Van Ikin

Australian academic and science fiction writer

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . (Learn how and when to remove these messages)

The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's notability guideline for biographies . Please help to demonstrate the notability of the topic by citing reliable secondary sources that are independent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond a mere trivial mention. If notability cannot be shown, the article is likely to be merged, redirected, or deleted.
Find sources: "Van Ikin" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (April 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations . Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (February 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

(Learn how and when to remove this message)

Van Ikin (born 25 November 1951) is an academic and science fiction writer and editor. A professor in English at the University of Western Australia, he retired from teaching in 2015 and is now a senior honorary research fellow.^[1] He 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 . He has reviewed science fiction and fantasy for The Sydney Morning Herald since 1984.

Critical works

[edit ]

Strange Constellations: A History of Australian Science Fiction (with Russell Blackford & Sean McMullen). Greenwood Press, 1998.
Warriors of the Tao: The Best of Science Fiction: A Review of Speculative Literature (with Damien Broderick). Borgo Press, 2011.
Xeno Fiction: More Best of Science Fiction: A Review of Speculative Literature (with Damien Broderick). Wildside/Borgo, 2013.
Fantastika at the Edge of Reality: Yet More Best of Science Fiction: A Review of Speculative Literature (with Damien Broderick). Wildside, 2014
Other Spacetimes: Interviews with Speculative Fiction Writers (with Damien Broderick). Wildside, 2015

Magazines edited

[edit ]

Enigma (University of Sydney SF Association, 1972–79)
Science Fiction (Issues 1-50, 1977–2019)

Anthologies edited

[edit ]

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).