Dr Anna McFarlane

  • James Murray Beattie Lecturer in Fantasy Literature (English Literature)

Biography

I am the James Murray Beattie Lecturer in Fantasy Literature at the University of Glasgow and a Visiting Collaborator on the Wellcome Trust-funded Future of Human Reproduction project at the University of Lancaster (2024). I am the author of Cyberpunk Culture and Psychology: Seeing Through the Mirrorshades (2021), a monograph on William Gibson’s novels. I have also co-edited The Edinburgh Companion to Science Fiction and the Medical Humanities (2024) The Routledge Companion to Cyberpunk Culture (2020), and Fifty Key Figures in Cyberpunk Culture (2022). Prior to taking up my role at Glasgow I was a Lecturer in Medical Humanities at the University of Leeds, 2022-24.

Research interests

  • Fantasy literature, science fiction, and genre studies
  • Contemporary literature
  • Medical humanities
  • Posthumanism
  • Gender and feminism

I have done a lot of interdisciplinary work in genre studies (especially science fiction). I am series editor for Palgrave Macmillan's series, Science Fiction and Fantasy: A New Canon and on the editorial board for the Science Fiction Foundation's journal, Foundation. I also have a long-standing interest in medical humanities.   

My current research is an interdisciplinary medical humanities project on the portrayal of traumatic pregnancy in genre fiction, and the use of genre motifs in women’s writing about pregnancy. This research has been awarded a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship (2017-2023).

Publications

List by: Type | Date

Jump to: 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016
Number of items: 26.

2025

Miller, G. , Mcfarlane, A. and McCormack, D. (Eds.) (2025) The Edinburgh Companion to Science Fiction and the Medical Humanities. Series: Edinburgh companions to literature and the humanities. Edinburgh University Press: Edinburgh. ISBN 9781474485074

Miller, G. and Mcfarlane, A. (2025) Science fiction studies and the medical humanities: interdisciplinary futures. In: Miller, Gavin, Mcfarlane, Anna and McCormack, Donna (eds.) The Edinburgh Companion to Science Fiction and the Medical Humanities. Series: Edinburgh companions to literature and the humanities. Edinburgh University Press: Edinburgh, xv-xli. ISBN 9781474485074

2024

McFarlane, A. (2024) Abortion, child loss and science fiction. Studies in the Maternal, 14(1), pp. 1-15. (doi: 10.16995/sim.10951)

McFarlane, A. and Miller, G. (2024) Medical humanities. In: Bould, Mark, Butler, Andrew M. and Vint, Sherryl (eds.) The New Routledge Companion to Science Fiction. Series: Routledge literature companions. Routledge: Abingdon, pp. 422-429. ISBN 9780367690533

2023

McFarlane, A. (2023) Reproductive loss in the anthropocene: Paul McAuley's Austral. Science Fiction Studies, 50(2), pp. 233-250. (doi: 10.1353/sfs.2023.a900282)

McFarlane, A. (2023) Maternity and motherlessness. Science Fiction Studies, 50(Part 1), pp. 105-110. (doi: 10.1353/sfs.2023.0005)

2022

McFarlane, A. (2022) Posthumanism before posthumanism. Science Fiction Studies, 49(3), pp. 558-562.

McFarlane, A. , Murphy, G. J. and Schmeink, L. (Eds.) (2022) Fifty Key Figures in Cyberpunk Culture. Series: Routledge key guides. Routledge. ISBN 9781000578614

McFarlane, A. (2022) Ectogenesis on the NHS: reproduction and privatization in twenty-first century British science fiction. In: Vint, Sherryl and Buran, Sümeyra (eds.) Technologies of Feminist Speculative Fiction Gender, Artificial Life, and the Politics of Reproduction. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9783030961916

2021

McFarlane, A. (2021) Cyberpunk Culture and Psychology: Seeing Through the Mirrorshades. Series: Routledge research in cultural and media studies. Routledge: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY. ISBN 9780367535681 (doi: 10.4324/9781003082477)

2020

McFarlane, A. (2020) AI and cyberpunk networks. In: Cave, Stephen, Dihal, Kanta and Dillon, Sarah (eds.) AI Narratives: a History of Imaginative Thinking About Intelligent Machines. Oxford University Press: Oxford, pp. 284-308. ISBN 9780198846666 (doi: 10.1093/oso/9780198846666.003.0013)

