Literary Birthday – 23 September – Rebecca Roanhorse

Happy Birthday, Rebecca Roanhorse, born on 23 September 1971.

Rebecca Roanhorse Quotes

1. A lot of the modern Native experience deals with trauma, both intergenerational and personal. This is, to me, a Native story on various levels, so I wasn’t not going to talk about trauma. But I also wanted to explore the transformative nature of trauma, for better or worse. (Book Page)
2. I saw someone mention this was a golden age of SFF and I can’t agree more. Just happy to be a part of it, and happier to be able to read it all. (Book Page)
3. I don’t differentiate between genres while I’m writing. I mix science fiction and fantasy, and there’s definitely elements of horror in my writing, including Black Sun, but that, unlike my character work, is not a conscious choice. That’s just my brain doing its thing. (Clarke’s World)
4. I start with character and build out. I don’t make a world and then fit characters into it, and I don’t do big bibles full of details or anything. I create as much world as the character needs to feel real and to come alive, and then maybe a bit more to make the world feel likewise real and alive. (Clarke’s World)
5. I try to be judicious about what makes it onto the page. Worldbuilding is not an indulgence, it’s a necessity. I keep it necessary. (Clarke’s World)
6. Short stories tend to come to me fully formed, unlike novels which are a process and often require extensive revision. Shorts are really my chance to explore an idea or a voice or even an event in the popular consciousness without a lot of overhead and commitment. I usually know who and what they are from the beginning. (PsychoPomp)
7. In novels, characters need depth and a relevant arc—they need to grow and fail and arrive somewhere different from where they began. Shorts, for me, need that much less. They need to exist in their moment and function to tell the story I’m trying to tell. I’m always concerned with character, but not as concerned in shorts. (PsychoPomp)
8. I don’t outline my short stories, but I do outline anything over 20k. So writing each of those separate forms is a very different process. (PsychoPomp)
9. Writing scared is no way to write. Writing worried about what other people think is no way to write. If that’s what consumes you, maybe don’t bother writing… Be true to yourself and your experiences, write with integrity and do your best. Your function as an artist is not to placate or even represent, necessarily. Your role is to create, and creation requires transgression. (PsychoPomp)

Rebecca Roanhorse is a New York Times bestselling American speculative fiction writer and a Nebula, Hugo, and Locus Award-winning author. She won the Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 2018. Roanhorse is known for incorporating Indigenous perspectives into speculative fiction. Her work explores Indigenous Futurism, power, identity, and the blurred boundaries between myth and reality. She has written short stories and novels featuring Navajo and other Indigenous American characters. Her published works include The Sixth World Series, Star Wars: Resistance Reborn, and Race to the Sun, published as part of the Rick Riordan Presents imprint. Her epic fantasy trilogy, Between Earth and Sky, won the Hugo Award and further established her as a leading voice in speculative fiction. Roanhorse has also written for Marvel and Lucasfilm and worked on television series including A Murder at the End of the World and Echo. Her collection River of Bones and Other Stories is scheduled for publication in 2027. Follow her on Instagram @RebeccaRoanhorse and on BlueSky @rebeccaroanhorse.bsky.social

Source for photograph: Author’s Website

by Amanda Patterson
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