Van Ikin

Van Ikin (born 25 November 1951) is an academic and science fiction writer and editor. He is Senior Lecturer in English at the University of Western Australia, and has acted as supervisor for several Australian writers completing their post-graduate degrees and doctorates — including science fiction and fantasy writers Terry Dowling, Stephen Dedman, and Dave Luckett — and received the University's Excellence in Teaching Award for Postgraduate Research Supervision in 2000.

Ikin is probably best known for his editorship of the long-running critical journal Science Fiction - A Review of Speculative Fiction. He has reviewed science fiction and fantasy for The Sydney Morning Herald since 1984.

Critical works

• Strange Constellations: A History of Australian Science Fiction (with Russell Blackford & Sean McMullen) Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998.

• Warriors of the Tao: The Best of Science Fiction, A Review of Speculative Fiction (with Damien Broderick) (Borgo Press, 2011).

Magazines edited

• Enigma (University of Sydney SF Association, 1972–79)

• Science Fiction: A Review of Speculative Literature (Issues 1-46, 1977–2009)

Anthologies edited

• Australian Science Fiction (University of Queensland Press, 1981; reprint, Academy Editions, US, 1984).

• Glass Reptile Breakout (Centre for Studies in Aust Literature, University of WA, 1990)

• Mortal Fire: Best Australian SF (with Terry Dowling) (Hodder/Coronet, 1993).

Awards

• Australian Science Fiction Foundation, Chandler Award for his contribution to Australian science fiction (1992).

References

• Paul Collins (ed). The MUP Encyclopedia of Australian Science Fiction and Fantasy Melbourne, Vic: Melbourne University Press, 1998, p. 94.

External links

• Van Ikin's Home page
• Van Ikin at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database