Susan Forest writes science fiction, fantasy and horror, and is the author of Aurora Award-winning Bursts of Fire (2019) and Flights of Marigold (2020).
Susan’s short fiction has appeared in Asimov’s Science Fiction, Analog Science Fiction and Fact, Intergalactic Medicine Show, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and OnSPEC Magazine, among others. Her collection of short fiction, Immunity to Strange Tales, was published by Five Rivers Press, and her nonfiction has appeared in Legacy Magazine, Alberta Views Magazine, and several blogs. Her short stories, “The Only Road,” “Back,” “Turning It Off,” “The Gift,” and “For a Rich Man to Enter” were finalists for the Prix Aurora Award, and her novella, Lucy, won the Galaxy Project, juried by Robert Silverberg, David Drake and Barry Malzburg.
The third novel of her seven-volume Addicted to Heaven series, Gathering of Ghosts, confronts issues of addictions in an epic fantasy world of intrigue and betrayal. She is currently working on Book 4 of the series, Rivers of Ivy, and an Alberta Foundation for the Arts, and Calgary Arts Development-funded fantasy thriller, The Shadow Spy’s Daughter.
Susan was the editor for Technicolor Ultramall (Edge Press), a finalist for the Prix Aurora Award in 2013. Strangers Among Us, and The Sum of Us, both from Laksa Media, won the Prix Aurora Award in 2017 and 2018. The third in Laksa Media’s social issues anthology series, Shades Within Us, was released in 2018 and was a finalist for the 2019 Prix Aurora Award. Seasons Between Us was a finalist for 2022, and Life Beyond Us (also from Laksa Media and the European Astrobiological Association) arrived in 2023. Susan was recently Editor Guest of Honor at Keycon in Winnipeg.
Susan served two terms as Secretary for the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (2012-2016). She has judged the Georges Bugnet Award for Fiction, the Endeavor Award, and the Sunburst Award. She contributes to Calgary’s literary festival, When Words Collide, teaches creative writing in Calgary, and presents at international writing conventions several times each year. Susan loves travel and has been known to dictate novels from the back of her husband’s motorcycle.
Susan is a painter and visual artist whose landscapes have been displayed as part of the Stampede Western Showcase in Calgary, Alberta.
Susan’s work is supported by grants from Calgary Arts Development and the Alberta Foundation for the Arts.
