Miriam Seidel is a science-fiction fan from way back. She was inspired by attending SFF cons to write her first novel, The Speed of Clouds (New Door Books), a genre-bender mixing sci-fi fandom with fantasy. She’s had stories and essays published as Mir Seidel in Bourbon Penn, Into the Ruins, Calyx, and elsewhere, and is a member of SFWA and Codex.
Her new book, Tesla: The Opera, coming in 2025, is about the opera Violet Fire for which she wrote the libretto. With a score by minimalist composer Jon Gibson, the opera was performed in Belgrade, Philadelphia, and New York at the Brooklyn Next Wave Festival. Her essay on Nikola Tesla and Hugo Gernsback appeared in the New York Review of Science Fiction. Another libretto of hers, for the opera Judgment of Midas, with score by Kamran Ince, was performed in Milwaukee.
In previous lives, Miriam has been an art critic (writing for Art in America and elsewhere), arts writer (the Philadelphia Inquirer, Dance magazine and other places) and curator (the Gershman Y Galleries and independent curating). In her current life, she edits books for individual clients and publishers. She still attends cons, and will occasionally do some cosplay. Possibly her nerdiest accomplishment: learning to play the theremin.