Main fiction: "Not Responsible! Park and Lock It!" by John Kessel

Born in Buffalo, NY, novelist and story writer John Kessel is emeritus professor of literature and creative writing at North Carolina State University, where he taught courses on literature and creative writing and helped found the MFA program in creative writing.

His fiction has received the Theodore Sturgeon, Locus, James Tiptree Jr./Otherwise, Ignotus, and Shirley Jackson awards, and twice received the Nebula award. The Dark Ride: The Best Short Fiction of John Kessel, was published in 2022, and his The Presidential Papers appeared in PM Press’s Outspoken Authors series in 2024.

He lives with his wife, the novelist Therese Anne Fowler, in Raleigh.

This story originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Sept 1981.

Narrated by: Will Stagl

Will Stagl lives in his adopted home of Tucson Arizona where he is a creative professional by day and proudly recruits talented voice actors for StarShipSofa whenever duty calls. He shares a birthday with Mark Twain, Billy Idol and Winston Churchill, who will all be raising a pint together at the end of this month in celebration.

Fact: Looking Back At Genre History by Amy H Sturgis

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Main fiction: "Spintered/Splintering" by Rhiannon Rasmussen

Rhiannon Rasmussen is an author and illustrator of dark speculative works, not all of which involve exoskeletons. Rhiannon’s fiction has appeared in venues including Lightspeed Magazine, Diabolical Plots, and as Magic: the Gathering official web shorts. Visit rhiannonrs.com or @charibdys on Bluesky.

This story first appeared, in a slightly different form, as a download via Gumroad and itch.io, 2022.

Narrated by: Diane Severson

Diane Severson is a lyric soprano specializing in Early Music, specifically Baroque and medieval music and loves her work teaching people to sing. She has narrated for Escape Pod, PodCastle, Cast of Wonders, Pseudopod, and Tales to Terrify. Diane has been involved in the Speculative Poetry Scene since 2010, she is membership chair of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association and is a passionate promoter of genre poetry. The best place to find her is on the web because she tends to pick up and move to another country at the drop of a hat. She and her family currently reside in Buckinghamshire, England.

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa.

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Main fiction: "Quirks" by Marie Vibbert

Hugo and Nebula nominated author Marie Vibbert’s short fiction has appeared in top magazines such as Nature, Analog, and Clarkesworld, and been translated into Czech, Chinese and Vietnamese. Her debut novel, Galactic Hellcats, was long listed by the British Science Fiction Award and her work has been called “everything science fiction should be” by the Oxford Culture Review. She also writes poetry, comics, and computer games. By day she is a computer programmer in Cleveland, Ohio.

This story first appeared in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, November 2017.

Narrated by: Mark Nelson

Mark Nelson began audiobook narration in 2006, and now has over 180 titles at LibriVox, and recording as “Harry Shaw,” more than 100 for Audible. While Mark mainly records sci-fi, fantasy, and horror titles, he has also ventured into the classics, including Hugo and Dostoyevsky.

Fact: Looking Back At Genre History by Amy H Sturgis

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.