Mcfarlane, A. , Murphy, G. J. and Schmeink, L. (Eds.) (2020) The Routledge Companion to Cyberpunk Culture. Routledge: New York. ISBN 9780815351931

2019

McFarlane, A. (2019) “Becoming acquainted with all that pain”: nursing as activism in Naomi Mitchison’s science fiction. Literature and Medicine, 37(2), pp. 278-297. (doi: 10.1353/lm.2019.0013) (PMID:31885025)

Mcfarlane, A. (2019) Time and affect after 9/11: Lavie Tidhar's Osama: a novel. In: Morgan, Glyn and Palmer-Patel, Charul (eds.) Sideways in Time: Critical Essays on Alternate History Fiction. Series: Liverpool science fiction texts and studies (59). Liverpool University Press, pp. 92-106. ISBN 9781789620139

2018

McFarlane, A. (2018) Coded networks: literature and the information technology revolution. In: Pollard, Eileen and Schoene, Berthold (eds.) British Literature in Transition, 1980-2000: Accelerated Times. Series: British literature in transition series. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, pp. 293-308. ISBN 9781107121423 (doi: 10.1017/9781316344071.023)

2017

Mcfarlane, A. (2017) Cyberpunk and “Science Fiction Realism” in Kathryn Bigelow’s Strange Days and Zero Dark Thirty. In: Murphy, Graham J. and Schmeink, Lars (eds.) Cyberpunk and Visual Culture. Routledge: New York, pp. 235-252. ISBN 9781138062917

McFarlane, A. (2017) The poetry of civic nationalism: Jackie Kay’s ‘bronze head from Ife’. C21 Literature, 5(2), 5. (doi: 10.16995/c21.23)

Miller, G. and Mcfarlane, A. (Eds.) (2017) A Practical Guide to the Resurrected: 21 Short Stories of Science Fiction and Medicine. Freight Books. ISBN 9781911332503

2016

Miller, G. and McFarlane, A. (2016) Science fiction and the medical humanities. Medical Humanities, 42(4), pp. 213-218. (doi: 10.1136/medhum-2016-011144) (PMID:27885035)

Miller, G. and McFarlane, A. (2016) Science Fiction and the Medical Humanities [Guest Editors]. Medical Humanities, 42(4),

Mcfarlane, A. (2016) Naomi Mitchison’s we have been warned (1935) in post-referendum Scotland. Bottle Imp(19),

Mcfarlane, A. (2016) Neal Stephenson’s Readme: a critique of gamification. Foundation, 45(123), pp. 24-36.

Callow Jr., C. and McFarlane, A. (Eds.) (2016) Adam Roberts: Critical Essays. Series: Gylphi contemporary writers: critical essays. Gylphi: Canterbury. ISBN 9781780240428

Callow Jr., C. and McFarlane, A. (2016) New model writer. In: Callow Jr., Christos and McFarlane, Anna (eds.) Adam Roberts: Critical Essays. Series: Gylphi contemporary writers: critical essays, 4. Gylphi: Canterbury, pp. 5-19. ISBN 9781780240428

Mcfarlane, A. (2016) ‘Anthropomorphic drones’ and colonized bodies: William Gibson’s the peripheral. English Studies in Canada, 42(1-2), pp. 115-131. (doi: 10.1353/esc.2016.0007)

McFarlane, A. (2016) Breaking the cycle of the Golden Age: Jack Glass and Isaac Asimov’s Foundation trilogy. In: Callow Jr., Christos and McFarlane, Anna (eds.) Adam Roberts: Critical Essays. Series: Gylphi contemporary writers: critical essays, 4. Gylphi: Canterbury, pp. 83-103. ISBN 9781780240428

This list was generated on Wed Apr 30 10:57:12 2025 BST.
Jump to: Articles | Books | Book Sections | Edited Books
Number of items: 26.

