Joanne Merriam
Joanne Merriam is a science fiction writer, poet, and editor.
A former staff member of WFNS (1997-2001), she used to write a regular column for WFNS’ Eastword called “Caught in the Web.” In 2001, she left her position as Executive Assistant of WFNS to travel Canada by train, and then parts of the Northeastern and Southern United States. Her book of poetry, The Glaze from Breaking (Stride, 2005; Upper Rubber Boot, 2011), was written, in part, about those travels. In 2004, she immigrated to the USA, residing primarily in Nashville, Tennessee. From 2011 to 2020, she was the Publisher at Upper Rubber Boot Books, which is now on permanent hiatus. URB published numerous anthologies, perhaps most notably the first English-language anthology of solarpunk, Sunvault: Stories of Solarpunk & Eco-Speculation (eds. Phoebe Wagner and Bronté Wieland). She became an American citizen in 2019, and returned to Canada in 2024.
Her poetry and fiction has appeared in dozens of magazines and periodicals including The Antigonish Review, Asimov’s Science Fiction, Canadian Literature, Feux chalins, The Fiddlehead, Pottersfield Portfolio, and Strange Horizons, as well as the anthologies Ice: new writing on hockey and To Find Us: Words and Images of Halifax.
PUBLICATIONS
BOOKS
- Edited for Upper Rubber Boot Books: Broad Knowledge: 35 Women Up To No Good (2018, ISBN 978-1-937794-85-9); The Museum of All Things Awesome And That Go Boom (2016, ISBN 978-1-937794-47-7); Choose Wisely: 35 Women Up To No Good (with H. L. Nelson, 2015, ISBN 978-1-937794-46-0); and How to Live on Other Planets: A Handbook for Aspiring Aliens (2015, ISBN 978-1-937794-32-3).
- The Glaze from Breaking. Exeter, England: Stride Publications, 2005. ISBN 1-905024-00-2. 78 pages.
SELECTED SHORT FICTION
- “Facial Deficits.” PANK 6. January 2012, pp. 140-142.
- “Toy Boy.” Per Contra: The International Journal of the Arts, Literature and Ideas, Fall 2010 – 5th Anniversary Issue.
- “Sundowning.” Strange Horizons, 22 February 2010.
- “Little Ambushes.” Escape Pod, 22 October 2009.
- “Swan Song.” Strange Horizons, 6 October 2008.
- “The Boatman.” Edmonton, AB: On Spec: The Canadian Magazine of the Fantastic, Vol. 19, No. 2, #69, Summer 2007, pp.32-35.
- “Seeing Red.” Fredericton, NB: The Fiddlehead. No. 224, Summer 2005. pp. 19-22. ISSN 015-0630.
SELECTED POETRY
- “Heatwave” with Roger Dutcher. Strange Horizons, 19 August 2019.
- “Footprints Drying on the Stairs.” Poet Showcase: an anthology of New Hampshire poets, Hobblebush Books, 2015, p. 40.
- “Deaths on Other Planets” and “Presque Vu.” Language Lessons: Vol. 1. Chet Weise and Ben Swank, Eds. Nashville, TN: Third Man Books, 2014, pp 188-189. ISBN 978-0-9913361-0-4.
- “An Argument Against Brussels Sprouts” and “Salvation.” Nashville, TN: 2nd & Church, Issue 4: 2014, p. 11.
- “Getting Wet from Head to Toe” and “Underfoot on Barrington Street.” St. John’s, NL, Canada: Riddle Fence #10. Fall 2011. pp. 26-27. ISSN 1913-7265.
- “Werepenguin.” The 2009 Dwarf Stars Anthology. Deborah P Kolodji and Stephen M. Wilson, eds. Covina, CA: Science Fiction Poetry Association, 2010. p.9. (No ISBN.)
- Honourable Mention, Imaginarium 2013: The Best Canadian Speculative Writing, for “The Candy Aisle.”
- “Auto Biographies,” Winner of the July 2012 Goodreads Poetry Contest, 30 June 2012.
- Winner, “Deaths on Other Planets,” Asimov’s Science Fiction‘s Readers’ Awards for Best Poem of 2008.
- First Place winner, “The Rainy Season,” Strange Horizons 2005 Readers’ Choice Awards for Poetry.
- Third Place winner, “Walking Hibernation,” Strange Horizons 2004 Readers’ Choice Awards for Fiction.