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 University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Crawley, Western Australia, Crawley, a suburb in the City of Perth local government area. UW ...

, he retired from teaching in 2015 and is now a senior honorary research fellow. He has acted as supervisor for several Australian writers completing their post-graduate degrees and doctorates — including science fiction and fantasy writers

Terry Dowling Terence William (Terry) Dowling (born 21 March 1947), is an Australian writer and journalist. He is primarily a writer of speculative fiction but refers to himself as an "imagier" – one who imagines, a term which liberates his writing from th ...

Stephen Dedman Stephen Dedman (born 1959) is an Australian writer of dark fantasy and science fiction stories and novels. Biography Dedman's short stories have appeared in ''Year's Best Fantasy and Horror'', '' Year's Best SF'', and ''The Best Australian Sci ...

, and

Dave Luckett Dave Luckett (born 1951) is an Australian children's writer born in Stanmore, New South Wales. He has written three non-fiction books about cricket and medieval weapons and armour. He has also written three series of fantasy books as well as a nu ...

— 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 Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

''. He has reviewed science fiction and fantasy for ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

'' since 1984.

Critical works

* ''Strange Constellations: A History of Australian Science Fiction'' (with

Russell Blackford Russell Blackford (born 1954) is an Australian writer, philosopher, and literary critic. Early life and education Blackford was born in Sydney, and grew up in the city of Lake Macquarie, near Newcastle, New South Wales. After graduating with ...

& Sean McMullen).

Greenwood Press Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. (GPG) was an educational and academic publisher (middle school through university level) which was part of ABC-Clio. Since 2021, ABC-Clio and its suite of imprints, including GPG, are collectively imprints of B ...

, 1998. * ''Warriors of the Tao: The Best of Science Fiction: A Review of Speculative Literature'' (with

Damien Broderick Damien Francis Broderick (22 April 1944 – 19 April 2025) was an Australian science fiction and popular science writer and editor of some 74 books. ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' credits him with the first usage of the term ''virtual ...

Borgo Press The Borgo Press was a small publishing company founded by Robert Reginald in 1975 funded by the royalties gained from his first major reference work, ''Stella Nova: the contemporary science fiction authors'' (1970). That same year Reginald met M ...

, 2011. * ''Xeno Fiction: More Best of Science Fiction: A Review of Speculative Literature'' (with

). Wildside/Borgo, 2013. * ''Fantastika at the Edge of Reality: Yet More Best of Science Fiction: A Review of Speculative Literature'' (with

). Wildside, 2014 * ''Other Spacetimes: Interviews with Speculative Fiction Writers ''(with

). Wildside, 2015

Magazines edited

* ''Enigma'' (

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

SF Association, 1972–79) * ''

'' (Issues 1-50, 1977–2019)

Anthologies edited

* ''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

) (Hodder/Coronet, 1993).

Awards

Australian Science Fiction Foundation Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

Chandler Award The Chandler Award is presented by the Australian Science Fiction Foundation for "Outstanding Achievement in Australian Science Fiction". It is named in recognition of the contribution that science fiction writer A. Bertram Chandler made to Austral ...

for his contribution to Australian science fiction (1992).

References

* Paul Collins (ed). ''The MUP Encyclopedia of Australian Science Fiction and Fantasy'' Melbourne, Vic: Melbourne University Press, 1998, p. 94.

External links

*
Van Ikin's Home page
' * 1951 births Living people Academic staff of the University of Western Australia Australian literary critics Australian science fiction writers Australian speculative fiction critics Australian speculative fiction editors Science fiction editors Australian people of Malaysian descent {{australia-writer-stub