Jeff VanderMeer was born in Pennsylvania, U.S., in 1968, but spent much of his childhood in the Fiji Islands, where his parents worked for the Peace Corps
Jeff VanderMeer
Jeff VanderMeer was born in Pennsylvania, U.S., in 1968, but spent much of his childhood in the Fiji Islands, where his parents worked for the Peace Corps. This experience, and the resulting trip back to the United States through Asia, Africa, and Europe, has deeply influenced his fiction.
Jeff VanderMeer's work has appeared in eight languages in 15 countries, including in such magazines and anthologies as Asimov's SF Magazine, Amazing Stories, Weird Tales, Interzone, The Silver Web, Ikarie B (Czech Republic), The Third Alternative, Nebula Awards 30, Best New Horror 7, The Year's Best Fantastical Fiction, Infinity Plus one, Dark Terrors, and Dark Fantasy 2000. A controversial Locus Online poll listed him seventh amongst currently working writers of short SF/Fantasy fiction.
Books include The Book of Lost Places (Dark Regions Press), Dradin, In Love (Buzzcity Press), and Dradin, In Love & Other Stories (Oxy Publishing, Greece). His most recent books are The Exchange, a collaboration with artist Eric Schaller, The Hoegbotton Guide to the Early History of Ambergris, by Duncan Shriek, and The City of Saints and Madmen. The trade paperback edition of City of Saints and Madmen placed 4th on a recent Top 10 of 2001 critic's poll by SF Site and is a Locus recommended book.
Awards and honours include winning the 2000 World Fantasy Award for Best Novella, the 1994 Rhysling Award, Fear Magazine's Best Short Story Award, and a $5,000 Florida Individual Artist Fellowship. VanderMeer has also been a finalist for the Theodore Sturgeon Award.
VanderMeer's nonfiction has appeared in Novel & Short Story Writer's Markets, SF Eye, Tangent, Zene, The St. James Guide to Gothic, Ghost, and Horror Writers, Fantasy & Science Fiction, The New York Review of SF, Magill's Guide to SF & Fantasy Literature, and publications from Gale Research.
VanderMeer founded The Ministry of Whimsy, a literary organization and specialty press. The Ministry was a finalist for a World Fantasy Award in 1998, and published the 1997 Philip K. Dick Award-winning novel The Troika by Stepan Chapman.
VanderMeer works as a technical writer and project administrator for Infinity Software Development in Tallahassee, Florida, where he lives with Ann Kennedy. He enjoys racquetball, soccer, and collecting first editions.
Elsewhere in infinity plus:
* stories by Jeff VanderMeer - Flight Is For Those Who Have Not Yet Crossed Over; Ghost in the Machine; Mahout; A Heart for Lucretia; Quin's Shanghai Circus; and Dradin, in Love (includes a non-fiction feature on one of the inspirations for the Ambergris setting).
* features - About Jeff VanderMeer.
* non-fiction - Jeff VanderMeer interviewed by Tamar Yellin (2003); Jeff VanderMeer interviewed by Jeffrey Ford (2002); Jeff VanderMeer interviewed by Bill Babouris (1998); reviews of Jeff VanderMeer's work.
* contact - e-mail Jeff VanderMeer.
Elsewhere on the web:
* Jeff VanderMeer at Amazon (US).
* www.jeffvandermeer.com - centered around Scott Eagle's amazing artwork for Jeff's short story collection from Golden Gryphon. "New features include an expanded bibliography (in progress), a frequently-asked-questions page, an updated bio, a page of links to my fiction and nonfiction, and consolidated links to my blog, messageboard, etc. Also, I should note that hummingbirds can serve as portals to some pretty cool places."
* www.ambergris.org The point of the Ambergris site is to provide "static" information. This site is not intended to provide updates on news or events. It is instead intended to set out up-to-date bibliographical information, excerpts from Ambergris stories, links to information or reviews of Ambergris books, and also extras like the first online presence of the decryption of the encrypted story from City of Saints.
* VanderWorld: a cornucopia of delights for the entire family. Sick of author sites that dryly ramble on about publication credits and upcoming book signings? VanderWorld is for you. Particularly if you're the kind of person who wants to see pictures of the world's authors holding a small, plastic alien baby.
* And Veniss Underground has a website all of its own.
* The Ministry of Whimsy. The website of an independent publisher dedicated to the promotion of fantastical literature, founded by Jeff VanderMeer.
* Jeff is a contributor to one of Event Horizon's Superstring collaborative stories.
* Jeff's "The General Who Is Dead" is part of the online Storyville anthology.
* FlashPoint features another of Jeff's stories.
* ISFD bibliography.
