“I started really thinking a lot about where does a country go when we stop being able to speak to each other, when a nation stops being able to solve problems because its ideological differences become so deep that it just becomes dysfunctional.”

American science fiction and fantasy writer

Paolo Bacigalupi is an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He is known for fiction and essays that have appeared in major genre magazines, environmental journalism, and newspapers. His work has earned the Hugo, Nebula, John W. Campbell Memorial, Compton Crook, Theodore Sturgeon, and Michael L. Printz awards, and he has also been nominated for the National Book Award. His fiction has appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Asimov's Science Fiction, and High Country News. His nonfiction has appeared in Salon.com and High Country News, and has been syndicated in papers including the Idaho Statesman, the Albuquerque Journal, and The Salt Lake Tribune. His writing often moves between speculative fiction and environmental concerns.