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More News January 25, 2019

Class of 2017 alumna and author Jaymee Goh has achieved a feat that many writers hope to accomplish at the pinnacle of their careers – and she’s done it within one year of receiving her PhD from UC Riverside.

The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2018 (The Best American Series) featured her short story, “The Last Cheng Beng Gift,” in its anthology.

The tale begins on tomb-sweeping day, a traditional Chinese festival that occurs each spring, and focuses on a strained relationship between an Asian mother and daughter. While the traditions and nuances of Goh’s story might hold greater cultural significance for Asian readers, the relatable theme of being the disappointing child to a persnickety “tiger mom” transcends ethnicity.

Goh came to UC Riverside to pursue her doctoral research thanks in part to the enthusiasm of UCR’s Comparative Literature and Languages department faculty. To gauge their interest, she emailed the recruitment director about her proposed research topic -- post-colonialism in steampunk (a genre of science fiction characterized by design and/or fashion that blends historical elements with anachronistic technology). “I got back emails from four different professors saying, ‘Yes, we would be totally interested in this research! Come apply!’” Goh explained.

A Malaysian citizen who lived in Canada while working toward her master’s degree, when Goh first visited the campus, she was not impressed by Riverside’s public transit system. She was, however, wowed by UCR’s resources for mental health and wellness.

“I have depression, and I wanted to see what the department culture was,” Goh said. “The chair was like, ‘Oh yeah, we’ve got a great counseling center! I can walk you over there at the break if you want.’”

The Eaton Collection of Science Fiction and Fantasy also influenced Goh’s decision to attend UCR. While disappointed that she couldn’t browse through the closed Special Collections stacks, she accessed and relied on many of the collection’s resources while working on her dissertation on steampunk and whiteness. Her research is what she calls “a critical examination of whiteness and white supremacy’s effects on racial relations,” and her dissertation, Shades of Sepia: Examining Eurocentrism and Whiteness in Relation to Multiculturalism in Steampunk Iconography, Fandom, and Culture Industry, is available to the UCR community on ProQuest.

Other factors that attracted Goh to UC Riverside included professors Sherryl Vint in the English department, and Nalo Hopkinson in the Creative Writing program, both founders of the Speculative Fiction Cultures / Science Fiction & Technology Studies program.

“When I first started writing my own fiction, I kind of used Nalo Hopkinson as a model for creating narratives that centered experiences and worldviews that are usually marginalized in science fiction,” Goh said. “She was one of the first people that I talked to when I got here, and I was really excited to meet her.”

Goh’s first forays into writing science fiction and participating in the steampunk subculture started her thinking about multiculturalism in the steampunk genre. “I don’t see many people of color in steampunk, and that’s a problem,” she said. This led to her academic research on racial representation in science fiction.

To address this on the creative front, in 2015 she co-edited an anthology, The Sea is Ours: Tales from Steampunk Southeast Asia, the first of its kind. “I wanted to talk about a steampunk that was very deeply rooted in Southeast Asian cultures, to try to reimagine worlds that either had not been colonized, or were technologically developed enough to push back against colonialism,” Goh explained. The anthology was co-edited by Singaporean writer Joyce Chng and published by Rosarium Publishing.

“Jaymee’s anthology was a revelation to me. Seeing how she had staked new ground for steampunk inspired me to ask such an early-career author to make the Eaton Collection the home for her papers,” said JJ Jacobson, the Jay Kay and Doris Klein Librarian for Science Fiction. “I knew that here was someone who was going to have a fascinating and multifaceted career in the speculative fiction world, and that we wanted to document it.”

Goh hopes that her writing might inspire more people of color, both established authors and aspiring writers, to use steampunk to explore different visions of their own identities. She added, “Because of assimilationist politics, a lot of us don’t feel safe expressing our own identities, particularly in costume play – because our cultures are not a costume and they’re already being treated as such. Part of why we fear that is because we have seen the ways that our cultures have been commodified. So I would like to see more people being comfortable rewriting their own history, the way that so many white authors feel comfortable rewriting British history, and inserting their own characters into it and not being too worried about it.”

