The New Weird is a literary genre that emerged in the 1990s through the early 2000s, combining characteristics of weird fiction with other speculative fiction subgenres. M. John Harrison is credited with coining the term in his introduction to the 2002 anthology The Tain. Its writers are mostly novelists associated with horror or speculative fiction who frequently cross genre boundaries, among them K. J. Bishop, Paul Di Filippo, Jeffrey Ford, Storm Constantine, China Miéville, Alastair Reynolds, Justina Robson, Steph Swainston, Mary Gentle, Alistair Rennie, Michael Cisco, Jeff VanderMeer and Harrison himself.
Facts
Place of OriginUnited Kingdom; M. John Harrison is credited with coining the term "New Weird" in his 2002 introduction to The Tain. 1 Notable ExampleChina Miéville's Perdido Street Station (2000), whose critical and commercial success brought New Weird fiction into mainstream consciousness. 1 Defining TraitA literary genre, emerging in the 1990s through the early 2000s, that combines characteristics of weird fiction with other speculative fiction subgenres. 1 FAQs
Is the New Weird a defined movement or a loose label?
It has no fixed checklist; the VanderMeers define it as urban, secondary-world fiction that subverts the romanticized places of traditional fantasy.
It is closer to a loose label. Various definitions have been given, and non-conformity to strict genre definitions is a commonly recognized facet of New Weird fiction. Jeff and Ann VanderMeer, in their introduction to the 2008 anthology The New Weird, describe it as a type of urban, secondary-world fiction that subverts the romanticized ideas about place found in traditional fantasy, building settings from realistic, complex real-world models that may combine elements of science fiction and fantasy. The term spread widely after M. John Harrison started a 2003 forum discussion that asked what it was and whether it was anything at all.
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Source New Weird (Wikipedia)tier 2
Sources
1. New Weird (Wikipedia)
WikipediaLead section
The new weird is a literary genre that emerged in the 1990s through early 2000s with characteristics of weird fiction and other speculative fiction subgenres.
'History' section
The 2000 release of China Miéville's Perdido Street Station marked the entry of what would later be called New Weird fiction into mainstream consciousness with its critical and commercial success.
Lead section, second sentence
M. John Harrison is credited with creating the term "New Weird" in the introduction to The Tain in 2002.
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