R. B. Lemberg
Hello! I’m R. B. Lemberg. I am a queer, bigender immigrant from Eastern Europe to the US. My pronouns are they/them/theirs. I began writing in my early thirties, when I finally chose the language for my poetry and prose: English, which is either my third, fourth, or fifth (quasi)native tongue. The struggle for language, for voice, and the often uneasy melding of cultures and viewpoints inform my life and my writing.
I was born in Ukraine, and lived in subarctic Russia and Israel before coming to the US for graduate school at UC Berkeley. I am a sociolinguist, and I work as an associate professor at a Midwestern university. My spouse is Bogi Takács, a fellow queer, trans, and Eastern European Jewish person.
If you’d like to get in touch, please email rose dot lemberg at gmail dot com. If you’d like to follow my work, you can subscribe to my newsletter, follow me on Twitter (@rb_lemberg), and/or support me on the Birdverse Patreon, where I post a lot of material not available elsewhere.
Some of my favorite things
Cooking elaborate meals for friends. Etymologies (don’t ask me about etymologies unless you want to hear about etymologies). Birds. Architecture. Modernism. Krychyonykh. Poetry, in as many languages as possible. Piyyutim (don’t ask me about piyyutim unless you what to hear about piyyutim). Embroidery and weaving. Crocodiles in Russian kidlit – it is a thing! Quince.
Press Kit
50-word Bio
R.B. Lemberg is a queer, bigender immigrant and the Nebula, Locus, Ignyte, and Crawford-nominated author of Birdverse stories and other works. Their Birdverse novella The Four Profound Weaves is forthcoming from Tachyon Press in 2020. You can find R.B. on Twitter at @rb_lemberg, on Patreon at http://patreon.com/rblemberg, and at rblemberg.net
100-word Bio
R.B. Lemberg is a queer, bigender immigrant from Ukraine, Russia, and Israel to the US. Their stories and poems have appeared in Lightspeed‘s Queers Destroy Science Fiction, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Uncanny Magazine, Sisters of the Revolution: A Feminist Speculative Fiction Anthology, and more. R.B.’s work has been a finalist for the Nebula, Locus, Ignyte, Crawford, and other awards. Many of R.B.’s stories and poems are set in Birdverse, an LGBTQIA+-focused secondary world. Their Birdverse novella The Four Profound Weaves is forthcoming from Tachyon Press in 2020. You can find R.B. on Twitter at @rb_lemberg, on Patreon at http://patreon.com/rblemberg, and at rblemberg.net
170-word Bio
R.B. Lemberg is a queer, bigender immigrant from Ukraine, Russia, and Israel to the US. Their stories and poems have appeared in Lightspeed‘s Queers Destroy Science Fiction, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Strange Horizons, Uncanny Magazine, Sisters of the Revolution: A Feminist Speculative Fiction Anthology, People of the Book: A Decade of Jewish Science Fiction and Fantasy, and more. R.B.’s work has been a finalist for the Nebula, Locus, Ignyte, Crawford, and other awards. Many of R.B.’s stories are situated in Birdverse, an LGBTQIA+-focused secondary world. Their Birdverse novella The Four Profound Weaves is forthcoming from Tachyon Press in 2020.
In their academic life, R.B. is a sociolinguist working on immigrant discourse, identity, and gender. R.B. lives in Lawrence, KS with their spouse Bogi Takács, child Mati, and an odd but cheerful community of books. You can find R.B. online on Twitter at @rb_lemberg, on Patreon at http://patreon.com/rblemberg, and at rblemberg.net
Author Photos
Permission is granted to use any of the below photos for promotional purposes.
The bios and author photo in this press kit are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Bios are @ R.B. Lemberg, 2019; Photo is @ Bogi Takács, 2019.
Hi Rose! In your twitterchat post you wrote “I want to read about the Magician who forgets to check her email and gets embroiled in a political struggle at her University, which she loses ungraciously.”
I didn’t want to derail the discussion on that post, but I have to tell you I’ve written that book! It’s about a postmodern feminist demonologist at a modern University who spends spring break searching for the source of magic — though as it all takes place during spring break, she’s spared the departmental infighting. It’s called ‘A Lovesome Thing’ and you can find links to it at my website, as well as other works of fantasy for faculty.
Thanks for a great discussion of feminist characters. I will be forwarding it to my friends to use in a feminist forum on YA fiction that we are leading this Wednesday.
All the best,
Pat
Awesome! I’m going to check it out. And please don’t be afraid to derail the discussion. While it is impossible for one person to know about all the literature available out there, it is definitely great to receive recommendations.
Hi Rose,
I just wanted to say I really enjoyed your story in DSF yesterday.
Sarah
Sarah – thank you very much! It means a lot to me.
Hi Rose–
Was Moment of Change sent out yet? I haven’t received my copy.