Jaymee Goh is currently living in Berkeley, California, where she works as an editor for Tachyon Publications.

More News December 19, 2024

The free Virtual Eaton Symposium is taking place over Zoom on January 8, 2025. 

Coordinated by Dr. Phoenix Alexander, the Jay Kay and Doris Klein Librarian for Science Fiction and Fantasy, in collaboration with colleagues from Special Collections & University Archives, this year’s event offers a fresh perspective on a long-standing tradition.

First established in 1979, the Eaton Conference was created to complement the Eaton Collection of Science Fiction and Fantasy, the largest publicly accessible speculative fiction archive in the world. Over the years, the conference has brought together scholars from across the country to present research and explore themes within science fiction.

“This is a tradition that has gone on for many, many years,” Phoenix explains. “After a few years’ hiatus—I believe the last one was in 2013—we’re really excited to present an online Eaton Symposium.”

While past Eaton Conferences focused primarily on academic presentations, the 2025 Symposium takes a more expansive approach. “My idea with this symposium was to bring in the wider community,” says Phoenix. “Not just scholars and academics, but fans, authors, editors—people who are at the forefront of the industry now and the creators who are crafting the classics of the future.”

The event will feature panel discussions, keynote speakers, and conversations that reflect on the rich history of the Eaton Collection while exploring the present and future of science fiction publishing.

By bridging the gap between academia and the broader speculative fiction community, the Eaton Symposium continues its legacy of celebrating the impact of science fiction and fantasy.

Registration is free! Don’t miss this opportunity to engage with some of the brightest minds and most creative voices in the field.

The Symposium is the prelude to an in-person conference, featuring panels from established and emerging scholars, which will be held at the University of California, Riverside from April 4-5, 2025. Stay tuned for more details on the in-person conference and register today for the Virtual Symposium. 

More News June 28, 2022

WisCon is a feminist science fiction & fantasy convention held annually in Madison, Wisconsin. 

This year's conference took place in late May with Andrew Lippert, Special Collections Processing Archivist, Sandy Enriquez, Special Collections Public Services Outreach/Community Engagement Librarian, and Dr. Phoenix Alexander, our soon-to-be Jay Kay and Doris Klein Science Fiction Librarian, in attendance. Learn more about the conference from Andrew and Sandy in our WisCon Q&A. 

How did it feel to go to an in-person conference again?

Sandy: It was both exciting, and a little bit nerve-wracking! But part of the reason I felt comfortable attending WisCon was that they took extensive precautions and implemented many best practices to keep folks safe. All the conference-goers I encountered respected the protocols (including a mask mandate) and I felt very comfortable. Having those safety measures in place meant that I could fully enjoy all the benefits of in-person conferences.

Andrew: It was wonderful to attend a conference in-person again. There are definite upsides to being able to get conference content from the comfort of one’s own home, but you miss all of the little conversations and encounters that happen outside of the sessions. It’s also fun to wander around a town you’ve never been to for a couple of days.

What were some of the highlights from WisCon?

Sandy: One of my favorite moments was listening to readings from the new speculative fiction anthology, "Trouble the Waters: Tales from the Deep Blue" edited by Sheree Renée Thomas, Pan Morigan, and Troy L. Wiggins. One of the stories centered on the care and shepherding of space whales, which was so magical and whimsical to imagine! 

Andrew: WisCon was a fantastic event and there were a lot of great elements. First and foremost, the panels and the conversations that they inspired were truly superb. This might have been the most intellectually stimulating and inspiring conference/convention I have been to. There is a lot of really important work going on in these spaces.

How does WisCon’s mission align with the goals you have for your work here at the UCR Library?

Sandy: WisCon is a community-led, feminist science fiction and fantasy convention. They aim to make their events as inclusive, safe, and welcoming as possible for people from all walks of life. Their mission to promote inclusivity and uplift underrepresented voices in science fiction aligns strongly with my goals for public services, outreach, and community engagement at UCR Library. Part of my job is to help people find and utilize our collections, and I especially strive to reach communities who have been traditionally excluded from, or misrepresented in, the historical record. I aim to increase access and knowledge of the collections through innovative and collaborative outreach, as well as highlighting underrepresented stories whenever possible. For example, I have recently taught several workshops centering Chicano student activism at UCR, in collaboration with graduate student instructors, and with Chicano Student Programs. While science fiction is only one aspect of our collecting focus, I think we can learn a lot from this field (and feminism in general) about how to partner with communities and practice more equitable outreach, teaching, and research.

