I was born in Taipei, Taiwan, but moved to Canada when I was eight. I enjoy reading, gaming, and writing. It was inevitable that my love of language would intersect with the joys of writing fiction and poetry, specifically in the genres of science fiction, fantasy, and mystery. I am a member of SFWA and the Codex Writers’ Group, as well as the Stop-Watch Gang, a neo-pro speculative fiction critique group in Toronto.
I hold a Ph.D. in Linguistics from McGill University, Montreal, Canada. My areas of expertise are Semantics and Sociolinguistics, which means I pay a lot of attention to the meaning of words and the people who use them. I’m interested in how verbs and prepositions work, and how Canadian English varies from region to region.
I currently work at Innis College in the University of Toronto as an administrator for the graduate Cinema Studies program, the Writing & Rhetoric program, and the Urban Studies program.
The preferred pronunciation of my last name is ‘pie’, like the Greek letter.
I go by the handle @wistling on LiveJournal, Twitter, and e-mail. Why? Because I started off with @lingwist initially, then broke it into two syllables and rearranged them. I love anagrams!
Awards and Distinctions
2016: Finalist, Prix Aurora Award for Best Short Fiction in English (co-author with Costi Gurgu) for “Cosmobotica”; Finalist, Parsec Award – Best Short Story for “The Sweetest Skill”
2015: Winner, Prix Aurora Award for Best Poem/Song in English; finalist, Prix Aurora Award for Best Short Fiction in English for “No Sweeter Art”; Finalist, Parsec Award – Best Short Story for “No Sweeter Art”
2009: finalist, John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer
2008: finalist, Prix Aurora Award, Best Short-Form Work in English for “Metamorphoses in Amber”
2007: Second Place winner, the Writers of the Future Contest (volume XXIII).
Tony Pi, F&SF Writer 