View source for Steven Barnes

{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Short description|American writer (born 1952)}}
{{blp sources|date=September 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name       = Steven Barnes
| image      = 
| caption    =
| birth_place = [[Los Angeles]], [[California]], U.S.
| birth_date  = {{birth date and age|1952|3|1}}
| alma_mater = [[Los Angeles High School]]<br>[[Pepperdine University]]
| occupation = Writer
| spouse     = [[Tananarive Due]]
| children   = 2
}}

'''Steven Barnes''' (born March 1, 1952) is an American [[science fiction]], [[fantasy]], and [[Mystery fiction|mystery]] writer. He has written novels, short fiction, screenplays for [[television]], scripts for comic books, animation, newspaper copy, and magazine articles.

==Early life and education==
Barnes, was born on March 1, 1952, in [[Los Angeles, California]]. He has had a varied education, including a secondary education at [[Los Angeles High School]]. He continued at [[Pepperdine University]], majoring in communication arts.<ref name ="Black & White">''Steven Barnes: White & Black''. Locus Magazine; vol/issue 50/3[506] 2003. Pages 84-86. ([https://www.locusmag.com/2003/Issue03/Barnes.html excerpts])</ref>

== Career ==
Barnes wrote several episodes of [[The Outer Limits (1995 TV series)|''The Outer Limits'']] and ''[[Baywatch]]''. His "[[A Stitch in Time (The Outer Limits)|A Stitch In Time]]" episode of ''The Outer Limits'' won an [[Emmy Award]]. He also wrote the episode [[Stargate SG-1 (season 1)|"Brief Candle"]] for ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' and the ''[[Andromeda (TV series)|Andromeda]]'' episode [[List of Andromeda episodes#Season 1|"The Sum of Its Parts"]]. Barnes's first published piece of fiction, the 1979 [[Novella|novelette]] "The Locusts", was written with [[Larry Niven]], and was a [[Hugo Award]] nominee.<ref name="Barnes' listing in ''Locus'' magazine's database of award nominees">[http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/NomLit7.html#286 Award nominees] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091120020814/http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/NomLit7.html |date=November 20, 2009 }}</ref><ref name="Excerpts of a March 2003 interview with Barnes in ''Locus'' magazine">[http://www.locusmag.com/2003/Issue03/Barnes.html interview]</ref>  Barnes subsequently collaborated with Niven on several other books, including three books with both Niven and [[Jerry Pournelle]].  Barnes said he clashed politically with the two conservative writers but enjoyed working with them, calling it "a tremendous learning opportunity".<ref name=sh-interview/>

Barnes's alternate history novel ''[[Lion's Blood]]'' won the 2003 [[Endeavour Award]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}} His 2004 [[Star Wars]] tie-in novel ''[[The Cestus Deception]]'' was a [[New York Times]] bestseller.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}

Together with his wife, [[Tananarive Due]], and actor [[Blair Underwood]], Barnes won the 2009 NAACP Image Award for outstanding Literary Work - Fiction for ''In the Night of the Heat: A Tennyson Hardwick Novel''.<ref>[https://variety.com/2009/film/awards/bees-big-at-naacp-image-awards-1118000120/ 'Bees' big at NAACP Image Awards], by N'neka Hite. ''Variety'', February 12, 2009. Retrieved July 25, 2019</ref>

==Personal life==

Barnes is married to [[Tananarive Due]], a writer.<ref name=sh-interview>[http://www.strangehorizons.com/2002/20020729/interview.shtml Interview: Steven Barnes] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131008050036/http://www.strangehorizons.com/2002/20020729/interview.shtml |date=October 8, 2013 }}, by Greg Beatty. ''Strange Horizons'', July 29, 2002.  Retrieved August 31, 2013</ref> The couple live in [[Los Angeles]] and host a video blog together. They also taught a course together at UCLA called "The Sunken Place: Racism, Survival & Black Horror" that experienced a surprise visit from ''[[Get Out]]'' director [[Jordan Peele]]. The course is now available as a webinar.<ref>[https://consequenceofsound.net/2019/03/episode-112-tananarive-due-and-steven-barnes/ "Tananarive Due and Steven Barnes on Jamming with Stephen King and the Enduring Power of Genre Writing"], ''[[Consequence of Sound]]'', March 29, 2019</ref> Barnes has a daughter from his first marriage and a son from his current marriage.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}

Barnes is also an avid practitioner of [[martial arts|martial and physical arts]]. He began studying in 1969.<ref name="Black & White"/> He is a [[Black belt (martial arts)|black belt]] in [[Kenpo|Kenpo Karate]] (BKF style), and [[Judo|Kodokan Judo]]. He holds an instructor certificate in Wu Ming Ta, and has an instructor candidate ranking in Filipino [[Eskrima|Kali]] stick and knife fighting. He is an advanced student in [[Jeet Kune Do#Overview_and_philosophy|Jun Fan]] [[kickboxing]] ([[Bruce Lee]] method under [[Dan Inosanto]]), and is an instructor in [[Wu-style tai chi]] under Hawkins Cheung.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}

He is an intermediate student in self-defense pistol shooting (preferring the [[Weaver stance|Turnipseed modified Weaver method]]). He holds a [[Obi (martial arts)|brown belt]] in [[The Jitsu Foundation|Shorenji Jiu Jitsu]], and intermediate rankings in [[Tae Kwon Do]] and [[Aikido]]. He completed the Yoga Works basic [[Hatha Yoga]] instructor program; and is studying [[Pentjak Silat]] (an Indonesian fighting system) with Guru Stevan Plinck, and [[Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga|Ashtanga Yoga]], an aerobic form of yoga.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}