Articles

McFarlane, A. (2024) Abortion, child loss and science fiction. Studies in the Maternal, 14(1), pp. 1-15. (doi: 10.16995/sim.10951)

McFarlane, A. (2023) Reproductive loss in the anthropocene: Paul McAuley's Austral. Science Fiction Studies, 50(2), pp. 233-250. (doi: 10.1353/sfs.2023.a900282)

McFarlane, A. (2023) Maternity and motherlessness. Science Fiction Studies, 50(Part 1), pp. 105-110. (doi: 10.1353/sfs.2023.0005)

McFarlane, A. (2022) Posthumanism before posthumanism. Science Fiction Studies, 49(3), pp. 558-562.

McFarlane, A. (2019) “Becoming acquainted with all that pain”: nursing as activism in Naomi Mitchison’s science fiction. Literature and Medicine, 37(2), pp. 278-297. (doi: 10.1353/lm.2019.0013) (PMID:31885025)

McFarlane, A. (2017) The poetry of civic nationalism: Jackie Kay’s ‘bronze head from Ife’. C21 Literature, 5(2), 5. (doi: 10.16995/c21.23)

Miller, G. and McFarlane, A. (2016) Science fiction and the medical humanities. Medical Humanities, 42(4), pp. 213-218. (doi: 10.1136/medhum-2016-011144) (PMID:27885035)

Miller, G. and McFarlane, A. (2016) Science Fiction and the Medical Humanities [Guest Editors]. Medical Humanities, 42(4),

Mcfarlane, A. (2016) Naomi Mitchison’s we have been warned (1935) in post-referendum Scotland. Bottle Imp(19),

Mcfarlane, A. (2016) Neal Stephenson’s Readme: a critique of gamification. Foundation, 45(123), pp. 24-36.

Mcfarlane, A. (2016) ‘Anthropomorphic drones’ and colonized bodies: William Gibson’s the peripheral. English Studies in Canada, 42(1-2), pp. 115-131. (doi: 10.1353/esc.2016.0007)

Books

McFarlane, A. (2021) Cyberpunk Culture and Psychology: Seeing Through the Mirrorshades. Series: Routledge research in cultural and media studies. Routledge: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY. ISBN 9780367535681 (doi: 10.4324/9781003082477)

Book Sections

Miller, G. and Mcfarlane, A. (2025) Science fiction studies and the medical humanities: interdisciplinary futures. In: Miller, Gavin, Mcfarlane, Anna and McCormack, Donna (eds.) The Edinburgh Companion to Science Fiction and the Medical Humanities. Series: Edinburgh companions to literature and the humanities. Edinburgh University Press: Edinburgh, xv-xli. ISBN 9781474485074

McFarlane, A. and Miller, G. (2024) Medical humanities. In: Bould, Mark, Butler, Andrew M. and Vint, Sherryl (eds.) The New Routledge Companion to Science Fiction. Series: Routledge literature companions. Routledge: Abingdon, pp. 422-429. ISBN 9780367690533

McFarlane, A. (2022) Ectogenesis on the NHS: reproduction and privatization in twenty-first century British science fiction. In: Vint, Sherryl and Buran, Sümeyra (eds.) Technologies of Feminist Speculative Fiction Gender, Artificial Life, and the Politics of Reproduction. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9783030961916

McFarlane, A. (2020) AI and cyberpunk networks. In: Cave, Stephen, Dihal, Kanta and Dillon, Sarah (eds.) AI Narratives: a History of Imaginative Thinking About Intelligent Machines. Oxford University Press: Oxford, pp. 284-308. ISBN 9780198846666 (doi: 10.1093/oso/9780198846666.003.0013)

Mcfarlane, A. (2019) Time and affect after 9/11: Lavie Tidhar's Osama: a novel. In: Morgan, Glyn and Palmer-Patel, Charul (eds.) Sideways in Time: Critical Essays on Alternate History Fiction. Series: Liverpool science fiction texts and studies (59). Liverpool University Press, pp. 92-106. ISBN 9781789620139

McFarlane, A. (2018) Coded networks: literature and the information technology revolution. In: Pollard, Eileen and Schoene, Berthold (eds.) British Literature in Transition, 1980-2000: Accelerated Times. Series: British literature in transition series. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, pp. 293-308. ISBN 9781107121423 (doi: 10.1017/9781316344071.023)

Mcfarlane, A. (2017) Cyberpunk and “Science Fiction Realism” in Kathryn Bigelow’s Strange Days and Zero Dark Thirty. In: Murphy, Graham J. and Schmeink, Lars (eds.) Cyberpunk and Visual Culture. Routledge: New York, pp. 235-252. ISBN 9781138062917

