A Birthday
"A Birthday" is a 1995 science fiction short story by American writer Esther Friesner, about abortion. It was first published in the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.
Plot summary
Women who have had abortions are forced to view and interact with computerized recreations of the hypothetical children they could have had.
Reception
"A Birthday" won the 1996 Nebula Award for Best Short Story,[1] and was a finalist for the 1996 Hugo Award for Best Short Story.[2]
At the SF Site, Dave Truesdale called it "fascinating, if disturbing", noting that while it was "as fresh as tomorrow's headlines", it was nonetheless evocative of material published "in the (19)50s heyday of Galaxy."[3]
Friesner has described the story as "super-dark".[4]
References
- ^ 1996 Nebula Awards, at Science Fiction Writers of America; retrieved September 20, 2018
- ^ 1996 Hugo Awards Archived 2011-05-07 at the Wayback Machine, at TheHugoAwards.org; retrieved September 20, 2018
- ^ Nebula Awards 32, edited by Jack Dann, reviewed by Dave Truesdale, at the SF Site; published 1998; retrieved September 20, 2018
- ^ InterGalactic Interview With Esther Friesner, by Darrell Schweitzer, in InterGalactic Medicine Show; retrieved September 20, 2018
External links
A Birthday title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
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- ""Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman" by Harlan Ellison (1966)
- "The Secret Place" by Richard McKenna (1967)
- "Aye, and Gomorrah" by Samuel R. Delany (1968)
- "The Planners" by Kate Wilhelm (1969)
- "Passengers" by Robert Silverberg (1970)
- "Good News from the Vatican" by Robert Silverberg (1972)
- "When It Changed" by Joanna Russ (1973)
- "Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death" by James Tiptree Jr. (1974)
- "The Day Before the Revolution" by Ursula K. Le Guin (1975)
- "Catch That Zeppelin!" by Fritz Leiber (1976)
- "A Crowd of Shadows" by Charles L. Grant (1977)
- "Jeffty Is Five" by Harlan Ellison (1978)
- "Stone" by Edward Bryant (1979)
- "giANTS" by Edward Bryant (1980)
- "Grotto of the Dancing Deer" by Clifford D. Simak (1981)
- "The Bone Flute" by Lisa Tuttle (refused, 1982)
- "A Letter from the Clearys" by Connie Willis (1983)
- "The Peacemaker" by Gardner Dozois (1984)
- "Morning Child" by Gardner Dozois (1985)
- "Out of All Them Bright Stars" by Nancy Kress (1986)
- "Tangents" by Greg Bear (1987)
- "Forever Yours, Anna" by Kate Wilhelm (1988)
- "Bible Stories for Adults, No. 17: The Deluge" by James K. Morrow (1989)
- "Ripples in the Dirac Sea" by Geoffrey A. Landis (1990)
- "Bears Discover Fire" by Terry Bisson (1991)
- "Ma Qui" by Alan Brennert (1992)
- "Even the Queen" by Connie Willis (1993)
- "Graves" by Joe Haldeman (1994)
- "A Defense of the Social Contracts" by Martha Soukup (1995)
- "Death and the Librarian" by Esther Friesner (1996)
- "A Birthday" by Esther Friesner (1997)
- "Sister Emily's Lightship" by Jane Yolen (1998)
- "Thirteen Ways to Water" by Bruce Holland Rogers (1999)
- "The Cost of Doing Business" by Leslie What (2000)
- "macs" by Terry Bisson (2001)
- "The Cure for Everything" by Severna Park (2002)
- "Creature" by Carol Emshwiller (2003)
- "What I Didn't See" by Karen Joy Fowler (2004)
- "Coming to Terms" by Eileen Gunn (2005)
- "I Live With You" by Carol Emshwiller (2006)
- "Echo" by Elizabeth Hand (2007)
- "Always" by Karen Joy Fowler (2008)
- "Trophy Wives" by Nina Kiriki Hoffman (2009)
- "Spar" by Kij Johnson (2010)
- "How Interesting: A Tiny Man" by Harlan Ellison / "Ponies" by Kij Johnson (2011)
- "The Paper Menagerie" by Ken Liu (2012)
- "Immersion" by Aliette de Bodard (2013)
- "If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love" by Rachel Swirsky (2014)
- "Jackalope Wives" by Ursula Vernon (2015)
- "Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers" by Alyssa Wong (2016)
- "Seasons of Glass and Iron" by Amal El-Mohtar (2017)
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- "The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington" by P. Djèlí Clark (2019)
- "Give the Family My Love" by A. T. Greenblatt (2020)
- "Open House on Haunted Hill" by John Wiswell (2021)
- "Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather" by Sarah Pinsker (2022)
- "Rabbit Test" by Samantha Mills (2023)
- "Tantie Merle and the Farmhand 4200" by R. S. A. Garcia (2024)