==Bibliography==
* The [[Dream Park]] series:
** ''Dream Park'' (1981; with [[Larry Niven]])
** ''The Barsoom Project'' (1989; with [[Larry Niven]])
** ''The California Voodoo Game'' (1992; with [[Larry Niven]])
** ''The Moon Maze Game'' (2011; with [[Larry Niven]])
* The Aubry Knight series:
** ''Street Lethal'' (1983)
** ''Gorgon Child'' (1989)
** ''Firedance'' (1993)
* The Heorot series:
** ''[[The Legacy of Heorot]]'' (1987; with [[Larry Niven]] and [[Jerry Pournelle]])
** ''[[The Dragons of Heorot]]'' (1995; with [[Larry Niven]] and [[Jerry Pournelle]])
** ''[[Beowulf's Children]]'' (1995; with [[Larry Niven]] and [[Jerry Pournelle]])
** ''Starborn and Godsons'' (2020; with [[Larry Niven]] and [[Jerry Pournelle]])
* The Insh'Allah series:
** ''[[Lion's Blood]]'' (2002; winner of the 2003 [[Endeavour Award]])
** ''[[Zulu Heart]]'' (2003)
* The "Ibandi" series:<!-- This name is a placeholder until the official one is entered -->
** ''Great Sky Woman'' (2006)
** ''Shadow Valley'' (2009)
* The Tennyson Hardwick Novels:
** ''[[Casanegra (novel)|Casanegra]]'' (2007; with [[Blair Underwood]] and [[Tananarive Due]])
** ''In the Night of the Heat'' (2008; with Blair Underwood and Tananarive Due)
** ''From Cape Town with Love'' (2010; with Blair Underwood and Tananarive Due)
** ''South by Southeast'' (September 2012; with Blair Underwood and Tananarive Due)
* Stand-alone novels, screenplays, and other works:
** ''[[The Descent of Anansi]]'' (1982; with Larry Niven)
** "[[To See the Invisible Man]]" (1986; a television script adapting a short story by [[Robert Silverberg]], for the 1980s revival of ''[[The Twilight Zone (1985 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]'')
** ''The Kundalini Equation'' (1986)
** ''[[Fusion (Eclipse Comics)|Fusion]]'' (1987) (issues #1–5 only)
** ''Achilles' Choice'' (1991) (with Larry Niven)
** ''Blood Brothers'' (1996)
** ''Iron Shadows'' (1997)
** ''[[Far Beyond the Stars]]'' (1998) (''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'' novelization)
** ''[[The Lives of Dax]]'': "The Music Between the Notes" (1999)
** ''Saturn's Race'' (2000) (with [[Larry Niven]])
** ''Charisma'' (2002)
** ''[[The Cestus Deception]]'' (2004) (''[[Star Wars]]'' novel set in the [[Clone Wars (Star Wars)|Clone Wars]])
** ''Assassin and Other Stories'' (2010), a collection, [[ISFiC Press]]
** ''The Invisible Imam'', a novel included in ''Assassin and Other Stories'' (2010)
** ''Devil's Wake'' (2012; with Tananarive Due)
** ''Domino Falls'' (2013; with Tananarive Due)
** ''Star Wars Saved My Life: Be the HERO in the adventure of your lifetime!'' (2015), illustrated by Trey Jackson and Angelina Greenwood
** ''The Seascape Tattoo'' (2016; with [[Larry Niven]])
** ''Twelve Days'' (2017)
** ''Star Wars: Mace Windu: The Glass Abyss'' (2024) (''[[Star Wars]]'' novel set shortly after [[The Phantom Menace]])
* Short stories
**  "The Woman in the Wall" (2000; novelette)
** "Danikil", ''Whose Future Is It?'' (2018)<ref>"Steven Barnes" in ''Cellarius Stories, Volume 1'', ch. 10. Cellarius, Ed., New York: 2018, {{ISBN|978-1-949688-02-3}}.</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
* [http://darkush.blogspot.com Steven Barnes' blog]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140719231444/http://www.lifewrite.com/ Steven Barnes' Homepage] (archived)
* {{isfdb name|id=Steven_Barnes|name=Steven Barnes}}
* [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12742905 "Black Science Fiction and Fantasy"] with [[Tananarive Due]], Steven Barnes, and [[Sheree Thomas|Sheree R. Thomas]] on [[NPR]], ''[[News & Notes]]'', August 13, 2007 (audio and transcript)
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110713203314/http://www.lexingtonfilm.com/stevenbarnesinterview.htm Audio Interview - Steven Barnes on the Horace J. Digby Report]}}
* [http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/interview-steven-barnes/ ''Lightspeed'' magazine Interview with Steven Barnes], by Christian A. Coleman, in May 2017 (Issue 84)
* [https://www.apex-magazine.com/interview-with-author-steven-barnes/ ''Apex Magazine'': Interview with Author Steven Barnes], by Andrea Johnson on May 16, 2019

{{NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work – Fiction}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes, Steven}}
[[Category:1952 births]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American novelists]]
[[Category:21st-century African-American writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American male writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American novelists]]
[[Category:African-American male writers]]
[[Category:African-American novelists]]
[[Category:African-American screenwriters]]
[[Category:Afrofuturist writers]]
[[Category:American comics writers]]
[[Category:American male novelists]]
[[Category:American male screenwriters]]
[[Category:American male television writers]]
[[Category:American science fiction writers]]
[[Category:American television writers]]
[[Category:Speculative fiction writers of African descent]]
[[Category:Endeavour Award winners]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Pepperdine University alumni]]