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The Outspoken and the Incendiary: Interviews with Radical Speculative Fiction Writers
In-depth, intense, insightful.
For more than a decade, radical science fiction author and activist
journalist Terry Bisson interviewed some of the most provocative and
outspoken authors of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
Anarchism, sexuality, creativity, and the future of humanity itself—no
topic was taboo. Bisson's prankster spirit also shone through as he
quizzed his subjects about what cars they drove, played free association
games, and created an atmosphere of two old friends having intimate
late-night chats. Collected from PM Press's award-winning Outspoken
Authors series for the first time, The Outspoken and the Incendiary
showcases insightful and long-form explorations into the lives and
minds of some of today’s most politically charged fiction writers.
“PM's Outspoken Authors series looks almost like a science fiction
Who’s Who or Hall of Fame, except that I included myself. Because I
could.” —Terry Bisson
Words and Thoughts Eleanor Arnason, Terry Bisson, Michael
Blumlein, John Crowley, Samuel R. Delany, Cory Doctorow, Meg Elison,
Karen Joy Fowler, Eileen Gunn, Elizabeth Hand, Cara Hoffman, Nalo
Hopkinson, James Patrick Kelly, John Kessel, Paul Krassner, Joe R.
Lansdale, Jonathan Lethem, Ursula K. Le Guin, Ken MacLeod, Nick Mamatas,
Michael Moorcock, Paul Park, Gary Phillips, Marge Piercy, Rachel
Pollack, Rudy Rucker, Kim Stanley Robinson, Carter Scholz, Nisi Shawl,
John Shirley, Vandana Singh, and Norman Spinrad, with additional new
contributions by Nalo Hopkinson, Jonathan Lethem, Nisi Shawl, Peter
Coyote, and Rudy Rucker.
For more than a decade, radical science fiction author and activist
journalist Terry Bisson interviewed some of the most provocative and
outspoken authors of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
Anarchism, sexuality, creativity, and the future of humanity itself—no
topic was taboo. Bisson's prankster spirit also shone through as he
quizzed his subjects about what cars they drove, played free association
games, and created an atmosphere of two old friends having intimate
late-night chats. Collected from PM Press's award-winning Outspoken
Authors series for the first time, The Outspoken and the Incendiary
showcases insightful and long-form explorations into the lives and
minds of some of today’s most politically charged fiction writers.
“PM's Outspoken Authors series looks almost like a science fiction
Who’s Who or Hall of Fame, except that I included myself. Because I
could.” —Terry Bisson
Words and Thoughts Eleanor Arnason, Terry Bisson, Michael
Blumlein, John Crowley, Samuel R. Delany, Cory Doctorow, Meg Elison,
Karen Joy Fowler, Eileen Gunn, Elizabeth Hand, Cara Hoffman, Nalo
Hopkinson, James Patrick Kelly, John Kessel, Paul Krassner, Joe R.
Lansdale, Jonathan Lethem, Ursula K. Le Guin, Ken MacLeod, Nick Mamatas,
Michael Moorcock, Paul Park, Gary Phillips, Marge Piercy, Rachel
Pollack, Rudy Rucker, Kim Stanley Robinson, Carter Scholz, Nisi Shawl,
John Shirley, Vandana Singh, and Norman Spinrad, with additional new
contributions by Nalo Hopkinson, Jonathan Lethem, Nisi Shawl, Peter
Coyote, and Rudy Rucker.
- GenresNonfiction
398 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 5, 2025
3 people are currently reading
45 people want to read
About the author
Terry Bisson
214 books177 followersTerry Ballantine Bisson was an American science fiction and fantasy author best known for his short stories, including "Bears Discover Fire" (1990), which which won both the Hugo and Nebula awards, as well as They're Made Out of Meat (1991), which has been adapted for video often.
Adapted from Wikipedia.
Adapted from Wikipedia.
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 4, 2026
Starting in 2009, PM Press issued small booklets focusing on a single author, including some short fiction and an interview with the author by the irrepressible Terry Bisson.
Terry is no longer with us, sadly, but this compendium includes 32 of the interviews, including a few not conducted by Terry (which includes one of Terry). These Q&A sessions give a brief but meaningful look at the authors' background and point of view. They are also often quite funny as Terry banters with the interviewee.
Terry has a leftist background (and went to prison for some months for not divulging names of people), and many of the interviews are with people of a radical or leftist background. Terry wasn't much interested in interviewing people from the right side of the political spectrum.
My only quibble is that nowhere is it indicated what year these interviews took place. Sometimes it can be derived by the context in the interview, but it would have been helpful to list the year conducted either in the table of contents or somewhere in each interview so that when an author refers to 'the current situation' or similar vague referral, we know what time period they're talking about.
Because Terry was born in 1942 he mainly talks to people he knew or read during the 1960s, 70s and 80s. The series is continuing with editors Nisi Shawl and Nick Mamatas, and I am hopeful that some of the future interviews are conducted with younger authors and from those of backgrounds beyond the US and UK.
Terry is no longer with us, sadly, but this compendium includes 32 of the interviews, including a few not conducted by Terry (which includes one of Terry). These Q&A sessions give a brief but meaningful look at the authors' background and point of view. They are also often quite funny as Terry banters with the interviewee.
