NIU became a depository for the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) in 1979. As part of their Circulating Book Program, we receive copies of items nominated for the Nebula Awards, which honor the best novel, novella, novelette and short stories for each year. These books form the core of our Science Fiction research collection. NIU also holds a collection of H.P. Lovecraft materials, including some manuscript materials, that complements this collection. The Science Fiction Collection numbered over 2,000 volumes at last count. We also hold a significant group of Science Fiction Magazines, which are not yet fully cataloged. Click here to see a sample group of materials that can be used to discuss the history of SF writing.
Recent additions to the Science Fiction Collection include deluxe signed editions of Jack Vance's Strange Notions & The Dark Ocean and Bird Isle & Take My Face, a small group of materials by Cyril Kornbluth, and over 200 different titles nominated this year for the Nebula Awards.
As a SFWA depository, we are always interested in adding the archives of SFWA members to our research holdings. We currently hold the papers of Jack McDevitt, a multiple Hugo and Nebula award nominee, and the 2007 winner of the Nebula Award for his novel Seeker, NIU alumni E.E. Knight, author of the Vampire Earth and Age of Fire Series, Hugo-winning author Elizabeth Bear, Sarah Monette, Nebula Nominee Tobias Buckell, Kelly McCullough, Caroline Stevermer, and Donald J. Bingle, all fully processed and available to researchers.
Recent additions to the SFWA Archives include the papers of Catherine Lundoff, Kage Baker, Tamora Pierce, Jim C. Hines, Cat Rambo, Eric Flint, Jody Lynn Nye, David Weber, Robert Asprin, and Sarah Prineas. We also added the correspondence archives from the 1962 World Science Fiction Convention (WorldCon), and the papers of Nnedi Okorafor, Richard Chwedyk, Alex Bledsoe, Catherynne Valente, Jaime Lee Moyer, Mary Robinette Kowal, Lori Devoti, Patricia Wrede, Will Shetterly, Lyda Morehouse, Naomi Kritzer, Sean Michael Murphy, Kristine Smith, Ted Kosmatka, Steven H Silver , Tim Pratt, Heather Shaw, Alma Alexander, Sharon Shinn, and Carol Emshwiller to our holdings in 2009. Their papers are currently being processed for use by researchers.
We continue to add materials to this collection whenever possible. We are especially interested in original editions of early Science Fiction and Fantasy books (especially those published before 1985), and in manuscript materials and archives related to the writing of SF/F books. If you have materials that you feel would be appropriate to this collection, please contact Lynne Thomas, the Curator at (815) 753-0255 or lmthomas@niu.edu.
Selected Science Fiction and Fantasy- Related Links