While certainly not prolific, having published only two novels and two collections of short fiction in more than two decades of writing, Candas Jane Dorsey has gained a reputation as one of Canada's most important science-fiction writers, receiving acclaim both inside and outside Canada. Her contribution to the genre extends beyond her writing; she has been one of the most important figures in the development of Canadian science fiction by virtue of her work as an editor, anthologist, critic, and publisher.

Dorsey was born in Edmonton, Alberta, on 16 November 1952, the third of three children; her father, Jack Dorsey, was an engineer and musician, and her mother, Marie Dorsey, was a registered nurse and later an historical researcher and toponymist, as well as a painter. In an interview published in Edo van Belkom's Northern Dreamers (1998) Dorsey described her family as a "family of book readers." She added that "in...