Fiction

In my spare time I write science fiction and fantasy. My debut novel Meet Me in Another Life, published by William Morrow (US) and Harper Voyager (UK), is out now, and my second novel Love and Other Paradoxes will be out in March/April 2025. My author website can be found at https://catrionasilvey.com.

I'm also interested in how my former academic research topics are represented in fiction:

I wrote an article for Literary Hub examining the time loop trope and how it relates to linguistic notions of inference and common ground.

I was interviewed on The Cosmic Shed podcast about the science behind Meet Me in Another Life. Topics included the role of common ground in time loop narratives, genetics versus environment in children's language development, and whether learning Greek changes the way you think about love.

Along with Seán Roberts and Hannah Little, I am the co-organiser of Language Evolves, a workshop and short story competition aiming to introduce science fiction authors to cutting-edge research in language evolution.

I participated in a panel as part of UCL's Imagining Better Futures series, discussing linguistics and science fiction in the film Arrival.

I took part in a panel at WisCon on the Universal Translator trope in science fiction.

Some novels and short stories with literary, fantastical, and/or science-fictional takes on language and communication:

Memoirs of a Spacewoman by Naomi Mitchison

Skyward Inn by Aliya Whiteley

Babel by R. F. Kuang

The Semiosis Duology by Sue Burke

The Southern Reach Trilogy by Jeff VanderMeer

The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie

Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

Elizabeth Costello by J.M. Coetzee