Roberta Rogow (born March 7, 1942; ) is an American writer of
speculative fiction and
fan fiction, and a
filk
Filk music is a musical culture, genre, and community tied to science fiction, fantasy, and horror fandom and a type of fan labor. The genre has existed since the early 1950s and been played primarily since the mid-1970s.
Etymology and defi ...
singer-songwriter. SHe graduated with a BA from Queens CUNY in 1962 and Columbia University with an MLS in 1971.
Career
Rogow is a children's librarian by profession. She started her writing career as the editor of ''Grip'', a media-based
fanzine
A fanzine (blend of '' fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''-zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleasure of others who share t ...
, 1978–1996.
She has written several mystery novels based on a(n imaginary) collaboration between
Arthur Conan Doyle and
Lewis Carroll
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequel ...
. She has also penned a number of short stories, including contributions to the
shared world
A shared universe or shared world is a fictional universe from a set of creative works where more than one writer (or other artist) independently contributes a work that can stand alone but fits into the joint development of the storyline, chara ...
science fiction series
Merovingen Nights
''Merovingen Nights'' is a series of shared universe science fiction books set in writer C. J. Cherryh's Alliance–Union universe. There are eight books in the series: a novel by Cherryh, '' Angel with the Sword'', and seven short fiction anth ...
.
Critical Acclaim
In a review of The Problem of the Surly Student, Publisher's Weekly stated that "In clear, sometimes lyrical prose, the author paints an engaging and palpable picture of Victorian Oxford with its complex society of dons, undergraduates, scouts and townspeople. Rogow is particularly good at dramatizing the status of women as university students." About the same book, Kirkus Review stated "Rogow provides an interesting look at the manners and mores of the academic world of the Victorians."
S. Malkah Cohen in reviewing Murders in Manatas states: "Ms Rogow has carefully thought thru the many twists and turns that politics, language, religion and more would have taken if the Moors had taken hold of more of southern Europe and became a major world power."
Tim Lieder notes that Roberta writes likeable characters with enjoyable plot contrivances.
Filking
As a
filksinger
Filk music is a musical culture, genre, and community tied to science fiction, fantasy, and horror fandom and a type of fan labor. The genre has existed since the early 1950s and been played primarily since the mid-1970s.
Etymology and defin ...
, she has appeared at
science fiction convention
Science fiction conventions are gatherings of fans of the speculative fiction genre, science fiction. Historically, science fiction conventions had focused primarily on literature, but the purview of many extends to such other avenues of expr ...
s, mostly in the Northeast United States, including
Albacon
Albacon is the Albany science fiction convention, held each year in the Albany, New York area, also called the Capital District.
Albacon is the largest "Con" in upstate New York, United States. It is hosted by LASTSFA, or Latham-Albany-Sche ...
. She has also appeared internationally, at
Torcon 3
The 61st World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), also known as Torcon 3, was held on 28 August–1 September 2003 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and the Fairmont Royal York and Crowne Plaza (now the InterContinental Toronto Centre) ...
.
Rogow has characterized her filk tapes as "electronic fanzines" that reach about 2,000 people.
Roberta was inducted into the Filk Hall of Fame on April 20, 2013.
Roberta has recorded 8 filk tapes and 5 CDs, some of which were self-published. Her current music publisher is Floating Filk Studios.
She has also published 18 songbooks called "Rec-Room Rhymes".
Personal
Rogow lived in
Fair Lawn, New Jersey
Fair Lawn is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States, and a bedroom suburb located northwest of New York City. As of the 2020 United States Census, the borough’s population was 34,940, which constituted a 7.7% increase from ...
from 1972 to 2002. Since 2002, she has lived in
Irvington, New Jersey
Irvington is a township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 61,176.
The township had the ninth-highest property tax rate in New Jersey, with an equalized rate of 4.890% in 2020, compared to 2.82 ...
.
Works
Books & Stories
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[https://www.fantasticfiction.com/r/roberta-rogow/]
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Filk CDs
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References
External links
author info at Books-n-BytesCurrent CD publisher for Roberta*
Roberta's Bandcamp Page
21st-century American novelists
American science fiction writers
American women short story writers
American women novelists
Filkers
1942 births
Living people
Women science fiction and fantasy writers
21st-century American women writers
People from Fair Lawn, New Jersey
People from Irvington, New Jersey
21st-century American short story writers
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