Thanks–
Lorraine
PS–Hope my name was spelled correctly in the book–it isn’t here.
Hi Lorraine,
As far as I know, the copies were not sent out yet – Timmi and the Aqueduct team were away at Wiscon. Your name was corrected in the book, but I forgot to update my entry – sorry about that!
Hello! We met at the poet’s dinner at Wiscon this weekend. I was sitting across from Sofia. Can you send me your email address? I’ve already had a chat with some of the board members of the CBS and need to ask you a few questions.
Thanks!!
Rose, I was hoping to send you a personal thank-you for Here, We Cross; do you have a non-ST email address I could use? Thanks.
Hi Rose,
My name is Matthew DeBlock, I am a Canadian currently living in China. I came across some of your writings in my usual searching and “nerdyness”.
I have developed a conscript ( constructed script ) called Dscript that I have been developing for nearly a decade. It “matured” to a reasonable level recently.
Dscript is a 2D writing system that truns alphabetical words into glyphs and symbols, they look quite “ancient/alien” that are legible in both letters and sequence.
If you or anyone you know may be interested in applying Dscript I will gladly help out in whatever way I can, free of charge of course. Dscript itself is creative commons, free to copy, edit, sell by anyone. I am always happy to see it used.
Dscript intro : http:dscript.org/dscript.pdf
Or just google/youtube/etc search for “Dscript”
Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.
Kindest regards,
Matthew DeBlock
You know, I usually do not allow advertisements on my site, but I looked up Dscript and it is neat, so I am approving your comment. However, next time please leave a link to your main website or any html page, rather than a pdf. Readers, dscript can be found at http://dscript.org/
Hi, Rose.
I’m Spanish science fiction/fantasy fan and translator. A few months ago, I read your story “Seven Losses of Na Re” in DSF Fiction and I loved it.
I’ve recently launched Cuentos para Algernon, a non-profit blog where I’m publishing my translations of short stories I love, with the only aim of giving Spanish readers the chance to enjoy them as much as I did.
As I said before, I loved “Seven Losses of Na Re” (and I plan to read now the rest of your stories that appear online), so I wanted to request your permission to translate and publish in my blog one of your stories (probably “Seven Losses of Na Re”, but I’m not sure yet; I’d let you know when I decide it).
Thanks.
Hola Rosa!
For what it’s worth…
I am currently finishing up my third
‘storyette’ (panel) in my triptych ATM
series titled:
“[ENTER]…AT YOUR OWN RISK!”
Here is a synopsis of the last (‘tail’) storyette:
In the very near future all airports will
take their security checks/pat downs one
step further (too far?) A private self-examination
booth will instruct (naked) incoming/outgoing passengers in the ‘delicate’ art/process of performing a self… R.A.P.E. (Rectal/Anal Probe Examination)
Thanks for everything!
sincerely,
Doug
donnan.doug@yahoo.com
*Author of the two (2) submissions titled:
“[ENTER] the Drone”
“[ENTER your SIN]
Dear Rose,
I had the joy this morning of coming across your poem “Archival Testimony Fragments/minersong” from Uncanny Magazine. I just wanted to tell you what a wonderful piece it is; it’s such a creative weaving of language, and strikes me as very powerful in the discordance of the different voices.
Thanks so much for writing it!
Yours,
Jeremy Brett (an archivist himself, whose eyes were naturally drawn to the word “archival” in the title!)
Dear Jeremy,
Thank you so much for reading and commenting, and for your support. It’s always lovely to come across another person interested in archives and history.
Warmly,
Rose
As per instructions on your home page, I am querying about a submission. “The Curtain’s Part” was submitted over six months ago. I’m clearing my books, and I have no response from AoE.
Thank you,
Eric M. Witchey
Hi Eric, I just forwarded you the response I sent you on 10/21/2014.
Take care,
Rose
Dear Ms Lemberg,
My name is Renne. I’m an editor of Science Fiction World Magazine(China). Congratulations for the Nebula Nomination! I am looking for a way to get in contact with you because I want to introduce your story to Chinese readers by reprinting it on our magazine. Could you perhaps drop me an email so that we can talk about details? You can reach me at zhongry@sfw-cd.com. Would be thrilled to hear from you.
Sincerely,
Renne Chon
hi there, i’ve been made editor of a surrealist journal, Mannequin Haus (http://mannequinhaus5.weebly.com/). been looking around for writers and i found your Ash Manifesto and loved it! we’re collecting submissions for issue 7. if you’d like to send something, we’d be honored. you can reply to the contact i email i listed for this post. thanks,
-cassidy
Rose, your blog will soon be added to our Actually Autistic Blogs List (anautismobserver.wordpress.com). Please click on the “How do you want your blog listed?” link at the top of that site to customize your blog’s description.
Thank you.
Judy (An Autism Observer)
Unable to join your newsletter
I see your email address as a new subscriber to the newsletter! I think it worked! 🙂