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Author photos by Mindy Tan Photography (hi-resolution versions available upon request)

          

Short Bio

Jason Erik Lundberg was born in New York, grew up in North Carolina, and has lived in Singapore since 2007. He is the author and anthologist of over twenty-five books, including A Fickle and Restless Weapon (2020), Most Excellent and Lamentable (2019), Diary of One Who Disappeared (2019), Carol the Coral (2016), Strange Mammals (2013), Embracing the Strange (2013), The Alchemy of Happiness (2012), Fish Eats Lion (2012) and Fish Eats Lion Redux (2022), Red Dot Irreal (2011), the six-book Bo Bo and Cha Cha children’s picture book series (2012–2015), and the biennial Best New Singaporean Short Stories anthology series (est. 2013). He is also the fiction editor at Epigram Books (where the books he’s edited have won multiple awards, and made various year’s best lists since 2012), as well as the founding editor of LONTAR: The Journal of Southeast Asian Speculative Fiction (2012–2018). His writing has been anthologised widely, shortlisted for multiple awards, honourably mentioned twice in The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror, and translated into half a dozen languages.

Full Bio

Jason Erik Lundberg was born in Brooklyn, New York, grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina, and has lived in Singapore since 2007. His latest publications are his first novel (and 25th book), A Fickle and Restless Weapon (2020), a related novella, Diary of One Who Disappeared (2019, recipient of a 2013 Creation Grant from Singapore’s National Arts Council), and a “greatest hits” short fiction collection, Most Excellent and Lamentable: Selected Stories (2019).

He is also the author of many books for adults—including Red Dot Irreal (2011), The Alchemy of Happiness (2012), Strange Mammals (2013), and Embracing the Strange (2013); books for children—the six-book Bo Bo and Cha Cha picture book series (2012–2015) and Carol the Coral (2016); and more than a hundred short stories, articles, and book reviews. His writing has been translated into half a dozen languages, and seen publication in venues such as Mānoa, the Raleigh News & Observer, Farrago’s Wainscot, Hot Metal Bridge, Strange Horizons, Subterranean Magazine, The Third Alternative, Electric Velocipede, and many other places. His work has also been shortlisted for the SLF Fountain Award, Brenda L. Smart Award for Short Fiction, SCBWI Crystal Kite Member Choice Award, and POPULAR Readers’ Choice Award; he was honourably mentioned twice in The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror.

Lundberg has been the fiction editor at Epigram Books since 2012, where he jump-started the publisher’s fiction line; many of the books he’s edited since have won multiple national awards, and made various year’s best lists. He has also served as a prose mentor with Singapore’s Creative Arts Programme and Ceriph Mentorship Programme. In addition, he is the founding editor of LONTAR: The Journal of Southeast Asian Speculative Fiction (2012–2018), series editor for the biennial Best New Singaporean Short Stories anthology series (est. 2013), editor of Fish Eats Lion Redux (2022) and Fish Eats Lion (2012), and co-editor of A Field Guide to Surreal Botany (2008) and Scattered, Covered, Smothered (2004). From 2005–2008, he facilitated an occasional podcast called Lies and Little Deaths: A Virtual Anthology.

An active member in PEN America and a 2002 graduate of the prestigious Clarion Writers Workshop, Lundberg holds a Master’s degree in creative writing from North Carolina State University. He is also a Buddhist lay practitioner in the Mahayana tradition, having formally taken Refuge in 2008 and received his refuge name (Thubten Jangchub, which means “Enlightened Mind of the Buddha-Way”) from Venerable Thubten Chodron.

(Source: Goodreads)

Selected Reviews

“A Fickle and Restless Weapon is armed with rich imagination refined by good writing and editing, layering an already culturally rich city with even more lines of meaning and mythicism. Easily immersing us into this bizarro world with enough heart and humour to keep us reading, Lundberg’s novel is a fascinating addition to the Singaporean sci-fi canon, one that for all its oddities is a strong reflection of our current and future state of identity politics, and one that’s worth reading for its sheer audacity, bold ideas, and unforgettable characters.” –Bakchormeeboy (★★★★) on A Fickle and Restless Weapon

“Jason Erik Lundberg’s third collection, Strange Mammals, gathers 25 short stories in which literary naturalism gives way to the surreal, the absurd and the magical. […] Lundberg has the enviable talent of achieving emotionally resonant effects within just a few pages.” –Eric Brown, The Guardian, on Strange Mammals

“Lundberg combines accessibility with a uniquely Singaporean flavor in his selections. SF readers looking to expand their horizons will enjoy visiting new worlds from an unaccustomed point of view.” –Publishers Weekly, on Fish Eats Lion: New Singaporean Speculative Fiction

“I am not usually a fan of magic realist tales or stories that blend the contemporary mundane with magic, but Lundberg’s collection of ‘equatorial fantastika’ may make me a convert. Each of these stories are carefully crafted and make exceptional use of Lundberg’s own time and space for narratives that are equal parts Kafka, ancient folklore, and travelogue. […] You absolutely must read Red Dot Irreal.” –John Ottinger, Grasping for the Wind, on Red Dot Irreal

“Singapore’s fiction revival is on track! Thirty-five years after Robert Yeo’s landmark curation of the best national stories of his time, the project re-begins with a fresh slate of short fiction that rightly welcomes several new names. Jason Erik Lundberg has done an outstanding job of choosing stories you will want to return to—like rooms in the head—for years to come!” –Gwee Li Sui, creator of Myth of the Stone, on Best New Singaporean Short Stories: Volume One

“All the writing is surprising and fascinating. As a reader, some knowledge of the region helps, but is not necessary. The great thing about LONTAR is the broad range of speculative fiction showcased here with a guaranteed burst of Southeast Asian culture. […] LONTAR has produced quality, intricate and original work that entertains and distills a yearning in the reader for more.” –Zara Adcock, The Review Review, on LONTAR: The Journal of Southeast Asian Speculative Fiction

“There’s a lot of very competent fiction around these days — we’re a very professional bunch, us SF writers. And sometimes I’ll come across a story that’s perfectly-paced, which has clearly-distinguished characters, strong settings and lots of surprises, written in sentences that are never badly-formed, with not a single word out of place. And they’re soulless. Sometimes I think writers can be far too good, if you see what I mean. But then I’ll come across a story that might be full of rough edges but which just leaps out from the page: a distinctive voice, a quirky take on the world, a way with words that’s like no other. I’d choose spark over polish every time. It’s probably invidious to name names, so I’ll skip over the established writers who are most likely to do this for me, but some of the newer writers I’m particularly excited about include Neil Williamson, Anna Tambour, Chris Dolley, Jason Erik Lundberg, and Lavie Tidhar.” –Keith Brooke, editor of Infinity Plus, in an interview with Jeff VanderMeer for SF Site

Interviews