Andrew: The primary way that my work with the Eaton Collection aligns with WisCon is in efforts to diversify the genre of speculative fiction. WisCon started out as the feminist science fiction con in the late 1970s, and it still has a lot of those feminist roots with its current incarnation. However, I saw an organization that has evolved to be radically inclusive of all peoples, with a very strong emphasis on the LGBTQ+ community. There were also themes of decolonization and anti-capitalism that popped up from session to session that also work their way into how I think about building a speculative fiction collection.

Was there anything interesting or noteworthy you learned at the conference?

Sandy: Absolutely! Marie Vibbert gave a fantastic presentation about her research on labor in science fiction novels. She analyzed the jobs and classes of main characters across almost two hundred science fiction novels to create her dataset. She found that, contrary to popular belief, science fiction protagonists were more likely to be upper/middle class than working class. She also found that male authors were more likely to write male characters than other genders.

Andrew: The most notable learning opportunity for me — as a cis, white, male — was to be immersed into a queer space. This is not something that I encounter very often in my day-to-day life and I appreciate opportunities like this that center and value the voices and points of view of people that are not often afforded that opportunity. To me, the incredibly engaging discussions only reinforce the value and importance of inclusion and diversity and the degree to which more diverse points of view only serve to enrich the conversation.

Does the Eaton Collection include many feminist works?

Sandy: The Eaton Collection does include many works by feminist authors and works that explore feminist themes, but given how quickly the field is evolving, there is still a lot of work to be done. For example, we have feminist science fiction classics such as 'The Female Man' by Joanna Russ or 'The Left Hand of Darkness' by Ursula K. Le Guin, along with more contemporary examples of feminist science fiction such as the graphic novel 'Bitch Planet' by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Valentine de Landro. We are actively working to diversify our holdings by identifying and acquiring new works, including those that may incorporate feminist themes but are not explicitly labeled as such (one that comes to mind is the fantastic anthology 'Love After the End: An Anthology of Two-Spirit & Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction' edited by Joshua Whitehead).

Andrew: Yes! We have many novels by feminist authors (for example: Octavia Butler, Joanna Russ, and many more). There is also a lot of feminist work done in the comics and graphic novel space (such as: Bitch Planet or Maiden, Mother, and Crone). We have quite a lot of secondary, academic literature on feminism and science fiction. In the manuscript collections, we have the papers of feminist author Jody Scott. Former UCR professor Nalo Hopkinson has also been donating her papers to the Eaton Collection. There is so much material in the collection, far more than can be listed succinctly!

Do you plan on going back next year?

Sandy: I would love to! I'm not sure yet where next year will take me, but it would be fantastic to return.

Andrew: I would love to! It’s hard to plan that far out, but I hope to make it back to WisCon in the near future.

For more information on WisCon, visit wiscon.net or follow WisCon on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. 

• Read more about Barbara Hambly Papers

• Read more about Jesús Salvador Treviño Science Fiction Collection

More News October 29, 2015

First Klein Librarian raising profile of Eaton Collection

Though only in her first month at the UCR Library, JJ Jacobson is already filled with ideas, energy, and ambition. As the inaugural Jay Kay and Doris Klein Science Fiction Librarian, she manages and curates the Eaton Collection of Science Fiction & Fantasy – the largest publicly-accessible collection of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and utopian literature in the world.

Jacobson brings a broad range of experience to the Eaton Collection. Once a restaurant owner, chef, baker, and then sourdough consultant, the California native was drawn to library and information school by her interest in how people talk about and engage with what they cook and eat.

University of Michigan provided Jacobson with her foundational education in library and information science, and sparked a passion in her to make the world a better place by bringing together people, information, and technology.

