Critical Friends Episode 21: On Style
From Strange Horizons by The Strange Horizons Editorial Collective
March 2, 2026 · 46 min
About this episode
The episode discusses the concept of style in SFF literature and its implications.
In this episode of Critical Friends , the Strange Horizons SFF criticism podcast, Paul Kincaid and Dawn Macdonald join Dan Hartland to discuss style: What is it, what does it do, how can we think about it? And why does SFF seem to have such a fraught relationship with it? Get ready for Ursula K. Le Guin, Kurt Vonnegut, verse and poetry ... and police raids. Paul's review of Syncopation by Whitney French . Dawn's review of Into the Sun by C.F. Ramuz, translated by Olivia Baes and Emma Ramadan .
People in this episode
Host: Dan Hartland
Guests: Paul Kincaid, Dawn Macdonald
Topics covered
- style
- SFF criticism
- literary analysis
- Ursula K. Le Guin
- Kurt Vonnegut
- poetry
- police raids
Keywords
- style
- SFF
- criticism
- literary analysis
- Ursula K. Le Guin
- Kurt Vonnegut
- poetry
- Syncopation
- Into the Sun
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Syncopation, Into the Sun
More episodes of Strange Horizons
- Critical Friends Episode 24: On Oeuvres · June 1, 2026 · 57 min
- 'Cold Comfort' by Louis Inglis Hall read by Emmie Christie · May 27, 2026 · 18 min
- Critical Friends Episode 23: On Reviewing Debuts · May 4, 2026 · 56 min
- "Four Steps to Hunt a God" by Athar Fikry read by Emmie Christie · April 27, 2026 · 10 min
- Critical Friends Episode 22: Romancing The Genre · April 6, 2026 · 55 min
- "I Wish You Died Laughing" by Lio Abendan read by Jenna Hanchey · March 9, 2026 · 29 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Strange Horizons podcast page.