Amanda Kallis
(pronounced ‘KAY-Liss’)
Amanda is a writer with an MFA in Fiction from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Originally from Los Angeles, she lives in Toronto with her husband and daughter. She writes primarily speculative fiction, as well as essays and poetry.
Her work has appeared in Catapult, the Black Warrior Review (nonfiction contest winner), McSweeney's Internet Tendency, The Cincinnati Review, and elsewhere.
She’s taught creative writing courses at The University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies, Catapult, the University of Iowa, and elsewhere.
She was an Edward Albee Foundation artist-in-residence and winner of the Imagination Unbound fellowship at Under the Volcano.
She also writes Future Debris, a newsletter on the literary / science fiction boundaries.
Here she is hugging a robot
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Iowa Writers’ Workshop MFA, Fiction. 2017
Pomona College BA, Politics, 2014
Participant / Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference. Fiction. 2024
Imagination Unbound Fellowship / Under the Volcano Workshop. Speculative Fiction. 2023
“A Collective Loss of Words” / The Bare Life Review. Nonfiction. 2021
“The Photograph at the End of the World”/ Redivider. Hybrid Nonfiction. 2021
“Workshopping the 2020 Presidential Election” / McSweeney’s Internet Tendency. Humor. 2020
“Living with the Dead in Placentia, CA” / Catapult. Speculative Fiction. 2020
“Idle” / Cimarron Review. Poetry. 2019
“Social Body” - 2018 Contest Winner / Black Warrior Review. Hybrid Nonfiction. 2018
“Calcitic” / Spillway. Poetry. 2018
Participant / Disquiet Workshop. Nonfiction. 2018
Science Fiction Reading and Writing Fellowship / Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Fiction. 2017
“Performative,” “In Her Room” / Prelude. Poetry. 2017
Artist-in-Residence Fellowship / Edward F. Albee Foundation. Fiction. 2016
“Workshopping the 2016 Presidential Election” / McSweeney’s Internet Tendency. Humor. 2016
“Abeyance” / Cincinnati Review.Poetry. 2015
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I’m working on two speculative novels at the moment
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“The Great Escape” | Speculative Fiction Workshop
Enroll here at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies
Fantasy and science fiction allow writers and readers to step outside familiar boundaries into imaginary worlds. In this workshop-style course, you'll learn the elements of both genres and get feedback from a community of writers as you craft the first draft of a new short story. You'll explore the foundations of world-building, plot, scene-setting, character development, and dialogue, as well as honing your critiquing skills. You'll also find out more about the business side of writing fantasy and science fiction.
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Subscribe to Future Debris to receive a monthly update on my writing, what books I’m reading, & just to keep in touch!
An amateur photographer, the photos you’ll find on this site are hers (except for the above photo of her, taken by Mitchell Urbanowicz). Sometimes her photography appears in her work.
Illustration by Sophie Saunders.