Steven Barnes (born March 1, 1952) is an American science fiction, fantasy, and mystery writer. He has written novels, short fiction, screenplays for television, scripts for comic books, animation, newspaper copy, and magazine articles.

Early life and education

Barnes, was born on March 1, 1952, in Los Angeles, California. He has had a varied education, including a secondary education at Los Angeles High School. He continued at Pepperdine University, majoring in communication arts.

Career

Barnes wrote several episodes of The Outer Limits and Baywatch. His "A Stitch In Time" episode of The Outer Limits won an Emmy Award. He also wrote the episode "Brief Candle" for Stargate SG-1 and the Andromeda episode "The Sum of Its Parts". Barnes's first published piece of fiction, the 1979 novelette "The Locusts", was written with Larry Niven, and was a Hugo Award nominee. Barnes subsequently collaborated with Niven on several other books, including three books with both Niven and Jerry Pournelle. Barnes said he clashed politically with the two conservative writers but enjoyed working with them, calling it "a tremendous learning opportunity".

Personal life

Barnes is married to Tananarive Due, a writer. The couple live in Los Angeles and host a video blog together. They also taught a course together at UCLA called "The Sunken Place: Racism, Survival & Black Horror" that experienced a surprise visit from Get Out director Jordan Peele. The course is now available as a webinar. Barnes has a daughter from his first marriage and a son from his current marriage.

Barnes is also an avid practitioner of martial and physical arts. He began studying in 1969.

References

  • Steven Barnes' blog
  • Steven Barnes' Homepage (archived)
  • "Black Science Fiction and Fantasy" with Tananarive Due, Steven Barnes, and Sheree R. Thomas on NPR, News & Notes, August 13, 2007 (audio and transcript)
  • Lightspeed magazine Interview with Steven Barnes, by Christian A. Coleman, in May 2017 (Issue 84)
  • Apex Magazine: Interview with Author Steven Barnes, by Andrea Johnson on May 16, 2019