Writing the Future gathers some of the best contemporary writers of science fiction, speculative fiction, dystopia and eco-fiction to explain their craft and explore the many worlds upon which our imaginations might land. Authors such as Toby Litt, Nina Allan, Adam Roberts and Una McCormack reveal how to balance scientific research with creative freedom, examine the different forms the written text might evolve into, and offer practical advice on giving life to your own vision of the future.

Contributors Rachelle Atalla and Una McCormack are joined by Dan Coxon, one of the collection’s editors, to talk about the collection and their take on Writing the Future.

Edward Ashton is the author of the novels Mal Goes to War (available April, 2024), Antimatter Blues, Mickey7 (now a motion picture directed by Bong Joon-ho and starring Robert Pattinson), Three Days in April and The End of Ordinary. His short fiction has appeared in venues ranging from the newsletter of an Italian sausage company to Escape Pod, Analog, and Fireside Fiction. He lives in upstate New York in a cabin in the woods (not that Cabin in the Woods) with his wife, a nine pound killing machine named Maggie, and the world’s only purebred ratrantula, where he writes—mostly fiction, occasionally fact—under the watchful eyes of a giant woodpecker and a rotating cast of barred owls. In his free time, he enjoys cancer research, teaching quantum physics to sullen graduate students, and whittling.

Find Edward on X and Instagram @@edashtonwriting

Premee Mohamed is a Nebula, World Fantasy, and Aurora award-winning Indo-Caribbean scientist and speculative fiction author based in Edmonton, Alberta. She has also been a finalist for the Hugo, Ignyte, Locus, British Fantasy, and Crawford awards. Currently, she is the Edmonton Public Library writer-in-residence and an Assistant Editor at the short fiction audio venue Escape Pod. She is the author of the ‘Beneath the Rising’ series of novels as well as several novellas. Her short fiction has appeared in many venues and she can be found on her website at www.premeemohamed.com.

Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson is the Sunday Times Bestselling author of The Order of Legends trilogy. Inaugural winner of Future Worlds Prize Award in 2020, her debut novel, The Principle of Moments, was published in January 2024 , by Gollancz. She holds a BA in English Literature and Classical Studies from the University of Exeter, where she enjoyed writing essays on Disney villains and reading Greek lyric poetry in the same day. As an author of Nigerian, Jamaican, and British-Australian heritage, her work primarily focuses on people who live at the intersection of identities, whether that’s here on Earth, or in far away galaxies of her own creation.

Dr Una McCormack is a New York Times bestselling author of TV tie-in novels based on franchises such as Star Trek and Doctor Who. She is the author of a dozen science fiction novels, including the original SF novels The Baba Yaga and Star of the Sea.

She is also the author of numerous audio dramas based on TV shows such as Doctor Who and Blake’s 7, produced by Big Finish, and performed by actors such as David Warner, Louise Jameson, Sheila Reid, John Finnemore, and others. She sold her first SF short story at the age of 19 to Doctor Who Magazine and, since then, her short fiction has been anthologised by Gardner Dozois, Farah Mendlesohn, and Ian Whates.

Follow Una on X @unamccormack and on Bluesky @unamccormack

Oliver K. Langmead writes speculative fiction. His new verse-novel, Calypso, will be published by Titan Books in 2024. Glitterati, was shortlisted for a British Fantasy Award in 2023, and named one of New Scientist’s best Science Fiction books of 2022, and the French edition of Birds of Paradise, Les Oiseaux du Paradis, was published summer 2023. He is a Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Lancaster, and in late 2018 he was the writer in residence at the European Space Agency’s Astronaut Centre in Cologne.

Ken MacLeod is the author of 20 novels. The Sky Road and The Night Sessions won the BSFA Award, and his various books have been nominated for the Arthur C. Clarke, Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and Campbell Memorial awards on multiple occasions. Prior to becoming a novelist, MacLeod studied biology and worked as a computer programmer. Ken has been chosen as a Guest of Honor at the 82nd Worldcon taking place in Glasgow in August 2024.

Adrian Tchaikovsky was born in Lincolnshire and studied zoology and psychology at Reading before becoming a professional author in 2007. He is a keen role-player and board gamer and is trained in stage-fighting. Adrian primarily explores deep themes, such as artificial intelligence and alien awareness within epic galactic and fantastical settings. He has a deep interest in the animal world specifically insects from his studies in Zoology and has a particular penchant for spiders.

Lauren Beukes is the award-winning author of six novels, a collection of short stories, a pop history about South African women, and New York Times best-selling comics. Her work has been translated into 26 languages and won prizes across genres from the Arthur C Clarke Award to the Strand Critic’s Choice award and the University of Johannesburg Prize. Her novel, The Shining Girls, about a time-travelling serial killer and the survivor who turns the hunt around is now a major AppleTV series with Elisabeth Moss. Her latest novel, Bridge, about a young woman’s search for her mother across realities is out now. She lives in London with a teenager and two cats.

Find Lauren on socials @laurenbeukes and on TikTok @lauren.beukes

Nikhil Singh is a South African artist, writer and musician. Former projects include the graphic novels: Salem Brownstone written by John Harris Dunning (longlisted for the Branford Boase Award, Walker Books 2009) as well as The Ziggurat (Bell-Roberts 2003) by The Constructus Corporation (now Die Antwoord). His work has also been featured in various magazines including Dazed, i-D Online, Creative Review, as well as Pictures and Words: New Comic Art and Narrative Illustration (Laurence King, 2005). His debut novel Taty Went West was published by Kwani? Trust in 2015, Jacaranda Books (UK) in 2017, and Rosarium (US) in 2018. The book was released with an accompanying soundtrack and was shortlisted for Best African Novel in the inaugural Nommo Awards. His new novel Dakini Atoll is a sequel to his 2020 novel Club Ded  which was shortlist for the BSFA and Nommo Awards.

Maud Woolf is a Scottish speculative writer with a particular focus on horror and science fiction. While completing an MLitt in Creative Writing at the University of Glasgow, her unpublished novel was shortlisted for the North Lit Agency Prize. Her work has appeared in a variety of online magazines, including Metaphorosis Magazine where her short story ‘The Stranding’ was selected to appear in the Best of Metaphorosis 2020. Thirteen Ways to Kill Lulabelle Rock is her debut novel.

Rob Greene, who writes as the search-engine friendly “R.W.W. Greene,” is a recovering journalist and high-school English teacher. He writes science-fiction novels and short stories in a little house in southern New Hampshire where he lives with spouse Brenda, cat Jack, and a hive or two of honeybees. Greene is the author of four books -- The Light Years, Twenty-Five to Life, Mercury Rising, and Earth Retrograde -- all from from Angry Robot Books. He keeps a website at www.rwwgreene.com.

Emily Hamilton is a science fiction author who writes about women kissing in space. Her debut novel, The Stars Too Fondly, is forthcoming from Harper Voyager (US) and Gollancz (UK) in June 2024. She is also an award-winning staff writer at the alt-weekly newspaper Seven Days. She lives in Burlington, Vermont with her wife and their tiny dog Mimi.