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Brian Biswas

@brianbiswas.bsky.social

550 followers 620 following 230 posts

Fiction writer. Author of the novel The Astronomer, and the short story collections Blister and Other Stories and A Betrayal and Other Stories. Website: http://brianbiswas.com/

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Brian Biswas @brianbiswas.bsky.social · Jan 9

Shortlisted for Publishers Weekly’s BookLife Prize in General Fiction (2024).

"Biswas is a master storyteller who pulls the reader into a journey of epic proportions." ~ BookLife Prize

The Astronomer by Brian Biswas | BookLife

Franz Herbert suffers from epileptic seizures; are they a curse that takes him away from his wife, family, and friends, or a gift that allows him to explore the depths of the cosmos? An exploration o...

booklife.com

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Brian Biswas @brianbiswas.bsky.social · 7h

If you like suspense and noir movies from the 40s and 50s, give this one a try. A young woman is auditioning with Hitchcock for his new movie. Lots of info about the seamy side of Hollywood during the days leading up to World War II (blacklisting).

#books #booksky #amreading #writingcommunity

Cover of the novel typewriter beach, by Meg Waite Clayton. A young woman is looking through an archway out at a rocky coastline.

Brian Biswas @brianbiswas.bsky.social · 25d

In my book, LeVar Burton is a hero. I don’t know anyone who has done more to promote literacy and a love of reading. Way to go, LeVar!

www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

#books #booksky #writingcommunity

LeVar Burton Named ABA’s Indie Bookstore Ambassador

As the American Booksellers Association's Indie Bookstore Ambassador for 2025-2026, Burton will champion independent booksellers, especially on Small Business Saturday on November 29 and Independent B...

www.publishersweekly.com

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Brian Biswas @brianbiswas.bsky.social · 25d

Ditto on all counts. 👍

Brian Biswas @brianbiswas.bsky.social · 26d

If you’re looking to get into Gene Wolfe, may I suggest starting with this. A brilliant collection of short stories (a couple are novella length) each picked out by Wolfe himself. Start with the first and read them all. His range is amazing. 5 stars.

#books #booksky #amreading #writingcommunity

The cover of the book the Best of Gene Wolfe. A collection of short stories selected by Wolfe himself. Ursula K. Le Guin provides the quote, “Wolfe is our Melville.”

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Brian Biswas @brianbiswas.bsky.social · Sep 13

I often figure out writing problems when I don’t consciously try to figure them out. I go on a walk instead and, voila, a solution pops into my head. This has happened too often to be mere coincidence. Relaxing the mind seems to allow creativity to flow.

#writingcommunity #amwriting

Brian Biswas @brianbiswas.bsky.social · Sep 9

“I’d rather be happy being myself, than sad trying to please everyone else.”
—Jermaine Cole

The applies to what I choose to write about as well.

#books #booksky #amreading #writingcommunity #amwriting

Brian Biswas @brianbiswas.bsky.social · Sep 8

Part two of my short story “The Expansion of Space” was just broadcast on the AntipodeanSF Radio show.

antisf.libsyn.com/bohrmann

(In case you missed it, here is part 1:
antisf.libsyn.com/bohmia
)

#books #booksky #writingcommunity

AntipodeanSF: Bohrmann

Featured on Bohrmann: The Expansion of Space - by Brian Biswas - Part Two Our Audio License by is licensed under Featured Music “Waved Oceanic Infinite Voice” - by Ovidiu Bufnila and Massimo Som...

antisf.libsyn.com

Brian Biswas @brianbiswas.bsky.social · Sep 6

Thanks for this. Great article! I’m in the “Gene Wolfe is one of the greatest American writers period” camp. For proof, look no further than this (hard-to-find) novella: The Ziggurat. (Also, the standard works: The Fifth Head of Cerberus, Island of Dr. Death stories, Forlesen, etc …)

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Brian Biswas @brianbiswas.bsky.social · Sep 5

AntipodeanSF Issue 323 - Ionospherics

Now available on the intertubes with thirteen of the best in speculative flash fiction stories to read and enjoy.

antisf.com.au

#books #booksky #amreading #writingcommunity

Home - AntipodeanSF

AntipodeanSF publishes the best short-short (flash) speculative fiction (SF, F, H) on the web.

antisf.com.au

Brian Biswas @brianbiswas.bsky.social · Sep 5

Originally published in Italy in 1960. A prescient parable of artificial intelligence. Can a human soul be re-created?

The Tartar Steppe is Buzzati’s‘s masterpiece, but this is quite good. Sixty years ahead of its time.

#books #booksky #amreading #writingcommunity

Cover of the novel The Singularity by Dino Buzzati. A pen and ink illustration of a monstrous man with two silhouetted figures looking on from a safe distance.

