Stefan Ekman

 
Docent in English Literature

Research

Stefan Ekman has a PhD in English literature, with a thesis on the function of environments in fantasy literature, and was accepted as docent in 2019. In his current research, he explores a framework for how worlds of speculative fiction are constructed for critical analysis, and analyses the role of social criticism in so-called urban fantasy. Within the latter project, he is writing a book for the Open Access publisher Lever Press, estimated to be published in early 2024.

He is a member of the research group for cultural studies, KuFo, at Karlstad University.

Collaboration

Recorded interviews:

Selected publications

Ekman, Stefan and Audrey Isabel Taylor. “Between World and Narrative: Fictional Epigraphs and Critical World-Building.” Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, vol. 32:2 (2021): 244–65.

Ekman, Stefan “Vitruvius, Critics, and the Architecture of Worlds: Extra-narratival Material and Critical World-building”. Fafnir: Nordic Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy Research, vol 6:1 (2019): 118–31.

Taylor, Audrey Isabel and Stefan Ekman. “A Practical Application of Critical World-Building”. Foundation: The International Review of Science Fiction vol 47:3 (2019): 15–28.

Ekman, Stefan. “London Urban Fantasy: Places with History”. Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, vol 29:3 (2018): 380–401.

Ekman, Stefan. “Entering a Fantasy World through Its Map”. Extrapolation, vol. 59:1 (2018): 71–87.

Ekman, Stefan. “Map and Text: World-Architecture and the Case of Miéville’s Perdido Street Station”. Literary Geographies, vol. 4:1 (2018): 66–83.

Ekman, Stefan. “Crime Stories and Urban Fantasy”. Clues: A Journal of Detection. vol. 32:2 (2017): 48–57.

Ekman, Stefan. “Urban Fantasy: A Literature of the Unseen”. Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, vol. 27:3 (2016): 452–69.

Ekman, Stefan and Audrey Isabel Taylor. “Notes Toward a Critical Approach to Worlds and World-Building”, Fafnir: Nordic Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy Research, vol 3:3 (2016): 7–18.

Ekman, Stefan. Here Be Dragons: Exploring Fantasy Maps and Settings. Wesleyan University Press, 2013.

Ekman, Stefan. “Platsen som inte finns: fantasymiljöernas betydelse” [The place that doesn’t exist: the importance of fantasy settings]. Tidskrift för litteraturvetenskap, vol 42 (2012:1): 27–38.

Ekman, Stefan. “Exploring the Habitats of Myths: The Spatiotemporal Structure of Ryhope Wood”. The Mythic Fantasy of Robert Holdstock: Critical Essays on the Fiction, eds. Donald E. Morse and Kálmán Matolcsy. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2011: 46–56.

Ekman, Stefan. “Echoes of Pearl in Arda’s Landscape”. Tolkien Studies: An Annual Scholarly Review, vol 6 (2009): 59–70.

Ekman, Stefan. “Down, Out and Invisible in London and Seattle”. Foundation: The International Review of Science Fiction 94 (2005): 64–74.

Publications