non-genre adj.

not science fiction, fantasy, or horror; = mainstream adj.; (also) of or relating to such works

SF Criticism

Genre

  • 1973 R. Johnson in Norstrilian News Jan. 2 page image Robin Johnson

    This seems a particularly good idea not only for those of us unable to see all the magazines, but in particular with so many stories now appearing in original anthologies that may not be widely available, or such places as non-genre fiction magazines.

  • 1975 G. Jonas in N.Y. Times 12 Jan. 32/3 Gerald Jonas

    In what the s.f. fan calls ‘mainstream fiction’—that is, all non-genre writing, including serious literature—the short story does not attract much critical or popular attention today.

  • 1979 B. Stableford Life on Other Worlds in P. Nicholls Science Fiction Encyclopedia 356/1 page image Brian Stableford

    The only full descriptions of other worlds undertaken by non-genre writers before the Second World War were in works inspired by the religious or mystical imagination.

  • 1988 V. McIntyre Letter in Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Mar. 13/2 page image Vonda N. McIntyre

    She never said Always Coming Home was not SF. Of course it’s SF. Its being nominated for non-genre awards, and ignored by Hugo and Nebula voters, does not change that fact.

  • 1994 J. Kessel Books: Canons Left and Right in Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction Apr. 23/2 page image John Kessel bibliography

    I would have risked taking stories that might be familiar to genre readers knowing that they would be new to non-genre readers.

  • 2002 G. K. Wolfe Malebolge (#39) 418 Gary K. Wolfe

    At the same time that genre materials begin flowing freely into one another, we begin to see evidence of an even more peculiar development: the nongenre genre story.

  • 2003 D. G. Hartwell & K. Cramer in Year’s Best Fantasy 3 Introd. p. xv Kathryn Cramer David G. Hartwell

    One noticeable trend evident in some of these is toward non-genre, or genre-bending, or slipstream fantastic fiction.

  • 2010 N. Lowe Mutant Popcorn in Interzone (#227) Mar.–Apr. 62/1 page image Nick Lowe bibliography

    Even more than usual with these incursions into sf by non-genre writers, it’s anxious not to activate the science-fictional way of thinking that rejects the insurmountable.

Research requirements

antedating 1973
Research History
Jeff Prucher submitted a 1994 cite from John Kessel in F&SF.
Jeff Prucher submitted a 2003 cite from Michael Chabon in "McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales."
Jeff Prucher submitted a 2003 cite from David Hartwell & Kathryn Cramer's introduction to their "Year's Best Fantasy 3".
Jeff Prucher submitted a 2002 cite from Gary K. Wolfe in Conjunctions:39.
Irene Grumman submitted a 1988 cite from a letter by Vonda N. McIntyre in Asimov's.
Bill Mullins submitted a 1975 cite from Gerald Jonas in the New York Times Book Review.
Jeff Prucher submitted a 1973 cite from Robin Johnson in Nostrilian News.

Last modified 2026-06-30 13:00:32
In the compilation of some entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries in OED.