Sean McMullen

Sean McMullen was born in Gippsland, Australia, and lives in Melbourne. As a child, he first discovered science fiction in comics, and began writing science fiction stories for school essays. He went on to read all the science fiction and fantasy in the local municipal library, but after being given a guitar for his fifteenth birthday, spent over a decade singing folk, rock, classical and early music. He earned his first money in science fiction while singing in the Victorian State Opera's production of the SF operetta The Breasts of Therese. McMullen returned to literary science fiction and fantasy while doing postgraduate studies, editing Yggdrasil, the journal of the Melbourne University Science Fiction Club, and having several amateur stories published. After winning the story competition at a World Science Fiction Convention, he began selling to top ranking magazines such as Analog, Fantasy and Science Fiction and Omega, and won a string of literary awards over the next decade. His signature novel, Souls in the Great Machine, was published by Tor, and he was runner up in the 2011 Hugo Awards for his novelette Eight Miles. His works span genres and styles ranging from epic fantasy to steampunk, and reach out to audiences of all ages. He has won fifteen Australian and international awards, has had over twenty books and eighty stories published in more than a dozen languages, and has been a guest of honour at many Australian and international conventions. Sean McMullen is credited with helping define Australian genre fiction, jointly writing the first histories of Australian science fiction, fantasy and horror, and winning awards for all three works. He also contributed to the Encyclopedia of Australian Science Fiction and Fantasy, and wrote Shot in Australia, the first history of Australian SF for the screen.