Callow Jr., C. and McFarlane, A. (2016) New model writer. In: Callow Jr., Christos and McFarlane, Anna (eds.) Adam Roberts: Critical Essays. Series: Gylphi contemporary writers: critical essays, 4. Gylphi: Canterbury, pp. 5-19. ISBN 9781780240428

McFarlane, A. (2016) Breaking the cycle of the Golden Age: Jack Glass and Isaac Asimov’s Foundation trilogy. In: Callow Jr., Christos and McFarlane, Anna (eds.) Adam Roberts: Critical Essays. Series: Gylphi contemporary writers: critical essays, 4. Gylphi: Canterbury, pp. 83-103. ISBN 9781780240428

Edited Books

Miller, G. , Mcfarlane, A. and McCormack, D. (Eds.) (2025) The Edinburgh Companion to Science Fiction and the Medical Humanities. Series: Edinburgh companions to literature and the humanities. Edinburgh University Press: Edinburgh. ISBN 9781474485074

McFarlane, A. , Murphy, G. J. and Schmeink, L. (Eds.) (2022) Fifty Key Figures in Cyberpunk Culture. Series: Routledge key guides. Routledge. ISBN 9781000578614

Mcfarlane, A. , Murphy, G. J. and Schmeink, L. (Eds.) (2020) The Routledge Companion to Cyberpunk Culture. Routledge: New York. ISBN 9780815351931

Miller, G. and Mcfarlane, A. (Eds.) (2017) A Practical Guide to the Resurrected: 21 Short Stories of Science Fiction and Medicine. Freight Books. ISBN 9781911332503

Callow Jr., C. and McFarlane, A. (Eds.) (2016) Adam Roberts: Critical Essays. Series: Gylphi contemporary writers: critical essays. Gylphi: Canterbury. ISBN 9781780240428

This list was generated on Wed Apr 30 10:57:12 2025 BST.

Grants

July 2023: Wellcome Trust Future of Human Reproduction project, Visiting Collaborator Scheme. March 2024-October 2024. £6600. Visiting Collaborator. I am sharing my research with the members of the Future of Human Reproduction scheme and building connections between our institutions. I am organising a film screening, delivering research seminars, and organising an interactive event (one day in-person, one day online) exploring representations of reproduction in fantastic fiction. Grant Ref. FoHR_VC_004.

May 2017: British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship. ‘Products of Conception: Pregnancy in Science Fiction 1968-2015’. October 2017 – September 2020. £266,725. Principal Investigator. I am undertaking archival research in the Wellcome Trust Library (London), the Bodleian Library (Oxford) and the National Library of Scotland (Edinburgh). Outcomes will include a monograph and at least two peer-reviewed journal articles. Grant Ref. pf170027.

May 2017: Being Human Festival. £380. Co-Investigator. Funding for events ‘Write the Future: Science Fiction Writing Workshop’ and ‘Lost Limbs and Posthuman Enhancement’.

Jan 2016: Wellcome Trust Medical Humanities Small Grant Award. ‘Nursing, Reproduction, and Writing: Naomi Mitchison’s Science Fiction as Activism’. March 2016 – June 2016. £1534. Principal Investigator. I undertook archival research in the Wellcome Trust Library (London) and the National Library of Scotland (Edinburgh). One outcome was a peer-reviewed journal article which was published in Literature and Medicine. I have also produced a shorter article for The Bottle Imp e-zine, a public lecture, and a podcast of that lecture.

Jul 2013: Feminist and Women’s Studies Association UK Small Grants Award 2013. ‘Smashing the Patriarchy in 100,000 Words: Feminism in Academic Theses’. October 2013 – January 2014. £250. Co-Investigator. The outcome was a conference, held in January 2014, and several blogposts.

Supervision

I am happy to consider postgraduate supervision in any of my areas of interest. 

Professional activities & recognition

Research fellowships

  • 2017 - 2022: British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship

Editorial boards

  • 2021: Journal of Posthumanism
  • 2022: Foundation: The International Review of Science Fiction

Professional & learned societies

  • 2024: Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Higher Education Academy

Dr Anna McFarlane on Twitter