Terry has a leftist background (and went to prison for some months for not divulging names of people), and many of the interviews are with people of a radical or leftist background. Terry wasn't much interested in interviewing people from the right side of the political spectrum.
My only quibble is that nowhere is it indicated what year these interviews took place. Sometimes it can be derived by the context in the interview, but it would have been helpful to list the year conducted either in the table of contents or somewhere in each interview so that when an author refers to 'the current situation' or similar vague referral, we know what time period they're talking about.
Because Terry was born in 1942 he mainly talks to people he knew or read during the 1960s, 70s and 80s. The series is continuing with editors Nisi Shawl and Nick Mamatas, and I am hopeful that some of the future interviews are conducted with younger authors and from those of backgrounds beyond the US and UK.
January 10, 2026
Love and miss you, Terry!
Terry Bisson spent a lifetime writing tender, satirical Science Fiction and not talking to cops. He was a damn good soldier, man, and friend (not to me, but to all he shared a life his time with). Here is a compilation of the interviews Bisson conducted for PM Press's Outspoken Author series that includes short fiction showcases and conversations with various left-leaning speculative fiction writers.
Bisson's status as a legendarily good friend permeates through each of these interviews. The congenial familiarity and teasing, sometimes self-amusing approach to these conversations makes these chats something of an anomaly in the wider world of interview-series. Whereas something like Hot Ones (to make a far-reaching example) succeeds on the inventiveness of the format, the heightened state of the subject, and the depth of the research team-- Bisson's interviews succeed largely because you can tell that both people are immensely pleased to be corresponding with one another, reminiscing and paling around.
It's unclear what format these interviews took place in (there are several instances of follow-up questions, but there are also a handful of responses that seem to reference that responses to Bisson require typing/writing). This, I think, is a benefit to this collection. Many of the answers feel thoughtful, sincere, and designed to edify the audience rather than the sea of interviews out there designed only to showcase personality and generate soundbites.
Bisson has a number of "catchphrase" inquiries, questions he asks of everyone. Sometimes they are stock-standard like his reliable "What car do you drive?" cudgel. Other times, he will ask subjects to discuss other writers or concepts in a single sentence-- or my favorite: the Jeopardy! style answer where you must supply the question. Despite the formulaic approach, the answer to these questions often yields fun answers.
Many of the conversations are interesting and enjoyable to read, but I hasten to say that anything in here completely blew me away. I wouldn't describe any of these interviews as casual, but they are not the most ambitious. I enjoyed basically every interview with an author that I knew and several of the ones I'd never heard of. There are a few duds that gave me absolutely nothing, not even the pleasure of listening to two good friends. But it's a large collection.
This may or may not bother people, but there are numerous formatting issues in my copy.
The interviews are bookended by multiple introductions, forewords, afterwards, and eulogies. Bisson was the type of man who, when he died, people practically elbowed each other to pay their respects. It is the kind of life we should all strive for. Especially the part about not talking to the police.
Terry Bisson spent a lifetime writing tender, satirical Science Fiction and not talking to cops. He was a damn good soldier, man, and friend (not to me, but to all he shared a life his time with). Here is a compilation of the interviews Bisson conducted for PM Press's Outspoken Author series that includes short fiction showcases and conversations with various left-leaning speculative fiction writers.
Bisson's status as a legendarily good friend permeates through each of these interviews. The congenial familiarity and teasing, sometimes self-amusing approach to these conversations makes these chats something of an anomaly in the wider world of interview-series. Whereas something like Hot Ones (to make a far-reaching example) succeeds on the inventiveness of the format, the heightened state of the subject, and the depth of the research team-- Bisson's interviews succeed largely because you can tell that both people are immensely pleased to be corresponding with one another, reminiscing and paling around.
It's unclear what format these interviews took place in (there are several instances of follow-up questions, but there are also a handful of responses that seem to reference that responses to Bisson require typing/writing). This, I think, is a benefit to this collection. Many of the answers feel thoughtful, sincere, and designed to edify the audience rather than the sea of interviews out there designed only to showcase personality and generate soundbites.
Bisson has a number of "catchphrase" inquiries, questions he asks of everyone. Sometimes they are stock-standard like his reliable "What car do you drive?" cudgel. Other times, he will ask subjects to discuss other writers or concepts in a single sentence-- or my favorite: the Jeopardy! style answer where you must supply the question. Despite the formulaic approach, the answer to these questions often yields fun answers.
Many of the conversations are interesting and enjoyable to read, but I hasten to say that anything in here completely blew me away. I wouldn't describe any of these interviews as casual, but they are not the most ambitious. I enjoyed basically every interview with an author that I knew and several of the ones I'd never heard of. There are a few duds that gave me absolutely nothing, not even the pleasure of listening to two good friends. But it's a large collection.
This may or may not bother people, but there are numerous formatting issues in my copy.
The interviews are bookended by multiple introductions, forewords, afterwards, and eulogies. Bisson was the type of man who, when he died, people practically elbowed each other to pay their respects. It is the kind of life we should all strive for. Especially the part about not talking to the police.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews