Kim Stanley Robinson

Science fiction writer
Kim Stanley Robinson is the author of nearly twenty books, including the internationally acclaimed "The Ministry for the Future."

Why you should listen

American novelist Kim Stanley Robinson is widely recognized as one of the foremost living writers of science fiction. He began publishing novels in 1984, and his work has been described as "humanist science fiction" and "literary science fiction." Robinson has been a proud defender and advocate of science fiction as a genre, which he regards as one of the most powerful of all literary forms. 

Robinson was sent to the Antarctic by the US National Science Foundation's Antarctic Artists and Writers' Program in 1995 and returned in their Antarctic media program in 2016. His work has been translated into 25 languages and won a dozen awards in five countries, including the Hugo, Nebula, Locus and World Fantasy awards. His most recent novel is The Ministry for the Future.

Kim Stanley Robinson’s TED talk

More news and ideas from Kim Stanley Robinson

Live from TEDMonterey

Notes from Session Zero(!) of TEDMonterey

July 22, 2021

What’s Session Zero? It’s the first-ever special teaser session of a TED Conference! Ten days from now, on August 1, TEDMonterey kicks off in Monterey, California. More than a year of planning for TED’s first in-person conference since 2019 resulted in some forward-thinking, including recording talks from amazing speakers around the world, just in case […]

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Science

Earth, the planet of sadness

May 2, 2014

Named a "Hero of the Environment" by Time magazine in 2008, Kim Stanley Robinson writes books that offer a twisted take on how life might be for future generations of humans (and the non-humans we will likely evolve to be). Here, read an excerpt from his novel 2312, which describes Earth of 300 years from now, long after clean tech failed to save us.

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