Rate My Professor Octavia Cade

Cade specializes in speculative fiction, particularly climate-influenced realistic science fiction set in contemporary or near-future New Zealand contexts. She has produced approximately thirty academic papers and chapters, alongside numerous short stories published in markets such as Clarkesworld, Asimov’s, and The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. Notable creative works include the novellas The Stone Wētā, praised for its feminist perspective on science, and The Impossible Resurrection of Grief, described as uncanny and brilliant. Recently, funded by a Creative New Zealand Arts Grant, she completed a magical realist novel centered on the aftermath of the Rainbow Warrior bombing. As Burns Fellow, she is developing a science fiction novel focused on toxic algal blooms devastating the Otago Peninsula due to warming oceans and nitrate run-off, drawing on her botany research, and a short monograph examining ecological invasion themes in New Zealand speculative fiction. Her contributions have earned seven Sir Julius Vogel Awards, along with various fellowships and grants. Through her hybrid academic-creative approach, Cade bridges humanities and sciences, advocating for accessibility in science communication and highlighting influential New Zealand speculative writers.