Growing up at Renaissance Faires, her interest in the “history of everyday life” stimulated Jacobson’s personal passion for living history — similar to historical re-enactment, but with less focus on combat and more on the daily activities of a certain period — and alternate history, a genre of fiction in which history unfolds differently from reality. This led her to experiment with virtual worlds. Specifically, Jacobson became deeply involved in Second Life in a unique way that mirrored, and later reinforced, her career: she became a librarian.
 
With sponsorship from another Second Life Resident, Jacobson built Caledon Library, pictured above. It has since grown into an entire system of virtual library branches. "Residents moved to Caledon because of the library," she boasted. Jacobson would later develop kits for others to build and manage their own libraries in Second Life. Real-life libraries also established presences in Second Life.

Reading, Jacobson says, is a prevalent hobby in her family. Her father was a fan of science fiction in its golden age, and she and her brother were both avid readers, constantly marveling at the 8-foot shelf of paperbacks in her father’s personal collection.

Jacobson’s goal is to leverage the ever-broadening interest in the “Eatonverse” genres to build a deeper understanding of the collection. By drawing on the UCR community’s enthusiasm for these genres across formats and uses, she aims to maintain Eaton’s international prestige while positioning it as a leader in the developing ecosystem of similar collections across the world.

More News January 10, 2020

Astrid Bear, the daughter of award-winning Science Fiction novelist Poul Anderson and his wife Karen, recently donated their papers to the UCR Library.

The collection includes 73 boxes of correspondence, manuscript drafts, notes, diaries, personal records, artwork, memorabilia and ephemera from various conventions and events.

“I am absolutely delighted that the Eaton Collection at UC Riverside is the custodian of my parents’ papers, preserving and making them available for scholars long into the future,” Bear said. “The Eaton Collection is one of the premier university SF/F collections in the world, and I am very happy that the Poul and Karen Anderson papers are part of it.”

A Danish-American author born in Bristol, Pa., Poul Anderson earned his undergraduate degree in Physics at the University of Minnesota, which provided a strong foundation for his science fiction writing. He published more than 50 novels and contributed to over 60 anthologies, receiving seven Hugo Awards, three Nebula Awards, a John W. Campbell Memorial Award, among others throughout his highly-decorated career. He also served as the President of the Science Fiction Writers of America from 1972-1973 and was named a Grand Master in 1997.

Karen Anderson co-wrote several books with Poul, including “The King of Ys” series. She was also a prolific publisher of fanzines and a very active contributor.

“Poul and Karen were both integral members of the science fiction and fantasy communities in California. Poul was one of those few authors who found success writing in both genres, and the collection represents that very well,” explained Andrew Lippert, Special Collections Processing Archivist, who processed the collection in 2019. “One of his most highly regarded works, which won the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus, is the novella ‘The Queen of Air and Darkness,’ which might be one of the first successful blendings of sci-fi and fantasy.” Few authors have won all three awards for a single piece, Lippert said.

Lippert and the Jay Kay and Doris Klein Librarian for Science Fiction, Jacqueline “JJ” Jacobson, included this novella in the library’s 2019 exhibition, 50x50: Celebrating the Eaton Collection’s 50th Anniversary.

The Andersons’ shared an interest in history, particularly northern European medieval themes, which found its way into some of Poul’s writing, according to Lippert. They were also founding members of the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) and both maintained active roles within the community and fandom.

“We are delighted to have the Anderson collection join the papers of Anne McCaffrey, Gregory Benford, Gardner Dozois, and others as part of the Eaton collection at UCR,” Lippert said. 

Astrid Bear notes, “The knowledge, respect, and enthusiasm shown by the UCR staff during the donation and cataloguing process was quite wonderful.” 

Poul Anderson passed away in 2001, followed by Karen in 2018.

More News August 25, 2017

When Calisphere released the online gallery of 5,933 recently digitized photos from the Jay Kay Klein photographs and papers on science fiction fandom last week, the UCR Library’s team was thrilled with the rapid response of the science fiction fan community.

Within 15 hours of publication, chats about the images lit up fan blogs, including Mike Glyer’s site, File770.

