tales by Aliens (2016).

Local poet Bryan Thao Worra will be reading at DreamHaven on Wednesday, August 30th. His books include On The Other Side Of The Eye, Touching Detonations, Winter Ink, Barrow, The Tuk Tuk Diaries: My Dinner With Cluster Bombs and DEMONSTRA.