Farah Mendlesohn

Who is Farah Mendlesohn?

Farah Mendlesohn is a British academic and writer on science fiction and fantasy literature, as well as an active science fiction fan. In 2005 she won the Hugo Award for Best Related Work for The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction, which she edited with historian Edward James. James and Mendlesohn also edited The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature, released in 2012, and wrote A Short History of Fantasy in 2009.

Mendlesohn is Professor and Head of Department in the Department of English, Communication, Film and Media at Anglia Ruskin University. She was previously Reader in Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature in the Media Department at Middlesex University. She writes on the history of American religions and British and American science fiction and fantasy. She received her D. Phil. in History from the University of York in 1997.

Her book Rhetorics of Fantasy won the BSFA award for best non-fiction book in 2009; the book was also nominated for both Hugo and World Fantasy Awards.

In 2010 she was twice nominated for Hugo Awards in the Best Related Book category.

She was the editor of Foundation - The International Review of Science Fiction from 2002 to 2007. She formerly was reviews editor of Quaker Studies.