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Brian Biswas @brianbiswas.bsky.social · Aug 31

My short story The Expansion of Space (part one) was broadcast today on the Antipodian Speculative Fiction radio program. Part two will be next week.

This is excerpted from a novel in progress, Initial Conditions.

2nvr.org.au/playlist/boh...

#books #booksky #writingcommunity #amwriting

A young woman is staring up a starry sky and at what looks like the Andromeda galaxy.

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Brian Biswas @brianbiswas.bsky.social · Aug 24

Always loved this song by them. Bouncy and joyous. 👍

Brian Biswas @brianbiswas.bsky.social · Aug 24

I remember my first reading (it was for a collection of short stories). I was PETRIFIED when they introduced me. But when I got in front of the microphone, the terror melted away and it was pure bliss.

btw, I have your book 📕 on order.

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Brian Biswas @brianbiswas.bsky.social · Aug 24

That’s the greatest feeling in the world, isn’t it? Way to go, Adam!

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Brian Biswas @brianbiswas.bsky.social · Aug 23

This is my second time through this book. It’s a fascinating read. I think at its heart it’s about loneliness and isolation. Harrowing.

Brian Biswas @brianbiswas.bsky.social · Aug 23

While vacationing in a hunting lodge in the Austrian mountains, a middle-aged woman awakens one morning to find herself separated from the rest of the world by an invisible wall.

An allegory for our times.

#books #booksky #amreading #writingcommunity

The cover of the novel The Wall by Marlen Haushofer. A black and white cow grazing on a plain, a white and blue background (I think the white portion represents the wall), a solitary cloud in the sky.

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Brian Biswas @brianbiswas.bsky.social · Aug 22

If you find yourself in Durham, North Carolina … *signed* copies of my novel The Astronomer are available at the New Hope Commons Barnes and Noble.

Shortlisted for Publishers Weekly BookLife Priza (General Fiction, 2024).

#books #booksky #fiction #writingcommunity

My novel , The Astronomer, on the fiction shelf at Barnes & Noble. There is a gold signed-copy sticker on the top righthand corner of the cover.

Brian Biswas @brianbiswas.bsky.social · Aug 20

First two novels by the Nigerian fantasy writer Amos Tutvola (published in 1952 and 1954). Both are considered tops in that genre. I must say, I’ve never read anything like them. It’s as if Tutuola invented his own syntax. And it grows on you.

#books #booksky #amreading #writingcommunity

Abstract African artwork adorns the covers of Amos Tutvola’s novels The Palm-Wine Drinkard and My Life in the Bush of Ghosts.

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Brian Biswas @brianbiswas.bsky.social · Aug 20

Great interview.

I can’t wait to read this book. (I’m obsessed with language and I love short stories).

Brian Biswas @brianbiswas.bsky.social · Aug 20

Writing, producing, and distributing books is a labor of love. We do it because we’re driven to do it. It’s a cliche but it’s true.

So support independent presses in whatever way you can.

Ditch the computer, ditch the cell phone. Buy books and read. Your mind will love you for it.

Reposted by Brian Biswas

Whiskey Tit Press @whiskeytit.com · Aug 20

That said, if you have a wealthy and benevolent family member looking to support independent arts, please let us know. Books cost money to write and produce and especially to SHIP. And I'm working as many jobs as I can.

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Reposted by Brian Biswas

Whiskey Tit Press @whiskeytit.com · Aug 20

It's time to quote this again. We need (your) (anticorporate) literature now. Listen to Dan.

Daniel A. Hoyt @danhoyt.bsky.social · Aug 13

I understand the feeling of hopelessness, but the book is not a product. It’s art, and the making of art is meaningful and human and an act of subversion in an inhumane world. We need books more than ever.

kate wagner @katewagner.wehwalt.net · Aug 11

is there anything more pointless right now that writing a book? feels that way to me

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Brian Biswas @brianbiswas.bsky.social · Aug 19

I dropped Instagram for precisely those reasons, but I am following you over here. “Where there are no ads and the people are friendly.” 👍

Brian Biswas @brianbiswas.bsky.social · Aug 18

And let me add a couple:

1.) When you think you’re done, read what you’ve written aloud. You’ll find you’re at the halfway point.

2.) A fictional work should be 20% writing and 80% editing. At least that’s the way it’s always been in my case.

#books #booksky #writingcommunity #amwriting

Brian Biswas @brianbiswas.bsky.social · Aug 18

GENE WOLFE: WRITERLY ADVICE

5.) Do not start a story unless you have an ending in mind. You can change the story's ending if you wish, but you should always have a destination.

(If you don’t do this, you’ll find yourself wandering hither and thither.)

#books #booksky #writingcommunity #amwriting

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