A science fiction fan, Klein photographed many events during the 1960s and 1970s, including “Worldcon.” Klein donated these photographs, which were part of his $3.5 million estate, to the UCR Library in 2014.

“We’re a large but tight-knit community and we love our history,” said David M. Stein. “Since this archive went live, we've been pointing out images, lots of ‘OH MY, that's <so-and-so>,’ and ‘Hey Anne, were you ever THAT young?’”

Some fans were understandably frustrated that individuals were misidentified in some of the picture captions, but the overwhelming majority were delighted as they found many familiar faces and fond memories among the sea of photos.

Library staff received emails from many fans, graciously offering to provide additional information about the people and events pictured “before all those who attended the conventions have shuffled off this mortal coil,” as Maggie Thompson so aptly stated.

“NYCon III was my first world convention,” wrote John-Henri Holmberg. “I'm amused to more or less recognize my youthful self in a few of Jay Kay Klein's photos.”

JJ Jacobson, the Jay Kay and Doris Klein Librarian for Science Fiction, has had many conversations with fans about the photos since the gallery went up on Calisphere. “We knew there were flaws,” she commented. “We also knew it would be possible to crowdsource, but we had no idea that the SF community would be so magnificently generous. We weren’t ready for the flood, but we’re ecstatic that it’s happening.”

To give perspective on the “flood,” Digital Initiatives Program Manager Eric Milenkiewicz shared these statistics:  In the last week of August, UCR collections on Calisphere received 33,557 pageviews (25,407 unique), which is far beyond those received in a typical week.

“The impact that this collection has had thus far is remarkable,” Milenkiewicz added. “Our pageview statistics on Calisphere have just soared over the past seven days, with much of this traffic attributed to the Klein photos!”

Glyer has generously offered to use File770 to help spread the word among the Science Fiction community about how fans can submit corrections to the photo captions.

“We knew there were some issues with the metadata before we put it up,” explained Cherry Williams, Director of Distinctive Collections. “But what’s important to us is that this is a vibrant, living project that’s going to continue to move and breathe and evolve.”

Fans who want to contribute corrections and/or enhancements for the Klein photo captions can submit them through this form, which was created for this project by Digital Assets Metadata Librarian, Noah Geraci.

Jacobson offers one word of caution to those who wish to help with the metadata corrections: “It will not show up immediately [on Calisphere] because we need to validate, in case two different people give us conflicting information.”

Williams, Jacobson, Milenkiewicz, and Geraci are already thinking ahead to how the library can improve the integration of crowdsourced metadata in the future, as there are more than 55,000 of Klein’s images that have not yet been digitized.

“I knew Jay Kay Klein back in the day (and may appear in some of his photos),” Dennis McCunney commented via email. “I think he'd be delighted at the response to his work.  I certainly am.”

This project will continue to grow, but it would not be possible without financial donations. Should you feel inspired to support the digitization of more of Klein’s photographs, please contact Jernine McBride, Associate Director of Development for the UCR Library, to discuss how you can help to move this project forward.

More Past Exhibits Dr. Phoenix Alexander April 08, 2026

A new exhibit marking 100 years of the historic science fiction magazine Amazing Stories is now on display at the Tomás Rivera Library. 

Founded by Hugo Gernsback in April 1926, the magazine helped define the genre of science fiction as we know it today. This exhibit showcases a selection of landmark issues from the magazine's illustrious history, and will be available to view on the first floor of the Tomás Rivera Library until Sunday, April 26, 2026.

These items are pulled from our Eaton Collection of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Learn more about the Eaton Collection on the Eaton webpage or follow the collection on Facebook and Instagram. 

Event	Amazing Stories: A Century of Science Fiction
Location	Tomás Rivera Library, first floor (after you enter, turn left)
Dates	Monday, April 6 - Sunday, April 26, 2026
Hours	View this exhibit during the Library's operating hours.  Monday - Thursday: 7:30 a.m. - 12 a.m. Friday: 7:30 a.m. - 6 p.m.  Saturday: 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.  Sunday: 1 p.m. - 9 p.m.